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EVEN
INSURANCE EXECUTIVES By
Mary Koch
You may
have noticed; it’s been a while since I’ve slung any muck at the
medical insurance industry. It’s part of my self-improvement effort to
become a more compassionate person.
I empathize with insurance company executives. They have a lot to
put up with. They have their stockholders, who demand healthy profits.
And the politicians, who expect generous campaign donations, not to
mention the cost of high-paid lobbyists. And those pesky policy holders,
who expect their medical bills to be paid.
What’s a poor insurance executive to do? If the policy holders
get their way, there’s less money for the politicians, who will then
pass laws that will threaten profitability, leaving the stockholders
tearing up their proxies.
If that weren’t enough, one insurance company – Great-West
Healthcare – has my dynamo friend Kathleen O’Connor to deal with.
Kathleen’s extensive research and writing about America’s health
care system (her book is called “The Buck Stops Nowhere: Why
America’s Health Care Is All Dollars and No Sense”) inspired her to
organize the grass-roots reform organization, “CodeBlueNow!”
Kathleen is devoting all her time and resources to the
proposition that there is a remedy for our health care system and it’s
up to us – the common folk – to find it. She hears endless, tragic
stories from people who have been ill-served by our system – either
because they don’t have insurance or because they have insurance that
doesn’t fit their needs. * *
*
THAT’S HOW
“CodeBlueNow” came to champion the case of Charlotte, a Seattle-area
child who will turn 3 on Feb. 15, but who is not expected to live beyond
the age of 5. Charlotte was born happy and healthy, but at 4 months
began to have problems. She’s been seen by an array of specialists
from Washington to California, but they cannot diagnose her problem
other than that she has a progressive neuromuscular disorder.
She needs a ventilator to breathe. Like my husband, she has a
feeding tube. She has no voluntary muscle control and, like my husband,
needs round-the-clock care. Also like him, she is aware of her
environment and responds positively to loved ones.
Charlotte’s parents are hard-working, middle class folks who
have insurance. The insurance covers Charlotte’s hospital bills, but
not the on-going skilled nursing care she requires. Insurance, it turns
out, is no guarantee that a medical crisis won’t also bring on
financial disaster.
A recent Harvard University study determined that more than half
of the people who file for bankruptcy in this country are forced into it
because of medical bills – and an astounding 75 percent of them were
covered by health insurance. * *
* CHARLOTTE’S parents
have tried every kind of appeal and bureaucratic avenue to get funding
for their child’s care. They have been joined in that effort by Sen.
Patty Murray, the vice president and director of Children’s Hospital
in Seattle and Charlotte’s attending physician. Children’s Hospital
tells CodeBlueNow that Great-West’s response has been unusual. The
“overwhelming majority” of insurers work with families to assist
with home care, say hospital personnel. So my friend Kathleen is putting the pressure on. A
believer in grassroots power, she’s urging people to write to
Great-West on behalf of Charlotte. At her web site (www.codebluenow.com)
she’s giving out the name of the company’s CEO, William McCallum;
his phone number in Englewood, Colo., (303) 737-3200, and e-mail (care
of his media person), loren.finkelstein@gwl.com. Poor Mr. McCallum. He’s going to need a rest. Maybe
some long-term care. Wonder if his insurance will cover it.
(Mary Koch is full-time caregiver
for her husband, who was disabled by stroke in 1993.)
Ó Mary Koch,
Omak, Washington 2005
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