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Last year we discovered that I had a rare form of cancer -- so rare that it took doctors ten years to realize that there was a tumor on my pancreas. Up to that point, they all said I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and gave me a myriad of drugs which masked the root of the cause: a metastatic, insulin-secreting tumor on my pancreas.
Tonight John McCain and Barack Obama will square off in their second debate, and although I will not hold my breath, my hope is that they will provide more insight into their healthcare plans. Though I am a loyal democrat, there are aspects of both candidates' healthcare plans that terrify me and there are also some very positive aspects, so I thought I would share my thoughts. Healthcare does afterall affect us all, but unfortunately it's not until you are faced with a true health crisis that you realize how vitally important the issue is.
At the start, I have a huge issue with McCain's $5,000 tax credit for families. As of today I have already spent over $6,000 in medical bills this year in addition to the insurance provided by my husband's company. His tax credit does nothing to help me. In fact, it looks like I will lose money with the deal. On the flip side, universal healthcare potentially scares me more, because I'm afraid it will become more and more difficult to get the medical care I need in an already overwhelmed and disfunctional system. Also, because my disease is rare, my oncologist in located across the country. Under Obama's plan will I be able to continue to choose the best doctor for me and fly across the country if I need to? Both candidates say they will ensure that pre-exisiting conditions are always covered -- this issue is non-negotiable. It needs to happen.
I'm thrilled that Obama has addressed ways to improve quality of care. I think by holding medical fascilities accountable for their failures and successes in a more transparent way, quality will certainly improve. I understand lack of quality all too well. Had my tumor been discovered before it spread outside of the pancreas, I would have been cured. It turns out that my doctor did actually see a mass on my pancreas three years before diagnosis, but he neglected to tell me, or his on-call partner, as he pushed me out to the hospital. You see, he had a plane to catch to Vegas for New Year's Eve. It wasn't until almost three years later when his partner suggested that I get a new CT scan (since I was still feeling ill) that I was told, "that mass on your pancreas is still there." My response: "What mass?" I might have been cured, but now I will have to deal with fighting cancer in my liver and chest for the rest of my life (which I have been assured will be long -- it's a very slow growing form of cancer.)
Obama also plans to develop an electronic record system. If this existed when I had my first CT scan, I wouldn't be spending the rest of my life discussing the pros and cons of chemo vs. radiation therapy in addition to should my spleen be removed or just a third of my pancreas. The on-call doctor would have had the same information that was given to my negligent doctor by the radiologist, but he never received a copy of that CT or the report. I cannot stress how much we need a unified, electronic system.
McCain on the other hand not only has not spelled out how he would improve quality, but he instead is focusing on medical liability tort reform. As far as I can tell, the only remedy for medical malpractice is suing your doctor. If there is another avenue to address this, I haven't found it, and now McCain wants to take away that too. Doctors need to be held accountable and take their work seriously so that what happened to me does not happen to anyone else.
This political campaign has turned into nothing more than a street fight, and the candidates are slugging each other out while "We the People" are losing our homes, our fortunes, our jobs, our health, and our lives. I hope the issues I've outlined will be discussed tonight and in the coming weeks, but I have a feeling everyone will just continue to talk about Joe Six-Pack, Bill Ayers, and the Keating
