RE: Waiting lists

[Guest guest]

There are many waiting lists as Di pointed out and most aren't simple

" get in line " lists, although it helps to keep aware and sign up for

ones which might be useful.

I signed Jan up for the waiting list for Housing Choices about three

years before she came to California on the basis that if something real

good came up, she could come sooner. Her name came to the top, but I

had a friend on the board who simply said that Jan wasn't ready and had

her put back down. When we got here and the housing opportunity she has

taken came up, they advertised to all on their waiting list. They had a

potential of up to 25 apartments. In the end, I think that they only

got 12 or so, because relatively few were ready or qualified to take

advantage of the opportunity.

On the other hand, when the federal housing subsidy list (HUD Section 8)

this April for sign-up, you had only a week to sign up and the list had

been closed for about 7 years while they pared down the previous list.

50,000 people signed up and there are only about 500 vouchers a year

given out in the county. Of course many of those aren't eligible, but

that won't be found out until they come to the top. I signed Jan up,

but she seems to have been extremely fortunate since section 8 funding

came attached to her new apartment.

The long wait for group homes was mostly as institutions closed down and

very few were able to move in unless they had been in an institution.

Most of that need got fulfilled and in many places, the wait is chiefly

one of finding an appropriate setting which can happen quickly or take a

long time.

Rick .. dad to 33 year old Jan who is back in her apartment after a

long weekend with her parents ;-)

[Guest guest]

That was one of the topics brought up with a lot of people. I heard that you

would have to wait on a list for surgery, and the elderly would not be on top of

the list. Like Lottie said, what about knee replacement and back surgery etc.

I am sure they would not let you die if you needed emergency surgery?

We really do need to hear from people who have lived with this system for years,

and what they think.

Why are people coming here from other countries to get their surgery that they

need so badly?

[Guest guest]

Hi Lottie - have been very busy and Greg has a lot of ongoing issues and now

dx with severe sleep apnoea so he is being fitted for a CEPAC machine to

help which means a trip to Melbourne and o/n stay in hospital~ we had to

wait 6 weeks for this appointment.

With our health system - the 2 months is for specialist appointments or

procedures such as colonoscopies etc. I can always get into see my GP in a

day and my haem/t would see me after hours if required. My GP clinic also

has after hours on call, so pretty well looked after. When I was dx with

CML, I saw my haem/t within 4 weeks (I wasn't showing any signs except for

white cells going up) and a BMB the week after that in hospital under

sedation.

In the major cities in public health system, you could wait 12 months or

more for knee replacement surgery etc, but where I live is around 2-6

months, so am very fortunate.

Our public hospital system like all over the world has it's issues with lack

of funding, waiting lists, staffing and lack of GPs, while the private

health system seems to be in relatively good shape. The cost of private

health insurance is expensive and it never covers all of the costs, so

people can be left with a substantial bill afterwards eg if you had open

heart surgery in a private hospital to jump the waiting list. At a regional

public hospital they routinely do heart bypass surgery in 80 year olds and I

know of a 94 year old who had a triple bypass!

If you read the paper, there are always people complaining they will die

waiting for surgery or other care required to treat chronic illness, it

unfortunately is a sad fact of our society and the pressures put on our

health systems.

Keep well Lottie and keep typing - you are amazing what you dig up!

Regards,

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Lottie

Duthu

Sent: Wednesday, 17 June 2009 5:15 AM

CML

Subject: [ ] Waiting lists

Dear in AU,

Have not heard from you in ages. I hope you and Greg are doing well. Did I

understand correctly that you have to wait 2 months to get an appoinment to

see a doctor? Seems like a long time, to me. I know some specialists have 3

month waiting lists, but for a GP, it should not be that long. What if you

get really sick and can't wait 2 months? What do you do then, go to the

emergency room? We are trying to gather information from our members from

different countries to see how their health care is run. Your input is

valuable, even your jokes. LOL

In some instances, they do not allow the elderly care for cancer, or of

joint replacements because they are too old and it would be too expensive

for the healthcare system. At my age, I would be included in that bunch of

castaways. I had better hurry and get my knee replacement and back surgery

before they change our healthcare system.

Do you know how your healthcare system is doing financially? I heard on the

news that some country's healthcare were bankrupt. Keep in touch.

Hands and hearts,

Lottie

[Guest guest]

OK--I'm going to jump in here as there is just too much misinformation

being spread around on this topic. Actually there is now a trend for

Americans to go to other countries for surgery. Our healthcare is so

much more expensive than that of other countries now that employers

are less and less willing to pick up the costs. (Case in point--a PCR

test is typically $200 around the world and that's what it is actually

worth--it's old technology. MD charges my insurance company

$1200--(I pay $180 of that)). So we have more and more uninsured and

also people who are insured but find that their policies don't cover

much. I have read many articles over the past couple years about

people who go to other countries for surgery and they all rave about

the great care they get. It sounds like a trip back in time when I

read of their experience--there was a time when care in America was

excellent but quite often that is no longer the case. Not only is

the cost considerably less in other countries--but the care is

considerably better. I think healthcare has become too much about

money in America--many doctors have lost sight of the goal of helping

people to be healthy. The insurance companies will allow them a

certain amount for a certain type of visit--so the doctor has to make

sure he doesn't spend too much time with the patient or it will cost

him. Study after study shows that America ranks quite low against

other countries in measures of health and death rates. If you want to

know how good a healthcare system is--look at how healthly the

population is. That is the bottom line.

If you really want data on other countries--there is plenty

available. I'm not going to take the time now to hunt for links as

I'm not sure anyone is really interested. It would be more meaningful

than asking for anecdotal evidence from a few people on this list (and

then not really believing them anyway if they say they like their

system). If you really want the links--let me know and I will find

them.

When considering our healthcare options in this country you really

need to understand that there is one thing everyone agrees on--our

system is broken and must change. So keeping what we now have isn't

an option. Our costs have skyrocketed in this country and our

quality of care has gotten worse. This trend has been going on for a

number of years and isn't going to turn around on its own. When I

hear people say they don't want socialized medicine, I wonder if they

understand healthcare systems. We have had socialized medicine for

many many years (insurance is socialized medicine--we put money into a

pot and some of us (actually all of us with CML)--take out more than

we put in. Would you really want to have a healthcare system that

isn't socialized? That would mean paying all of your actual costs--

(this is the direction the McCain plan was heading--the idea was that

people should buy their own insurance and healthcare and that would

bring prices down--you wouldn't use it so much if you had to bear the

true costs). Is this the system you want??

We have had Medicare since the 1960's--I don't hear a lot of screaming

about this government run socialized healthcare system. In fact I've

heard people say they don't want the government messing with their

Medicare??? The problem is (as my onc says)--we have a stupid

socialized system--we only have the oldest, sickest people in the

system. We need everyone in the system to make it work--everyone

should be required to be insured.

I don't know about the rest of you but I have been put on " waiting

lists " many times in America. I have excellent health insurance and

access to the best doctors--so that's not the problem. I have called

my primary care doctor with a fever and infection and have been told I

would need to wait 6 weeks. I waited 6 weeks for an appointment with

a hematologist (and a CML diagnosis) when they discovered my counts

were extremely high (I figured it couldn't be serious as they wouldn't

have me wait that long--but I was wrong). I have to schedule an

appointment for a physical over a year in advance. I'm not alone--I

talk to people all the time who say they can't get an appointment for

x number of weeks and months.

About 6 months ago NPR had an excellent series about healthcare in

European countries. They did an in depth story each day for a week

about the healthcare system in different countries. Bobby is right--

they were all different. But they all made me long for their

systems! In most of those countries the doctors were making house

calls! The German doctor was saying he wasn't wealthy--but he was

comfortable. He said you don't become a doctor to make money--you

become a doctor to help people. I think many American doctors have

forgotten that. This doctor was calling on an elderly couple--he saw

them once a week. He was trying to talk the woman into taking a drug

but she refused. It was like being on another planet--or actually it

felt like a step back in time. I am old enough to remember when I

could go to a doctor who wasn't rushed--who actually cared about my

health more than his schedule.

So if you really want to understand what we should do in America--you

need to really understand the whole problem. It's too easy to just

say you don't like " socialized medicine " and waiting lines. What is

socialized medicine? What are the systems in other countries really

like? Are they really going to stop giving old people healthcare??

People live longer in those countries with socialized medicine--do you

ever wonder why? I wonder if you aren't just buying the argument of

the insurance companies--they want you to be afraid of socialized

medicine. One big issue in the current discussions on healthcare is

should we have a government provided insurance option. What is your

opinion on this? The insurance companies are adamantly opposed to

this because people would go with the cheaper option (the government

would be not for profit). Why should anyone except an insurance

company be opposed to this?? I'm not an insurance company--I don't

want to pay 40% of my healthcare dollars towards insurance company

revenue--that doesn't help my health at all. Why do so many Americans

echo the arguments of the insurance industry??

Let me know if anyone really wants to research this issue in more

detail. I will then take the time to provide the backup. I've read a

lot on this and thought a lot about it. One thing we should all

remember is there are no perfect systems--just some that work better

than others at what they are supposed to do. You could tell a good

story and a horror story from any system--but they are just anecdotal

stories. When you look at the total system you see that socialized

systems make people healthier. Our system makes people wealthier.

Since I don't own a hospital, clinic, or insurance company--I vote for

a more " socialized " system.

Dorothy

On Jun 16, 2009, at 4:42 PM, suzzienovember wrote:

>

>

> That was one of the topics brought up with a lot of people. I heard

> that you would have to wait on a list for surgery, and the elderly

> would not be on top of the list. Like Lottie said, what about knee

> replacement and back surgery etc. I am sure they would not let you

> die if you needed emergency surgery?

> We really do need to hear from people who have lived with this

> system for years, and what they think.

> Why are people coming here from other countries to get their surgery

> that they need so badly?

>

>

>