Dawn,
I don’t think this is a toucy subject as long as we can keep it “real” & not make it political… I think those of us with these illnesses keep up on what is in the healthcare bill & the changes that are coming. I do believe something had to be done, as insurance companies were raising premiums like never before. My 29 year old son, who was born with spina bifida, has a $3,000 clinic deductible & a $9,000 hospital deductible. He has not been to a doctor in 3 years, he is really pushing it. When he lived with us, he had yearly urology testing to make sure that he did not have relux, or urine backing up. If he were to get another pressure sore like he had in 10th grade, it would literally wipe him out, even though he has worked full-time the same job since he was 22. Maybe I do wish he was still on my husband’s insurance?

I do worry about the exhorbitant cost of IVIG, whatever happened to the synthetic IVIG that was talked about? I see my children’s health plans going up every year, as well as their deductibles. Anyone have the answer, as I sure don’t? And now to try to insure another 30-40 million people when Medicare & SS are broke? The government might have to raise the age of SS to 70 & make it a lot harder to get disability in the future. I welcome any productive solutions. BTW our local dentists haven’t accepted Medicaid patients for years, as they actually lose money on them. Sad, but true. My best friend’s husband is a dentist.

I see big changes coming in health care, I am just glad that I don’t need any treatments to keep me stable. A person wrote in our local newspaper today that he is on Medicare & it is no longer going to cover his routine diabetes & cholesterol checks. His Medicare premium was increased this year, & his supplement went up 13%. BTW he was a Democrat complaining… I am lucky that I did not need to use my health insurance this year, other than a well check-up in Feb. I am on Medicare as well.

With the new system not allowing any life-time caps, the insurance companies will just keep on raising premiums or raising deductibles, putting most people in the $3,000-10,000 deductible range. This is good for the healthy who never need to use their insurance. And now those who never bothered to pay for insurance (surprisingly a large number of healthy & fully employed people), will be able to buy it AFTER they are dx with a serious illness. And who WANTS their kids on their insurance until they are 26? Mine were all on their own once they graduated from college at 22 & got their first real job. I do realize that this is a different world though, & not all college grads are finding jobs.

I am interested in hearing from others, especially those on IVIG for maintenance. Ifind it hard to imagine that any government type of program will keep someone on costly IVIG when they think steroids will provide the same result, or the cheap immunosuppressants. I would like to see some aspects of this huge healthcare bill repealed, just so we can keep our choices. I might sound like a Republican, but I am not. Just an ill person very concerned about too many changes.

I should also add that I am also a patient in the Canadian health care system.
I am an auto worker , lower middle class by any definition. When I became ill I saw my gp the same day who sent me for a battery of blood tests (the same day). I was referred to an infectious disease specialist , cardiologist and neurologist. Had mri, mibi , ct scan . I know there are some horror stories from our healthcare system but the U.S. system has no shortage of horror stories including millions with no coverage. I am extremely thankful that I didn’t have to go through this with inadequate coverage or have to deal with a possible bankruptcy on top of it all.

joel