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I’m a military wife in favor of a healthcare reform.
I’m comfortable with the long reaching arm of Uncle Sam not only because of my roots in the land of love, pasta and universal health coverage - Italy - but because for the past ten years I’ve been a beneficiary of Tricare, the military’s government sponsored healthcare program.
This explains why I don't scream in horror, pull out my frizzy hair, or yell 'death panels' when the debate gets heated over a public option for health care reform or government intervention of any kind. I'm not alone in my realizations. As Navy Wife said at the Daily Kos about these heated debates,
“I started wondering why I wasn't all hot and bothered like everyone else. And then it struck me...I'm part of U.S. government funded SOCIALISM!!!”
Tricare has its good and bad aspects just like any other system. Sissy B at sissyb.blogspot.com shares two experiences with Tricare
which highlight some of the pros and cons of such a system.
Sissy blogged that on the way to her first pre-natal visit she was fearful she wouldn’t be able to choose the birth plan she desired.
On their first meeting, Sissy told the midwife:
"I had both of my children naturally in a birth center. I do not like a hospital environment and do not think that medical intervention should take place during a healthy pregnancy and birth. I am not wearing a continual EFM during labor. I am wearing my regular clothes and will not wear a hospital gown. I am not going to have a HEP lock in my hand [a needle that is not hooked to an IV]. I am going to move around the room as I feel comfortable and will be bringing a yoga ball with me. I do not want to be offered any medication and for the most part, I want to be left alone." She (midwife) looked at me for a minute and then said, "Well, OK. I had both of my children in a birth center, too. I don't have any problem with that."
Not too awful right?
Sissy shared another experience about Tricare which was far more frustrating.
“Several weeks ago they told me I might have cervical cancer. It's still a possibility, but they are unable to schedule me in San Antonio until 6 June. That's a month away.”
Faced with weeks of wait to confirm a life-changing illness, Sissy B had to spend hours on the phone to get the ball rolling faster.
“The lady I spoke with seems to think I should have been referred off post in the first place and is appalled that I'm having to wait so long. She's making some calls and is going to call me back. We'll
see.”
The next day she posted that “I got a call yesterday afternoon, and they have moved my appointment in San Antonio to Wednesday. As in, tomorrow.”
Yes, a hassle, a pain the butt, unfair. The downside of this system.
But Sissi’s family, my family and numerous other military families who’ve have dealt with these frustrations never had to worry about being denied care because of pre-existing conditions, about going bankrupt because of an illness or about being dropped by the insurance because we didn’t declare acne or dry skin as a pre-existing condition.
The present healthcare situation is far grimmer than our government sponsored program for millions of Americans.
Christine at a Mommy Story talks about her insurance denying coverage of her daughter’s autism:
“I ran into the big health insurance roadblock…I e-mailed our health insurance -- one of the ‘best’ in the state of Ohio -- explaining our situation and double-checking how much coverage we would have for all of this therapy.Their answer sent chills down my spine and made me physically sick: they provided no coverage for autism-related claims, insisting that autism was an ‘incurable and untreatable’ condition. Zero coverage, end-of-story.”
She added that the nightmare only got worse,
“Not only were we stopped from pursuing any treatment (because it's tremendously expensive and we didn't have an extra $25,000-50,000 a year to spare), but in being honest with our health insurance, Cordy now had a big target on her head. Anything that could in any way be related to autism, even if it was the result of a different medical problem, would be denied by our insurance in the future.”
Not an uncommon situation in today’s healthcare panorama.
I realize that comparing the complex and numerous facets of
