Einkavæðing heilsugeirans - krassandi saga

Eftirfarandi er upphaf greinar sem birtist í riti AARP í Bandaríkjunum 9. júlí á þessu ári. AARP eru samtök eldra fólks og berst m.a. fyrir endurbótum á heilsugeiranum hér. Þessi saga er aðeins lítið dæmi um hvernig einkavæðing á heilsuþjónustu hefur þróast í Bandaríkjunum. Tugþúsundir heimila hafa farið í rúst af svipuðum ástæðum og Íslendingar ættu gefa góðan gaum að þessu áður en lengra er haldið með einkavæðingu á heilsuþjónustu. Meira seinna.

Ef þú nennir að lesa alla greinina fylgir slóðin á eftir.

"The Shocking Truth About Upfront Hospital Fees"

"After Dave Williams learned in April that the mass in his neck was malignant, his doctor referred him to a local cancer center. At his appointment, he was stunned at what he heard. “They said, ‘We’re looking at $30,000 worth of treatment, and we need $20,000 upfront,’ ” says Williams, 62, of Beeville, Texas. “I said, ‘I don’t have that kind of money.’ ”
For the retired landscape designer, the hospital’s demand was an especially heavy blow, since he had recently paid off $273,000 in out-of-pocket costs for his ex-wife’s care for ovarian cancer (his employer-sponsored health plan refused to cover her because she had cancer when he enrolled). “I became poor trying to save her, but she died,” says Williams, who now lives in a trailer on a friend’s property.
In his case, he applied for “charity care” at other hospitals but was rejected because he has saved about $10,000 in a 401(k). “They all asked for a lot of money, upfront, before they would do anything to help me,” says Williams, who is still exploring his options."

By Sid Kirchheimer - July 9, 2008 - From the AARP Bulletin print edition

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/caregiving/articles/cash_before_care_0.html

Athugasemdir

[Sigríður Gröndal (IP-tala skráð) 24.9.2008 kl. 11:27]

Þessi saga slær mann alveg út af laginu,  mér verður hugsað til minna veikinda og hvernig heilbrigðiskerfið hér heima tók á málum þegar ég greindist með krabbamein.  Ég hugsa til þess með hryllingi ef þetta er framtíðin hér á landi, að krabbameinssjúkir verði að borga fúlgur fjár til að fá meðferð ! 

 Ég vil umræðu um þessi mál !!!

kveðja,

Sigga.