HW 26 - Looking back & forward in unit

thought this is was somewhat related to this unit

Damnnn

http://www.insubuy.com/guide/faq/pre-existing-conditions-visitor-medical-insurance.jsp

this is ridiculous. every single person who asked about getting treatment for their loved ones were denied before even getting the insurance.  Looking at this makes me ask what the point of getting insurance is? I completely agree with the 6th anonymous person who asked:

" What is the point of buying insurance if it does not cover pre-existing medical conditions? These are the one we need to get covered. Probability of other illness is very low."

HW 25 - Response to Sicko

Precis-
My intention was to expose HMOs for what they really are; profit oriented scams. Americans buy health insurance for coverage and security yet it is in the HMOs best interest not to help them. HMOs get around securing the costumers by researching their pre-existing conditions so when they need operations, the health insurance companies can deny them coverage. The system is as messed up as it sounds, but the reason it hasn't been changed is because HMOs offer the government money for them not to change the health care policy. The government keeps us from questioning the system by assuring us that if we had universal health care, we might not be treated on time. I decided to see if this were true by visiting the many countries with universal health care such as Canada, the U.K., and France. From what I saw, their health care system ran more than smoothly seeing how every sick person was treated efficiently and equally. On top of that, their doctors were still well payed without having to break their oath to try their hardest to cure all patients. Most of all, their citizens were on average significantly healthier than Americans. Hopefully viewers will realize that universal health care is the best option for America and represents the unity of humanity.

Evidence-
 A) i. Dr. Linda Pino testimony in front of US Congress May 30, 1996/ interview with Pino:
" I was told when I started that I had to keep a 10% denial.  Then they were giving us reports weekly that would have all the cases we reviewed, the percent approved and the percent denied.  And our actual percentage denial rate.  Then there would be another report that compared me to all the other reviewers.  The doctor with the highest percent of denials was gonna get a bonus."
"That was how they set it up.  Any payment for a claim is referred to as a medical loss.  That's the terminology the industry uses.  I mean, when you don't spend money on somebody, you deny their care, or you make a decision that brings money in and you don't have to spend it, it's a savings to the company." 
      ii.

Tarsha Harris- example of how HMOs refuse to cover their costumers because of their pre-existing conditions- she had an operation to remove her tumor and it was once payed for by her insurance, but once the insurance company found a yeast infection in her record, they took their money back and made Tarsha cover the expense herself.

B) Both of these pieces of evidence provide real life examples, which is crucial for making a point.
The first example was from the perspective of a doctor, showing how the HMOs has effected her. It caused her to break the oath all doctors have to make and neglect her patients for her own personal gain( based on incentives given by HMOs). Her testimony proved that it is in HMOs best interest to pay for less services and they create bribes for doctors so that they too benefit disregard patients who actually need medical assistance.

Tarsha's example came from the other end of the spectrum; the perspective of the patients. It showed how HMOs had effected her which was negatively as well. The "pre-existing condition" she had was very common and unrelated to her operation so it exhibited how easily this could happen to many other Americans. What made this situation worse was that the insurance company had approved her operation, but they later found this flaw in her record and made her pay. This displays how health insurance companies go the extra mile to find insignificant information about a patients previous health conditions to avoid paying for treatments themselves. Not covering these expenses are the goal of these companies.

D) I thought the refference to Nixons tapes was a very good source of evidence. Unfortunately the recording was somewhat unclear, and although there sub-titles, I wanted to see how percise they really were. I researched the recording and found that there were slight differences between that one and the one used in the documentary. Differences you could hear in the tape as well; but even with the alterations made by Moore the tape still portrayed the same thing so I counted his evidence as accurate.

Film version:

February 17, 1971, 5:23 p.m.

[John Ehrlichman] We have now narrowed down the Vice President's problems on this thing to one issue, and that is whether we should include these Health Maintenance Organizations, like Edgar Kaiser's Permanente thing.

[President Richard Nixon] Now let me ask you, you know I'm not too keen on any of these damn medical programs.

[John Ehrlichman] This is a private enterprise one.

[President Richard Nixon] Well, that appeals to me.

[John Ehrlichman] Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit.  And the reason he can do it, I had Edgar Kaiser come in and talk to me about this.  And I went into it in some depth.  All the incentives are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make.

[President Richard Nixon] Fine.

[John Ehrlichman] And the incentives run the right way.

[President Richard Nixon] Not bad.

My research:

http://whitehousetapes.net/transcript/nixon/450-023

My response-

This documentary brought up a lot of points that struck me and made me understand a lot more about American society in general. Although this was briefly discussed, Moore went over how the education system in America sets us up to need our jobs to pay off debt, and how health care and other benefits may keep us working until they day we die. 

"By the time we graduate, our ass is so in hock, we're in debt before our first job.What employer wouldn't employ someone thousands of dollars in debt, because they won't cause any trouble?  In addition to paying off your college debt, you need a job with health insurance.  It would be horrible to lose that job, wouldn't it? If that one job doesn't pay all the bills, don't worry.  You can get another one, and another one, and another one.If you're not sleeping, take pharmaceuticals. Yes, ask your doctor, and ask him for more drugs.  That should keep you doped up until it's time to retire.  Did I say retire? (laughs)If you make it to 80, your pension will still be there, unlike the new employees for these companies, who'll never see a pension."- (Michael Moore, Sicko 2007) 

This exert really put things in perspective for me as it quickly summed up the American mentality; live to serve capitalist. 

When he discussed how easily HMOs bribed the government, I had a flash back. It seemed that the government was very malleable seeing as the food corporations have done the same thing. We trust our government to keep us secure and think of what can benefit all of us, but it looks like they are just chasing dollar bills. In both these cases, large corporate bodies are providing the dollars. So it makes me wonder, who's really running our country? The government or the capitalist?

HW 24 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 3

Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.


Precis: My book centers around one rather spectacular man who possess the talent of healing and curing infectious diseases. The most honorable thing about him is that he uses his knowledge and talent to those who need it the most. Together, Farmer and I travel from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia. He reaches out to many other foundations to help him and his organization on his quest to heal the world. He believes that "the only real nation is humanity", meaning that all of humanity should have equal treatment.  The name of the book is based on the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains" which is a metaphor that represents how problems and issues are endless.

Quotes:
"Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world."(Margaret Mead, Kidder pg.164)

The most common excuse individuals use to avoid making change is that they believe that they are not enough to make a difference. It is true that there are power in numbers but how are these numbers supposed to accumulate without one person leading the pack? When you think about it, most of the things that were made the status quo were established by a small number of people and influenced other people like a chain reaction. So, maybe it take that one person to speak up for change and make a new normal.


The problem is, if I don't work this hard, someone will die who doesn't have to. That sounds megalomaniacal. I wouldn't have said that to you before I'd taken you to Haiti and you had seen that it was manifestly true. (Paul Farmer, Kidder pg.191)

To make the changes you want to see in the world you have to make a lot of sacrifices, but these sacrifices should be wroth it once you see your vision come to light.

"In his mind, he was fighting all poverty all the time, an endeavor full of difficulties and inevitable failures. For him, the reward was inward clarity, and the price perpetual anger or, at best, discomfort with the world... "( Kidder pg.210)


I can see why he can grow so angry at the world because in his eyes, in mine as well, all the things he is fighting so hard for should have been already established. When you live in a world that chooses to be illogical and immoral, it's easy to be upset with it.


My thoughts:


This book was truely inspiring and made me think about the changes I want to see in the world. Farmer is truely commited to what he does and although there are many things I'm pasionte about changing, I really wonder how far I will go to make a change.  American society makes it easy for us to focus o ourselves and our personal lives which makes us forget about the big picture and whats going on around us. I admit to having that very fault, but after reading this book it made me think about what I really have to do to make change. The most important thing for me to do now is to build and education about all of these topics, which is why I am thankful for this class. In the future I will definitly be fighting for what's right.

HW 23 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 2

Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.

Precis: Paul Farmer is a very dedicated to his work and he keeps a close relationship with all of his patients. When he discovers that one of his patients, Morne Michel has not shown up for his monthly appointment, he diligently goes to the country side to find him. This is in respect of one of Farmers rules which is to always go and find a patient when they don't appear. The trip there was long and difficult; the country side could be described as "mountains beyond mountains". On our journey there, we made detours and revisited the history of the sights we saw.  Farmer explained to me how the history of this dam we visited was what lead to Haiti's downfall. The dam was built by the U.S army Corps of Engineers with the "intention" of improving irrigation and generating power but in reality it cost Haitians their homes and property.


Quotes:
"We can spend  sixty-eight thousand dollars per TB patient in New York City, but if you start giving watches or radios to patients here suddenly  the international health community jumps on you for creating nonsustainable projects."( Kidder pg. 42)


Americans seem to be consumed with the idea that only the rich should have the best there is to offer while those who aren't should have as little as possible . Being comfortable is important to ones healing process and if a watch or a radio provides this to patients, then they are indeed "sustainable". 


 My thoughts:
 I really think its admirable how much Farmer cares about his patients and their well being. He definitely isn't in this field for money; he gets satisfaction in helping people in need and on top of everything, he is good at what he does. He proved his loyalty to patients when he went to find Monre Michel on the country side of Haiti. I don't know of any other doctor who would be concerned enough to go out of their way to find a patient after they missed a monthly check in.  Missing a doctor's appointment is a normal occurrence for me and I'm pretty sure that my doctor has never thought twice about me when this happens. Then again I've never had a serious condition or illness so I can't say my doctor wouldn't care for certain. I was also impressed with his knowledge of Haiti's history because it shows how much he cares about the countries well being as well as its health.

HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1

Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.

Precis: Paul Farmer is a kind man who is an expert of sorts when it comes to healing the sick.  He broke out of Americas health care system by moving to Haiti and at a hospital that he runs off of donations. He lives there eight months of the year, healing the citizens of one of the worlds poorest nations. I had the pleasure of following him around and witnessing him do what he does best, which is to revive the people who were once withering away due to their sickness.  He grows very close to his patients and even  considers him family. A lot of his patients believe in using Voodoo healing methods, which is very popular and important in Haitian society, but they still embrace Farmer's medicines.

Quotes:
"My local hospital in Massachusetts was treating about 175,00 patients a year and had an annual operating budget of a$60 million. In 1999 Zanmi Lasante had treated roughly the same number of people, at the medical complex and out in the communities, and spent about $1.5 million, half of that in the form of donated drugs." (p.22).
"Sorcery is, at bottom, the Hatians' way of explaining suffering, but the allegations themselves can cause suffering."


My thoughts:


I thought the quote about the Hatians'  way of dealing with suffering through sorcery was very interesting because it can be easily connected to how we handle death in our society. We tend to avoid such topics because they are negative but we do this because when we over think illness, dying and suffering, we suffer mentally ourselves. This proves that suffering from thinking about suffering is a universal action. It also proves how we bring suffering upon ourselves

Comment on Amber S.' "HW 21 - Expert #1" post

My favorite point that you made was how we use religion to help us deal with death and dying because it gives a clear answer and makes our deaths significant. As you said, "We don't want to believe the bleak, depressing reality of just laying 6 feet under when we die, as the idea of sitting a fluffy white cloud in heaven with everything we could ever want sounds so much better." I can personally relate to this having been raised with a religious background. I recall having a conversation about death with my grandmother after telling her I had a recurring dream of her dying. These dreams put me in instant tears every time I had them, especially because they seemed so vivid and real, but when I discussed them with my grandmother, her reaction shocked me. She told me never to worry or be upset when she died because she knew she was headed to a better place. It was weird because she actually seemed excited about her own death, and she is very accepting of death in general. To be honest, when she told me this it did make me feel a lot better knowing my grandmother had a reserved spot for her in heaven. But unfortunately, I am very loosely religious, so I too question whether or not I use the idea of heaven as a crutch.

I'd like to point out that the amount of insight you put into this post went above and beyond the requirements and it proves how important this topic this is to you. It also shows the vast amount of ideas you have on the topic. I also want to say that your use of language is exquisite and that you have a very good sense of language beautification.

Comment on Sam J.'s "HW 21 - Expert #1" post

I thought you're outlook on death is very interesting. You've accepted death yet you'd rather not think or talk about it and let nature take its course. This seems to be the outlook of most people but I find it interesting people think of it as an avoidable topic. I think that you could have expanded on that idea because it is a common is an idea shared by many other people. One thing you could discuss thinking and talking about death personally affects you and why it makes you uncomfortable. I personally believe that over thinking about the topic is what causes all of the negative connotations that go along with it. We instinctively think about how we are supposed to feel because death is always a big deal, but if we gave death less significance, such as something that just occurs naturally, we probably would feel as uncomfortable about it.

HW 21 - Expert #1

I was not there the day of so the list is derived from Michelle in section 4 (http://michelle-normalisweird.blogspot.com/):

• Most men don’t get medical attention right away because they are in denial at first.

• Wanting to seem invincible: that death will never “catch” us and to continue to be positive until the end.
• Movies don’t show the reality of how a disease or cancer can affect the patient
• Remember to do nice things to people even those who you’ve never met because you will never be able to once you die and can sometimes regret leaving unfinished business with those close to you.
• The best times of the 26 years of marriage were weirdly the ones spent when he was sick because did not have to focus on anything but her husband.
• Was to be paralyzed all he said was “ If I can still move my hands and paint than I’ll be alright.” (Art was his passion, this was his way to me of leaving an imprint in the world)
• TIME; something one shouldn’t waste especially on silly things (when one is a teenager we can do this) and spend it more on the important and fulfilling moments in life.
• Keeping it “human” as possible was important; making sure people saw him as a real person, a husband, and a father not as cancer.
• Went to Buddhist monk and he told her the signs to know when it was coming; one was pushing his hands out as if he were pushing away death and he did! (During the final weeks)
• Stillness that was felt in the room and in his body was indescribable when he died.

 I also believe that Hollywood portrays illness and dying in a very bland way. Based on all of the movies I've seen, the patients that are going through the process of dying all have the same response of acceptance toward it. The movies make everything very one tone and create the same old character who believes its their time to go and doesn't want anyone to be sad about it. This character has always been admirable, but not every one who is dying has the same thought process. In fact, I'm sure everyone reacts differently when, and if, they go through it themselves.  It makes sense that Hollywood portrays this character repeatedly because they give a positive perspective. Though it is unrealistic, it is inspiring.

In regard to the sixth and seventh point,  I think it proves how through death and weakness, our appreciation for the things we love grows and overshadows everything else that  used to upset us. Knowing that you might never paint again makes you realize how much you really loved to do it and realizing that you have a limited time with the people closest to you makes you appreciate them being around more.  This is true at least for the people lucky enough to have loved ones and passions.  It makes me wonder what runs through the minds of those who are sick or dying that spent their whole life doing a job they hated? How do you feel when you have a distant family that doesn't care whether you're dead or not? Also, how would it feel to have to visit a family member you were never fond of while they are sick or dying? I don't think I'll ever have to be put in such tough situations because I have a very tight knit family, but I truly feel bad for the people who do and I acknowledge that they are out there.

HW 19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying

My family has two sides that have conflicting ideas about illness and dying. My mother did the majority of raising me so her incite on health care was the most influential to me. She never talked to me about illness and dying because, although it is a very important topic, it is considered morbid. But she made it clear that being sick or injured was not something I wanted to experience. I believe that her lack of enlightenment was due to me never having been severely injured or ill. Why discuss something you don't necessarily want to think about when it isn't happening?  In terms of common illnesses my mother has a very mainstream approach.  In our society, the norm is to take pills or shots to cure whatever harms us. The only thing my mother has always been strongly against, although they are very popular in this country, are prevention drugs. She always thought they were gratuitous because the shots and pills they give you to prevent this worse disease has side effects of their own.  It's not worth it to harm your body in hopes to prevent a sickness that you were not guaranteed on getting in the first place. For example, I have never gotten a Flu shot and I have also never gotten the flu.

My father had very different views on the topic. He is very into holistic methods to stay healthy and it has worked for him because he rarely gets sick. I remember him telling my once when I was younger that he hadn't even had a common cold in 5 years to prove that he is very good at maintaining his health. He told me that if I came to him about being sick he would first ask of my symptoms, then he would call his close friend, my "uncle" Ike who is a doctor, to tell him how serious the problem is.  If he felt he could treat it himself then he would, but if he had no clue, then he would have to take me to the hospital. His approach to sickness was definitely derived from his family's. His mother never gave him pills or allowed him to have any vaccinations and she usually had an herbal method to heal him. He stated that he had never been to the hospital (like me) and that he was raised on health food so he was always in a pretty healthy state.

When I brought up death and dying my dad somewhat froze up. He was very uncomfortable discussing this topic because it was one he usually avoided.  No one really close to him has died before (this is also true for me). He even admitted to being afraid of funerals. It was a topic he didn't really have to deal with so he never thought about it deeply but he pointed out that in the Rastafarian community, death was never focused on.

Both my parents had different perspectives but they did share some common ground as well. They both believed that in severe cases, hospitals were necessary.  They also thought of death as a negative topic that shouldn't be discussed. A common theme I've noticed during this unit is that everyone believes that the ill and the dying should be taken care of by another person because they are in a weaker state. My discussion with both of my parents continued to prove this generalization true.It makes complete sense to reach out for other peoples help while they are weak, but what happens if you are in a situation where everyone is sick and no one can help the other? Or if you are sick and alone? Shouldn't we have an idea of how to treat ourselves? Is this only true of our society? I should have asked these questions of my parents but I never did, sadly. It seems as if this system of helping the weak works well in our society though.