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My diabetes supplies, a fraction of the invasiveness of CF.
I was driving to work today listening to KCFR, Denver’s local NPR affiliate. I heard a report about recent developments in the treatment of cystic fibrosis, a horrendous lung and organ condition that makes me thankful to have diabetes. Cystic fibrosis research has made leaps and bounds in treatment diagnoses, medication, and equipment. So much so that the life expectancy of those suffering from cystic fibrosis has recently increased as a result.
A spin-off story to supplement the good news was about the state of insurance coverage in relation to these incredible advancements. And a sad state
it is indeed. The story followed a family (I can’t remember where they lived, Maine maybe.) through the turmoil of life with cystic fibrosis. The 13-year-old daughter has the disease and the family has done its best to cope.
When the daughter was diagnosed, they were eligible for state-assisted insurance based on their income level, and with that assistance, the astronomical costs of treatment were largely covered. They budgeted for their portion of the costs and even managed to purchase a house a couple years ago. The housing bubble burst aside, something else went terribly wrong. The husband and primary breadwinner was given a promotion and a raise. A travesty, I know. How dare a company try to reward this man of dedication and competence with higher pay to provide for his family! Don’t they know what that can do to him?
Evidently not, but I think you know what’s coming. The increase in income for the family put them barely over the maximum income level to be approved for the state-assistance but far below the level necessary to take on the costs themselves. If the husband accepts the promotion to foreman, his financial obligation to his daughter’s disease increases tremendously.
Dreams of owning their home outright? Gone. Living relatively comfortably within the already-strict family budget? Gone. Future plans for financial independence? Gone. Maintaining the resources to provide necessary medical attention to their daughter? Hanging by a thread.
And do you know what the state’s recommendations were? Well the husband can decline his raise and promotion and remain within the assisted income level for who knows how long. The wife can drop her part-time job that helps them make the mortgage every month and attempt to survive on one income alone. Or the most drastic of all, the loving couple can legally separate and the daughter can “officially” reside with one or the other. Bass ackwards is the only phrase to describe the predicament the family now finds itself in. Play the game like everyone else. Climb the ladder. Run the rat race. All for naught.
According to the Colorado Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, there could be more than 650 families in our state alone who face similar battles.
I feel terrible for them, and the countless families like them who may not be hindered by an actual disease but only by the financial obligations attached to it.
You might be asking yourself right now, “Why is the Diabetes Examiner writing about cystic fibrosis?” Well we chronic disease suffers tend to stick together, fight the same battles, insurance especially.
My parents are self-employed and for the most part always have been. My diagnosis could not have come at a more inopportune time in 1997. There’s no HMO for the self-employed. Private insurance is the only option. My parents work so hard, provide so well and make decisions based entirely on the stability of the family. One of the decisions they made shortly before my diagnosis was to change insurance companies. Then I had the audacity to be diagnosed in this transitional period when we had just started with the new insurance provider.
“Diagnosed with diabetes, huh? We’re sorry to hear that, but we are going to have to call that a “pre-existing condition” and I’m afraid we won’t be able to cover most of the expenses.” Literally years later, my mother had fought tooth and nail to a breaking point, financially and emotionally. I always knew that it was difficult for my parents to deal with, but only recently, now that I am faced with similar battles on my own, I have the highest appreciation for the fights people put up against these travesties in our society (my parents, that poor family dealing with cystic fibrosis expenses).
Thank you so much, insurance companies, for your complicated processes, arbitrary health requisites and increasing co-pays. The diseased millions of the country appreciate your patience and understanding. Someone will be right with you.
Related Links:
Jay Cutler, Welcome to the club, part 1
Jay Cutler, Welcome to the club, part 2
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