Re: Another tragedy due to no health insurance

"Tim Shoppa" <shoppa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:dcedc5a1-9c20-4156-a971-8cf97a59203a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DarkSentinel wrote:
"Julie Bove" <juliebove@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:J9mBj.5357$Mp4.3297@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Michelle C." <bookbug2005@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:d93b8ef1-cbd5-402a-b9e4-5c89d08b317c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.lvrj.com/news/16412386.html
>>
>> Nevada woman charged in July crash that killed four in California
>> family

snipped for brevity <

>> All four family members were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities
>> said.
>
> How does insurance figure into this? She had a hypo and apparently > didn't
> test.

Not that I am a great fan of insurance companies by any stretch of the
imagination, but this was entirely HER fault. Gardnerville is less than 50
miles from me, and I know all about this story. Lynn and I discussed this
very story in fact. What the story fails to mention is that free clinics are
available here, as they are in many areas. If not there in Douglas County
where Gardnerville is, then most certainly here in Reno which I know there
is for a fact. When you have a disease like this, there is no reason on
earth NOT to check out all resources that are available. The doctors
mentioned in the article would have certainly have directed her towards one
if she lost her coverage. Many doctors will also work with you on finances
as well. More questions here begs to be asked as well. The article states
she injects, and tests. I'm almost certain that insulin requires a
prescription here in Nevada. I know for certain Lantus does. If this is the
case, where is she getting the script? Also pretty sure you can't get strips
OTC here either, but would have to check that out. So where is THAT script
coming from? If she could get these, there is no reason she could not have
gone to a free clinic. This is just another black eye for us diabetics...:(

A couple of corrections:

Insulin is available OTC in all 50 states.

Syringes are available in almost all localities with very few
restrictions.

Test strips are available OTC absolutely everywhere.

The above two facts are the result of careful campaigning by the ADA:
without them, every diabetic who had their health insurance or
prescriptions lapse would end up dead pretty shortly.

I spoke to my doctor yesterday and found out that this is true, but read further...

You highly exaggerate the accessibility of clinics. It is very very
easy to be employed and making too much money to be eligible for the
clinics. It is also very easy to be employed and making lots of
money... but no doctors will see you without insurance.

Actually I do not. At least not in THIS area, which is what I based my comments on. After a speaking to my doctor I found out a few things. Gardnerville is in Douglas County, which also contains Carson City, the state capital. There ARE clinics here in northern Nevada. In Washoe county where I live it's called Health Access Washoe County (HAWC). It is specifically for uninsured residents.

http://www.newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=oid%3A21618

I would have to investigate Douglas County in greater depth, but throughout the state this is available...

http://dhhs.nv.gov/PDFs/NV_Strategic_Health_Plan_2007-0223b.pdf

My doctor also says there is a program called "Help Chest" here in the area. Provides free insulin and other things to uninsured people. She said that one of her jobs is to provide information to her patients concerning free and lost cost alternatives for her patients if needed. The point here is that there ARE resources to be had here. If she knew she was losing her insurance, a doctor could have provided her with options.

I know all the above because I spent several years on the fringe of
the health care system, trying to see docs and being turned away not
because I didn't have cash, but because they only accepted patients
with insurance.

While that may be the case in your area, it is not the case here, which again is what this is all about. There is no reason she could not have gotten assistance. Like I said, I have only been in this area since September, and just by asking a couple of questions, and a little research I found many resources.

Occasionally a pharmacist would refuse to sell me insulin or more
frequently refuse to sell me syringes. But I believe this is a
violation of the law (at least in the case of the insuin).

Strangely enough, in my particular area the trend is going the other
way; there are docs that will not accept any kind of insurance, only
cash.

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with the incorrectness of the
premise of the original post: in fact whether someone has insurance or
not does not determine whether you get a hypo while driving. Personal
responsibility, and nothing else, prevents hypos while driving. Yeah,
sure, test strips are necessary too... but without the personal
responsibility they don't do the trick.

And that was my original contention. We take responsibility for our own actions. Some people try and blame it on whatever excuse is convenient. Placing the blame on anyone or anything but themselves.

Plenty of insulin-using diabetics have gone hypo and been in car
accidents even while insured. Every month or two there's a post here
about such an incident. The thought that I might go hypo while driving
my three kids around scares the liviing *** out of me.

Same here, as I said in another post, if I am even close to going hypo, Lynn drives or my big ass stays at home. I carry glucose tabs in the car in case I feel it coming on when I am out, and/or would stop somewhere if it started feeling severe. I couldn't live with that kind of thing on my conscious.

--
T2 - Oct. '96 - Lantus, oral meds, diet
http://www.lockergnome.com/darksentinel
Undo the munge to reply by email

.