Medical Care Article in Mother Jones and My edits

Healthcare is a Right, er, Fight!

 

Please 🙏🏼 Support Dr. Paul Alexander. He’s Fighting Government Directs Medical Care and Demands Compliance (violating Right to Self Determination). @JaniceDean @Voices4Seniors when Governor https://t.co/fZV857C4fV#Gadolinium my fight https://t.co/e0ugCSMHlx We all should care 😎 https://t.co/VXUMvHYe8A pic.twitter.com/hN89YQd6xr

— Mary Gerdt Parler:Alvarita1 (@marygerdt) September 10, 2022

Just when you thought you had it figured out...

 

Viqar Chamoun, thinker extraordinaire, introduced me to medical philosophy and how to avoid tautologies in medicine. Thinking as a discipline is so rewarding that I am tempted to go back to University as a mature student to study philosophy. #ThinkSpeak https://t.co/n0sCS8OyNt pic.twitter.com/OjOPhmwdhr

— Gavin Giovannoni (@GavinGiovannoni) March 24, 2021

Healthcare

 https://multiple-sclerosis-research.org/2020/11/discharged/

I follow Dr. G who is a great neurologist. He was struck by a motorcycle while running 🏃🏻 

He was praising National Health System in UK 🇬🇧 

I, of course, had to respond...

Ok, about the NHS. I know the “single payer” model is a respectable goal.

Everyone gets access to care equally, no charge, quality is good.

In the USA 🇺🇸 our system of Healthcare is a hodgepodge of private, public, self pay, no pay (hospital system charity) . In the USA, you would probably have a good health insurance policy as a Dr. working in private or public hospital. There would be a pending lawsuit settlement for the motorist who hit you. You would probably have copays for inpatient  care and meds. If you were poor or uninsured, there are programs which you could apply for like government healthcare for poor Medicaid or “free care” as part of hospitals’ Hill Burton act requiring they provide some free care for non profit status. Elderly and younger  disabled like myself have Medicare. I have a Retiree Medicare supplemental plan for myself and my husband which covers deductibles. I earned that Benefit and took less salary because I had good benefits. A few self pay people stuck with a bill can pay over time. It really is a fragmented system. But flipping a switch to Single Payer System isn’t easy. For one thing Americans Don’t like standing in line, waiting, being told there are limits to their healthcare. Another is the general distrust of government deciding, well, anything. Best Wishes on your healing. Don’t overdo it. 

Ethical Exercise

Oh, Covid 19 has created opportunities for ethics discussions... read on..

#MSselfie Q: As I have MS and get severe #COVID19 will I be managed in a critical care unit? Who will decide? What factors will be taken into account? #MSCOVID19 https://t.co/Ho4rPUkFjo pic.twitter.com/UFYbX3eoxd

— Gavin Giovannoni (@GavinGiovannoni) March 30, 2020

Healthcare... Reform?

My thoughts follow as I read this blog by a favorite neurologist...

The cost of treating MS https://t.co/6YbCCGvy1L

— Mary Gerdt (@marygerdt) November 26, 2019

My comments:
“I woke up wondering how I could get my next 90 day allotment of Glatopa shots 💉  before the end of the year because I’ve met my $750 deductible for 2019. Glatopa is he generic of Copaxone, both of which seem old school, so yesterday. But at 61 on Medicare and a Supplement, Why should I expect More?
There’s something cruel about making me pay $750 USD in January right after Christmas 🎄
Then I thought about young Serbians, without even Access to DMT’s and I felt Rich, Elite, Privileged. Am I really worth it?
Now,
Maybe we can leave President Trump out of this.
He didn’t devise the ill fated Obama-Care, which put high premiums, deductibles and penalties for not participating.
He didn’t tout “Medicare for all “ like the Democratic Party Candidates.
He didn’t give the Legislature better healthcare insurance than their constituents.
The Legislature did that.
He didn’t propose employers stop using healthcare as a benefit of employment.
In fact, that is why some people work.
I realize I’m rambling in the wee hours but the Healthcare Morass is easy to get stuck in.
A system so complicated and so emotionally charged,
A system we rely on to give us Health and Life.
A system of Incrementalism.
A battle of Legislative Priorities.
Lobbyists from Pharma and Healthcare systems compete to buy the lawmakers drinks 🍷
I sit here typing letters to my legislators and get a generic “Thanks for sharing “ email back.
You may not want to hear my theories about Gadolinium, a rare earth toxic metal used for better MRI pictures.
In fact, no one wants to talk about it.
Isn’t that part of the problem when the USA FDA , Food and Drug Administration can get thousands of patient reports of ill effects of Gadolinium while big Corporations like Bayer, GE, Make bazillions pushing this toxic metal?
The source Of Gadolinium is China, where God only knows how it is mined and refined.
Nobody is listening  as I sing like a canary, “Gad is Bad”.
Meanwhile consider your municipal drinking water supply probably contains Gadolinium,
Source? The  urinary tracts of  MRI Patients.
The Theme of this Healthcare Quagmire is Money and Profits
Disregarding Humans and True Science.
Stay tuned.
Healthcare “reform” is coming.
It’s a bitter pill.”

Healthcare for All?

While UK Citizens struggle with the unintended consequences of a Socialist approach to Medicine,
USA Citizens fight each other, one proclaims “Healthcare For All” “Government Run Healthcare” “Medicare for All”
The Status Quo in USA is Public and Private Insurance.
Some Government controlled:
Medicare benefits of aged and disabled workers,
Medicaid: State run benefits for poor and children with special health needs
Private: Commercial Insurance and HMO plans, Employer sponsored Or Self insured individuals
Private Pay: no insurance. Several reasons: can’t afford, Preexisting conditions make premiums unaffordable,
May be Irresponsible, lazy, sick, depressed, didn’t think they’d get sick
Last the Non Profit Hospitals under Hill Burton Act must provide some free care in order to maintain their Non Profit status.
Some people in USA say we should just let The Government run this.
I feel like our system is working as well as it can at the moment.
Incremental changes to insure a safety net.
Mandate free care provision in non profit healthcare systems.
Just don’t let the Government take care of you.
We can’t afford that.
About a Questionnaire study of the Diagnosis-Treatment-Outcomes comparison,
Might want to do a worldwide study.
Don’t forget Serbia where patients get the Least.

Here’s the article that started my thoughts ruminating...

Time is Brain https://t.co/cDHDuJ6od9

— Mary Gerdt (@marygerdt) November 25, 2019

Can We Change?

Can we?
Without Lawyers
And Courtrooms
Threats and Testimonies
Can we Change?
#Gadolinium

We are a group of concerned citizens who have been negatively affected,we believe, by #Gadolinium injections for MRI contrast.We’re not asking for courtroom drama or compensation. We just want it stopped until actually proven safe (BTW, which it is Not). Easier said than done 🤦‍♀️ https://t.co/99bdOWySdw pic.twitter.com/yT9hGY3e1O

— Mary Gerdt (@marygerdt) June 16, 2019

Healthcare Reform Not for the Faint of Heart ❤️

Healthcare Reform 

Has a nice ring to it

Lost to Payment Reformers 

Cloaked as Single Payer Proponents 

Only the Lawmakers Don’t Have the Same Rules.

This Room,

The Medical Examination Room,

Needs an update.

This room should be where you report to after the front desk verifies your identity.

Then you, the patient get a log in.

You proceed to download your recent health status,

In your words, answering questions,

Tailored to Your Unique Bio-Print,

Your illnesses, strengths, challenges,

Meds, reactions, Benefits, costs, stressors.

Family/support people have their sections.

You’re not sitting in the waiting room looking at people sicker than you

    Just a few thoughts...meg

Letters I've sent #healthcare

Hello Senator Leahy,
I write to you about health care and all the urgent reform some think are needed.I am an RN Case Manager with almost 30 years experience working in Vermont between hospital, subacute, nursing home, insurance/HMO, long term care and home based care. That is in spite of low wages initially and tough conditions.I was laid off in 1996 because I was under 40 and the legislature protected the elder workers.
I have recently lost over 40 thousand dollars in my retirement/savings, was denied disability insurance 3 days after my MS diagnosis and lost a bundle-over 200 thousand on legal expenses and payout after a 5 year bloody family land court fight.
But I never wrote you before that I recall.Maybe I was just stunned by circumstances.But I write you now, not angrily, but passionately, that you must not pass legislation that promises to fix the health care system in a thousand pages.
My healthcare is pretty good now so please stop saying how broken it is. I agree with Medicaid waivers because I work for Vermont's Choices for Care. And yet I disagree with the generous financial loopholes where large assets are hidden and passed to others while I visit other starving or homeless Vermonters and pay very high taxes.Managed care is not something to be undertaken lightly. I worked for Kaiser and believed in our concepts but still it soured my stomach to turn down a circumcision because the child wasn't the right age.I have cared for Canadians who had to wait or spend their dollars in the US to get our level of care.And please support tort reform. Not only for health care. But also in cases like ours, where we lost so much.Finally, I must remain in my present health care support system. Do not change one thing. Add a catastrophic+preventive system for the poor. Vermont has an ideal system. I fear we will not be able to afford it much longer.Aren't you better off really studying what is working, who is happy, and who needs what? Then make incremental changes. Do not doubt we have the best health care system in the world. This means more to me than money or time. That is why I write today, not out of anger. My anger is gone since diagnosed with MS. I do not have the time for anger. Mary Gerdt RN 

---

Our 4th generation farm was threatened by a near tax lien sale. I am a woman landowner and was not notified. I have no recourse but to sue the town of Monkton. You helped save our bats/neighbors on Raven Ridge. How about reforming tax lien sales. We cannot afford to sue the town. Legal aid laughed at me because I have a savings account. I need the savings as my disability insurance because I have MS and was denied disability insurance.The town fathers think they only had to tell my husband, whose father just died. The town fathers used our old attorney against us who denied a conflict of interest. We were only 9 months late paying property taxes.Can you help or will you ignore? My blog: http://traveloguefortheuniverse.blogspot.com

Letter to radio station wdev  Nurses not represented on GMC Board Regarding health care reform, as a Registered Nurse in the State of Vermont for 30 years this year, I am disappointed none of "The 5" represent the viewpoint of a number of caregivers: nurses, support care workers, direct support people, ICU&ER nurses, nurses all over.  This is critical. Restructuring the financial charts first is not a good approach. The beginning assumptions that the system is irreparably flawed is, itself, a flawed assumption. First, to me the strengths of the current system must be identified, then identify the weaknesses. Then work incrementally, not immediately. Then assess the incremental changes.I hope my opinions are considered by those who read this. You may need a nurse to save your life. Nurses need their valuable opinions heard and considered. I believe the best way is with widespread surveys of every Vermonter and every direct care worker. What works? What does not? Why? How to make it better. Thanks for posting info about the 5. - Mary E. Gerdt

Link to Article: Healthcare Trends to Watch

Link to Article: Healthcare Trends to Watch

Travelogue for the Universe: Silence is not a sign 2011

#2


Travelogue for the Universe: Silence is not a sign: Silence is not a sign of agreement instead, it can be a sign of shock dismay depression giving up a time to huddle up regroup rec...

Travelogue for the Universe: "When you go for end of life Counseling,

With Obamacare in flux,
An administrative tug of war,
War of tugs,
The Healthcare Morass.
Swirling whirling Dervishes,
Tumbleweeds of Confusion,
Blame Insurance
And patients
Sick, old, young,
Genetically unlucky,
Pain of living easier
Than the paperwork from Hell.
So yesterday,
In a fit of clarity,
I posted old articles I had done
Starting
Circa 2009
To present.
Will put up one at a time.
Hope you enjoy .
Meg




Travelogue for the Universe: "When you go for end of life Counseling,: Leave your walker or assistive device in the car," I heard on the Radio the other morning. So continues the debate. Here is my viewp...

Alternative Therapies...

The Pain,

Contemplated,

Begs for an alternative,

To #Pharma

Hey, Pharma isn't all bad,

It has got me out of a lot of jams and presently keeps

me moving forward.

Pharma Plus Dedicated Doctors

Create winning medications, combinations,

Always trying to minimize side effects, I hope.

If you think it's easy or profitable for Doctors to write prescriptions, then you don't know 90% of Doctors.

It's just more paperwork.

Patients often seek out a solution to their ailment (or they wouldn't pay the copay to visit).

Don't figure all pharma is responsible for all the bad in healthcare.

At the same time, do accept there may be alternative therapies, ointments, poultices, tinctures, elixirs, topicals, ingested, teas, and on and on.

As the Vermont legislative year began, the politicians were hot and cold on the alternative ancient healing herb, Cannabis.

Sounds like the cold ones have never been on

 "The Rack" of MS Pain.

Sounds like they aren't going to ask me what I think.

So, here goes a little statement into the blogosphere (it was also sent to the ms society-no response...I asked my bc case manager and she said medical director doesn't believe in it...there are at least 50 different sets of laws and standards, diagnoses eligible, licenses, blah, blah) :

I don't understand your position on Cannabis. There is plenty of research.

 Please help medical users gain legalization in all states. Decision between Doctor and patient. Often as a last resort. The pain is excruciating, spasms debilitating, depression heavy. Please help. Natural products, effective, as old as civilization itself.

Healthcare Reform....Fact or fiction?

Raise your hand,

If you recognize this as a US doctor's examination room.

FYI,

None of the items in this photo

Will make you healthy.

How you feel about this room

Is directly related to

Your past experiences

With such a room.

Some of your most serious lifetime conversations happen here.

Only with the addition of people,

Will this room potentially take on powers,

Healing, diagnostics, therapeutic encounters,

Hard conversations,

Avoidance, denial, anger, acceptance,

Planning,

Education,

All can happen here.

Or not.

The concept of healthcare reform

Is inconceivable.

The variables,

The formulae,

Protocols,

Costs, belief systems, cultures,

Too much to analyze,

Make sense of,

Predict outcomes.

(Seems most of what I saw was billing codes...not reform!)

I believe the system of healthcare in the U.S.

Cannot be reformed by taking pictures of doctor's offices,

With the caption,

Healthcare Reform.

Like this photo,

Meaningless without the people,

The patient, their people,

The doctor, nurse, the healthcare providers.

Healthcare reform

Should not be penned by politicians,

Healthcare lobbyists,

Or CPA's.

(Sorry, missed a few words first go around)

The people who should have the biggest input...

The people who would be in this room:

Patient, family, and doctors, nurses.