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and wealth and the like. i mean, my dad just died a month ago from a very aggressive cancer that was everywhere!! my brother wants to blame the VA system here, and i can't say as I blame him in some respects. But the doctors that did a biopsy said he could have had this cancer for a mere matter of months it moved so fast. from the time he was diagnosed to the time he died was less than two weeks. I can't help but wonder if he had been a wealthy businessman or a politician with the cadillac healthcare would they have caught it a long time ago.
i know a certain part of that feeling is the natural urge to have someone to blame for something that is probably no one's fault. but my brother is very much against single payer healthcare and thinks that 'government run healthcare' such as the VA is a very bad thing. I got into an argument with him at my dad's bedside one night because I told him that it wasn't the VA but the underfunding that was the problem. My dad kept getting different doctors everytime he went there. And anytime my dad had a problem, I personally don't believe he was adequately tested. You know how it is.... they just give you some antibiotic or whatever and explain it away. That is true anywhere you go, whether it is the VA or the local hospital. because dad had been to both. the VA would try to ship him to the hospital and the hospital would try to ship him to the VA. they were so concerned about the cost.... $500/copay everytime he went to the hospital. lord knows what else on top of that. and he HAD insurance.
The problem, as i see it, is that instead of worrying about their patients, doctors end up having to worry about how they are going to get paid. And they hesitate to run tests that they might not hestitate to run for some patients because of the money. When we wanted Emily (my 10 year old) tested for ADHD, I had heard they could do a catscan and tell from that. the doctor insisted that wasn't the case. She kept trying to get me to just put emy on the meds. We refused to do that. we wanted her tested. and the insurance did pay for testing... took her to a place where once a week they had her do tests and talked to her and then determined that she was indeed ADHD. We ended up going through the school and having a meeting with them.... it was such a pain in the ass to actually get her tested... and i do believe the school didn't want to ahve to pay for it. so we said, just point us to where we should take her and we'll take care of it.
i am sorry for what you are going through. The problem is that the people in a position to do something about it are getting their campaign money from the people who don't give a crap about the rest of us. They have health insurance. And WE probably pay for it. how ironic! I can only hope that someday we will get some form of single payer. but as long as there are people like my family members who have insurance and don't give a crap about the rest of us (they talk about welfare moms and such.... and i remind them that i must be one because i have had medicaid... i have had assistance from social services....) they refuse to see beyond themselves. and they refuse to listen to anything anyone says.... except rush limbaugh and faux news....
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