Rant of the Week: Going to the Emergency Room

I'm thinking about starting a "rant of the week" blog. Last week I was really irritated by the lack of comments on the blogs I write. You have no idea how disheartening it is to spend so much time crafting a post and then not know if anyone is reading it or not. This weeks rant has to do with Emergency Room visits, so here is your first clue on the topic, in the form of a quiz:

Quiz question: When you go to the ER, what do you take with you?

Answer: Either a COMPLETE list of all of your medications, legibly written, on plain white paper OR every single one of your current pill bottles.

Do not try to tell me that you take a "little red capsule" for your blood pressure, and a "blue and white one" for your cholesterol and a "pink one for your blood sugar..." Are you getting the drift here?

Most people are now given generic medications whenever possible. They are just as effective as the "brand" ones and they cost everyone (you, the insurance companies, the employer paying for the health insurance, etc.) a lot less money. Even the pharmacy saves money, because they can negotiate with the suppliers to get the least expensive generic on their own shelves. I bet you've had this happen to you - the pharmacy gives you your blood pressure pill month after month; then suddenly you get a note on the prescription, and the pharmacist speaks to you when you pick it up: "By the way, we are purchasing a generic for your blood pressure medicine from a new supplier. It is the same medication, but it looks different than what you are used to seeing."

So please, do us both a favor, make a list, check it twice, and make sure that you carry it with you at all times in case of an emergency. Think of your mom - "clean underwear and your medication list." OK?

Now about that list...If you write it on your very nice stationary with the pretty design in the background and the lovely color that matches your favorite (fill in the blank with your choice, eye color, sunny sky, lake water, whatever) and I can't read the words you wrote on the page an/or it won't copy legibly because of those lovely designs in the background, then I'll be really hoppin' mad. That is especially true if your list is as long as both of our arms and I don't have time to write them all down. It's great if you bring a list AND I can read it. Plain white or notebook paper is the best choice.

If you are on a lot of meds (or even a few) then I suggest that you keep them organized in a box. Go get a plastic box like those made for crafts and has a lid. Put all the pill bottles in it and put the lid on it. Put a copy of your list in the box by taping it to the inside of the lid. Then it won't be in the way when you go in and out of the box, but it will be there. When you get new meds, put those bottles in the box, and when you get a chance, update your list. This has several advantages:

• Your meds will be in one place all the time - no forgetting to take something or losing bottles.
• The box can be put up out of reach to protect grand-critters from getting into it.
• In an emergency, you can take the box with you and it will have a list for the EMT's/ER staff.
• AND any new meds that haven't gotten to the list yet will be in the box.

But if you say to me "there's a new white pill in there..." I'll be hoppin' mad!

Laurie

PS: check out the "ER Card" or a medical alert system as well; these are a great way to communicate when you can't speak for yourself.

Related Topics:

• Keeping Family Medical Records
• WebMD Video: ER Wait Guarantee

Technorati Tags: ER, emergency room, meds, medications, health and wellness

The Time Has Come: Universal Health Insurance

Do you realize that the American health care system is rated behind that of France, Canada, and most other European countries in international surveys? On most measures of morbidity (rates of illness) and mortality (death) we are poorly compared to these health care programs.

As the Presidential campaign heats up, we are going to be hearing more and more about our health care system, especially from those candidates who are public microphones for the multi-million dollar health insurance industry. They want to scare us with the notion that a "single-payor" system will raise taxes and ruin America.

A single payor system is one in which an insurer negotiates payment for the costs of care for a group of insured individuals. These cost agreements are made with hospitals, clinics, and individual providers to take care of the group of insured. There is an understandable set of benefits, premiums to be paid, and co-pays for the insured. Those who can afford to may purchase additional, private coverage for an out-of-pocket cost that improves their benefit coverage. In case you haven't seen it coming yet, I am describing the US Medicare system. This system isn't perfect, but it could certainly form the basis for a model in which all Americans could have health insurance. The for-profit health insurance companies hate the suggestion of a single-payor system in the US. Can you guess why? I'd guess it's because it would derail their large profits once and for all.

There is no question that we can't continue the US health care system as it is; fewer and fewer individuals are going through medical school training because the excessive costs of this education are not repaid by their post-graduate incomes for many years. Fewer individuals are going to nursing school because our health care system is so emotionally and physically taxing that the rewards of this "service" profession no longer match the demands. One of the common threads to discussions among those leaving the health care professions are the daily demands of this "broken" system.

Many attribute this failure to the growing needs of individuals without health insurance. As a whole, the uninsured have more chronic illnesses and are sicker than those with insurance, because they receive no preventative health care services and disease prevention education. As the lack of health insurance continues to spread, hospitals, clinics, and individual health care providers are faced with caring for increasingly larger numbers of seriously ill individuals who have no way to pay for their care. This reduction in reimbursement means cost-cutting measures such as fewer nurses and physicians-in-training at the bedside, and in hospital closures. In the last 10 years there has been a net loss of 425 hospital emergency departments while the number of ED visits has increased by 2 million annually.

There are currently more than 43 million people who have no health insurance, and 50 million more individuals whose insurance isn't adequate to meet their health care needs. The ranks of the uninsured continue to grow, and are expected to rise by another 10 million within 5 years.

Opponents of a national health insurance system say that it will dramatically raise taxes to insure everyone in the US, yet it is already costing us billions of dollars paying for the costs of people who receive inadequate and inappropriate health care in the emergency room for "free." The well-respected French health care system is very similar to our Medicare, and they spend approximately 11% of the gross domestic product (GDP) money annually to insure all their countrymen. By contrast in the US we spend approximately 15% of our GDP to insure a portion of our population. It is estimated by Physicians For a National Health Program that a single-payor system will save us more than $150 billion dollars in reduced paperwork and another $50 billion in savings will be realized in the bulk-purchasing of medications during its first year of existence. Costs will be reduced to employers who now spend about 8.5% of their payroll cost on health insurance premiums to the private sector. Instead all employers will pay a lesser amount (expected to be about 3.3% of payroll) and all workers will have insurance.

The current proposal for national health insurance recommends coverage for all medically necessary care, including primary prevention services, hospitalization, and outpatient care, emergency room visits, prescription medications, medical equipment, nursing home care, mental health services, dental and eye care, chiropractic manipulation, and substance abuse treatment. Individuals will have the right to choose their health care providers, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. The proposal recommends that we spend 15 years converting to a system of national health insurance, during which hospitals and providers will contract to provide services to the insured based on both fees-for-service and global budgets to cover their costs. Although their "gravy-train" will be gone, there is even a place in the new system for the current insurance companies; if they want a slice of the pie they can join the national insurance organization as a administrator of the program.

Health insurance should be the right of all individuals. We owe it to the state of our nation to reduce national health care costs by eliminating health care disparities. This will improve the health of all citizens, and help to level the playing field for all parties in the health care system, patients, and providers alike.

Laurie

For more information:

• National Coalition on Health Care


• The United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676("Expanded & Improved Medicare For All") Congressman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan


• The Case For Universal Health Care in the US (Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care)


• The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: Health Policy, Media Resources, Public Policy


• Guaranteed Healthcare (California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee)

Related Topics:

• Some 43 Million Lack Health Insurance
• Mental Health Insurance Pays

Technorati Tags: universal health insurance, single payor, national health insurance, health and wellness

What's Up With You?

So here's my rant for this month: what's up with no comments on my blog? Not ONE! What do I have to write to get someone to SAY something? I am told that people only comment when I have something "controversial" to say. Those nice, newsy, informational posts are meant for your edification, but inspire no one to talk. Well, I think that's just ridiculous. Why don't you ask questions? Discuss your opinion about the topic? Don't you have something to say?

My nearly 16-yea-old daughter says that I should be grateful; since most people have nothing worthwhile to say anyway, I don't have to listen to any blather. Don't you love teens? What have you got to say?

Laurie