It is ironic that this is Valentine's Week, a time of succulent chocolates and professed Love, it is a time of Matters of the Heart.It is ironic that the King came to Middle America ( Wendy's Corporate Head Quarters) this week and gave a speech about Health Care for the Wealthy and Privileged.I strongly doubt that the Hamburger Flippers have much" Choice" about Health Care Options, or the DO It Your Way Accounts that the King is out humping this week.
It is ironic that Heart issues would ever even enter the dialogue at this point of this Heartless Administration.
( Especially while an old man attempts to recover from being shot dead dead on the in chest, neck and head by the VP and the subsequent Heart attack and embedded pellets leave him in ICU).
It is ironic that the local news station has been covering the Importance of the Women getting their Hearts medically evaluated and cared for. They have been highlighting that often times that women's Heart DIsease risks are missed or downplayed. It is ironic that this little issue should impact my life. I am blogging on it because the little reality check I recieved this week could , will and has impacted 1000's of women. It is a matter of Criminal Negligence.
So the President came to Middle America and gave his speech to middle class hardworking americans and due to a marshmallow shortage I only watched part of his little show. What I caught was that he supported the" Importance of Private Insurance "in this country, and the "Choices It gives people". "CHOICES" is such an interesting, meaningless word. I think the word "Choices" must mean that we can choose how we want to be robbed in the parking lot or at home. Because what it does not mean is the ability to make informed educated decisions that effect one's quality of life.
This month the local news station has been running a series to educate women on Heart issues and Heart Disease. I support this effort with great enthusiasm. It is an area that has been neglected for too long by main stream media. Women have heart problems and it is finally now being recognized as the Killer it truly is. Now along those lines, it also comes into play that much of the heart disease that affects women, often silently is misdiagnosed. Women for many years were not getting the care and evaluation that they needed regarding heart disease. Even working ER I used to see women that were having heart attacks, and their symptoms were totally different then men's. But the one striking feature of caring for these women was that many had never had any proper cardiac followup or evaluation prior to an MI in the ER. Symptoms and disease that could have been monitored and followed for many years and led to good preventitive care did not happen. So this local station has been carefully explaining and encouraging women to get good preventitive care. Explaining that Symptoms should not be dismissed and glossed over ( as women tend to do). They also have been explaining the revelance of a full history and good maintenance care. I applaud them for this work.
Now comes the Heartbreaking Truth of this story. Many women have an anatomical feature, called Mitral Valve Prolapse. It involves the actual structure of the heart and how the valves work. It is inherited genetically, it is not a risk factor that women can control or determine. 7.6 to 18% of ALL women have this feature as part of their anatomy, it is estimated the 7.6% represents the number of women that clinically present with this feature. ( But it is estimated that up to 18% have the feature, some may be symptom free and never diagnosed their entire life). It is obviously a prevalent feature, and common amoung women. It can lead to symptoms that include the following: shortness of breath, fatigue, palpitations, chest pain, or irregular heart beats. It does require a full evaluation to make certain that it does not lead to some other life threatening caridac disorder or damage. it is a health situation that with proper preventitive care and maintenance can allow the person to have a full productive life. It is just a part of a person's anatomy, just like the curve a spine or the twist of a toe.And sadly the Women have this feature,( It is estimated that only 2.5-4% of the males have this feature). The condition usually gets identified via pregnency, dehydration or simple palpiations noted. Once noted it can be further evaluated with EKG and or an ECHO. Many women also have a murmur that is an identifying factor. Again I repeat that it is not a critical issue, but an a condition that women should not have to hide, deny or be ashamed of, or be afraid to get evaluated.
Proper evaluation can lead to preventive care for dental appointments and care as well as teaching women how to take better care of their hearts.Antibiotics are needed with dental care and if not given valves can collect bacteria and become infected, leading to damage and or the need for costly valve replacement. ( No smoking, caffiene effects, and better care and prevention of Panic attacks are some of the other positive aspects of appropriate care of MVP.)
What I have learned in the past month is that MVP is a condition that allows Insurance Providers to DENY coverage to women. Even admitting that it has ever been raised and or evaluated and or a a single EKG can cancel or deny coverage for women. This means that women -up to 18% of the female population will and not and can not recieve medical care and or followup for this minor condition, much less the proper followup of any cardiac condition or symptoms, or history without risking losing their insurance.It means that thousands of women are at risk of further or worse heart problems because of having to hide this simple disorder.These women are not just denied healthcare coverage for their Heart, their Entire Body, they are denied ALL health coverage. Private Insurance is wielding a heart breaking amount of power over the lives of thousands of women.
Links:
PLEASE DO HEAD OVER TO RORY SHOCK- EXCELLENT POST UP ON SATURDAY FEB 19TH ON HEALTH ISSUES
IT IS AN EXCELLENT READ....,
http://www.mvprolapse.com/mvp.html ,
and also see,
http://www.nursing.wright.edu/practice/mvp/default ,
41 comments:
Any form of insurance is a scam. When they can cancel your coverage after you've paid them is ludicrous. Insurance companies run the country, and if you don't believe me-
going to an ER, better have insurance.
Driving a car, better have insurance.
Taking out a mortgage, better have insurance.
They are part of the creators of the climate of fear in this country.
Sorry Lew, but you are correct.I don't know what criteria is being used to DENY men insurance- but I am sure there is some for men as well. But for women this can effect a pretty large number - up to 18% are and can be denied coverage- and it is a tool that is being used nationwide.And even if they have coverage- they can be cancelled with one EKG. This isn't right. Thanks for coming by.
Thanks for posting on this. It is a true crime to deny ins for a condition that is completely controllable with preventative care & maint. I know because I have MVP & was also denied ins when I moved out of state. All I have to do is take antibiotics before dental work. That & understand when occasional heart palpitations happen that I only need to calm down. Without the diagnosis I would have gone into full panic attack. But it is that diagnosis that forms the basis of ins denial. Just crazy.
Oh, there was one famous man that had MVP. Remember Bobby Darin (Mack the Knife)? Died young because he did NOT take antibiotics before dental work & got an infection that ended up giving him a fatal heart inflammation.
And Enigma, you need to correct the link to mvprolapse.com (that's prolapse with an "R"). It's an excellent resource for MVP & you are doing great work for public awareness in providing it. D.K.
Thank you DK for the feedback and also for the correction- I didn't even notice the error. And the Bobby story was chilling.( I completely forgot about him and his situation). I did go back and edit the post and add some of the more relevant points that you brought up. Thank you for helping me on this relevant issue. ( See you come by here and help edit a blog- good work!)....take good care of your heart.
I knew about Bobby Darin - but I didn't realize the problem was so pervasive in women. Great post - very informative. Scary though. Oh - I wanted to let you know I included your blog in my Friday Features segment. Drop by and check it out when you can. Take care, my dear.
FLS: Thanks for coming by...and I am glad that it was helpful...and Watergate is featured in a feature- that sounds very exciting- thank you....I will indeed be over...
Goth- sadly it isn't just about poor people anymore, middleclass is just as slammed or worse- it is about the 38.5 uninsured Americans right now- most of who are working but uninsured. And many like me are self-employed....or small companies...30% of the bankruptcies in the past three years were due to health bills and expenses...that is not right.It should be a garanteed right...I would propose a Constitutional Amendment....that is how much it matters to me as a mom and as a nurse....
Sorry I need to correct what I wrote...38.5 MILLION people are uninisured.....atleast.
I haven't had insurance since I left my last full time job five years ago. part-time jobs don't usually offer insurance..starbucks is the only place that comes to mind that DOES. People working for minimum wage never get health insurance..and many folks that have..gasp..kids can't afford the massive monthly premiums to insure them..so the vicious spiral starts..clogging the ER's with uninsured folk who don't really receive decent care since all the ER doc's want to do is treat the symptons and get them the hell out of there...no slam against the ER personell, they have no choice..no one has any choices..thats the problem..
ok..I am stepping off my soapbox now..
I would agree that everyone should be afforded the opportunity for health coverage, but not everyone should be gifted health coverage, and we definately don't want a government ran program. There needs to be something in between. Two examples. First, I am familiar with the free services offered to poor persons in my state. It is greatly abused by its patrons and has costed the state a lot of money to support. Secondly, Canada's health system is ran by the government. Although it is a cheap service, they get what they pay for. It's too bad insurance is a necessary evil. Necessary because of the obvious. Evil because doctors can charge more since they know insurance is going to pay for it (it violates supply/demand). Then, doctors need insurance so they charge more, and the cycle becomes uncontrollable. I agree, changes need to be made. Good Post.
I didn't know that you could be denied insurance for MVP. My stepmom has it. As far as this being the doctor's fault, I have a lot of doctors in my life and let me tell you, it's not them. It's the insurance companies. You'd be surprised at how often the doctors get burned by them as well. The insurers routinely deny coverage the first two times they submit bills because they know only a certain percentage will follow through to get paid. At some point the cost of processing the paperwork costs more than the procedure was worth.
Great blog you got here enigma. I'm just getting around to working you into my regular reads and I was just knocked out by the posts on Flo and the wheelchair lady.
DUSTY: Thanks for coming by- and I hear you...and as much time as I spend at Starbucks I should work there...Most of us are in the Same Boat with this- let's hope that it is not the Titanic- but it sure feels like it at times...and yes, the ER on mnay levels has turned into an Urgent Care center and No One recieves adequate care..and yes, if you read below ( DUCK DICK) you know I used to work ER...but I take no offense to what you said...all true- sad but true...and hey, you can come here and climb on the old soapbox anytime...maybe I should start holding a Soapbox Friday just for all of us to vent....
TWILIGHT TROLL: Well, you know your name will garner attention- but I am giving you a chance. The last troll here got ushered to the door, but you seem respectful...but you are lacking some facts. Most Doctors are in the same boat as most patients- they are being dictated on Care, and what they charge and what they are paid..by large gluttous Insurance Companies, and it wasn't always this way- as a nurse of over 20 years I can assure that the doctors- most of them- not the NipTuck Pillagers, are just trying to provide a certain level of care and charge a fee for services. ( Esp. in the larger Urban Hospitals and the Teaching Hospitals). I do think that there are Countries that provide Nationalized Health Care that is functional and working effectively for all involved- and where everyone pays into what they can afford- I don't think that is charity or "gifting" , it merely creating a system that works with and for the population and leaves no one abandoned or vulnerable. Esp. when a fair number of people are trying to take care of themselves and their families by identifying risks ( ie like the post above about MVP).Some of the Countries that have better fucntional national Health Care are Sweden,New Zealand, and even Japan. And even Canada is working on improving what they have- they are aware of problems. Thanks for coming by- and actually not being very troll- like at all.Solutions can be found if we all eduacate and work together.
LIBBY:Make sure your mom takes anitbiotics with Dental work- CCU is seeing more women with valve infections because of this issue. About the Insurers I don't think most people realize the amount of power they wield and
the financial stress and disorder they are creating in this country. And thanks for what you said about my posts for Flo and Ethel Freeman...and also take a gander at April 1968 ( which is about my Great Aunt May- and her tale as it overlaps with Coretta Scott King). I am trying to honor the Women in our lives.... I will be over to see you later...( I think I put on my Blogroll)
Was insurance - the biz - created after or before the Mafia?
"It gives you choices!" Yes, the choice to live...or to die. Wait a minute. I guess that's not a choice if you can't afford it.
I wasn't trying to nail the blame to just doctors. I do agree that insurance companies are a large problem. There's just so much room to write in the comments. I'm curious as to why antibiotics have to be taken while going to a dentist for this MVP. I can understand if they are cutting into the gums but for a cleaning? I would think daily eating on foods that can tear into the gums would cause more issues. Thanks.
TWILIGHT TROLL: It's okay about the doctors- was just clarifying the some of the issues. About the antibiotics for dental work- the links I gave I think explain it fairly well. The issue is that dental work frees toxins into the bloodstream - and those toxins can accumulate on the valve, the mitral valve, and as the valve does not work as effectively- it regurgs' meaning there can be a backflow of the blood, and the toxins from the dental work onto the valve, and that can lead to an infection within the heart. ( Again I hope that the links explain that better).
Neil: As usual you are correct- I was quoted by Insurance companies this year- 600-1300/month and I snipped- "Oh, maybe I should just buy a Cemetary plot instead"...the person on the other end of the phone did not laugh at my joke. ( actually I wasn't totally joking)
WINDSPIKE: I do believe insurance has been around since the Romans..and Who did you think taught the Mafia ?.....
right on for raising this and doing so in such an informed/informative way ... yeah, the liar-in-chief-and his health savings accounts ... further putting health care out of reach of those who can afford it least ... what a humanitarian ... again, his policies will play out with people dying painfully in ways that would be unnecessary if resources were distributed in just a wee bit more fairly ... in 2004 William McGuire, CEO of United Health group which launched a health savings account plan (a high deductible plan) was compensated to the tune of $58,000,000. He also cashed out $114,000,000 in stock option grants from previous years. Sick compensation for insanely greedy execs is what Bush's health insurance scam is reallly about ... as we all know ... but McGuire gives a tangible example of what it does ... kills poor people and fills the trough for the overfed execs ...
rock on enigma
putting a link to you on rory right now
Thanks for telling me about the United Health Care "Plan"- this is one of the "plans" that I have encountered but was unable to find any relelvant info- that little synopsis above is ver helpful....and pathetic....yet, another Dubya Club Member done good- Heckuva job....urhghhh....Good to see you Rory- HEY ENIGMA CAFE POSSE HEAD OVER TO RORYS' SITE IT IS GREAT....( I am including you in my Sunday roundup ;-)
I didn't know about any of that. Great post. Well, I take that back, I guess I did know about greedy insurance companies.
It's okay Grame- we all know they are greedy- the big questin now is HOW greedy ?
mucho thankyou enigma ...
rory
38 million uninsured, millions of people starving in Africa and the "happy" few billionairs are craving for more and more and more and have created a new facist world order. It's a sick world but we won't sit back and watch. Thx for posting..
Well, this is a nice thread. Thank you for posting it e4e; for igniting this conversation. I think if this were two hundred years ago and the oceans were still strapped to the Earth by the wakes of those beautiful, multi-sailed, triple masted schooners, many would have enigma4ever figureheads on their prows, parting the seas and making waves wherever they go.
If I might throw in my own two cynical cents here...as a kid fresh out of college, Ilanded a job at an insurance company; as an underwriter. It was a thankless job, cancelling people's insurance when credit reporters found a couple beer cans in their trash. I came home feeling dirty at the end of every day. I lasted 20 months. About 15 years later while trying to procure my own health insurance, I was turned down by some underwriter, because when insured, I had submitted a couple health care claims for visits to a dermatologist (for canker sores which resulted, I can only surmise, from sucking on too many cinnamon sticks while shaking the tobacco habit, i.e., I had been foolish enough to think that's what I bought insurance for, you could expect a little help should the need arise, but that turned out to be wrong as some insurer took me in a back room and reminded me). Of course, being turned down for insurance is like being branded on one's forehead with the scarlet letter "U" for all other insurance cos. to see (where U = uninsurable). I'm okay, I am today "momentarily covered" thru my wife's insurance. I say momentarily because each year when the new coverages are revealed, we find deductibles soaring along with the premiums, which brings me to the point of this rant, I suppose.
As a student of "the dismal science"--economics--I noticed someone earlier here brought up the law of supply and demand. Laws are made to be broken, and the one for supply and demand is corrupted and as bogus as it gets these days. The collapse of Communism and pursuant dancing on walls and in the streets only prefaced the demise of the other big "C", capitalism, by a couple of decades. But I'm digressing, sorry.
What we're seeing in insurance is the culmination of a couple of centuries of fine tuning of that industry, just as our economic theory of capitalism is approaching the threshold of its inevitable evolution--total collapse.
Pooling of risks so that insurance could be afforded all was a nice theory and, for awhile, it worked. But that was just a moment along the path we're now far beyond. What we're seeing with insurance is the attainment of that industry's orgasmic ecstacy! They're almost to the point where they want to be, i.e., they collect the premiums but pay back nothing! In its last days, only the healthy will be insured. If they get sick, they will be eliminated, of course. Drags on profits are not tolerated. Of course, when they attain that ultimate moment is when the first bullets will start flying.
(Relax. Here I'm just exercising my hyperbole. I'm only kidding! This is America and that would never happen here! Our international reputation's been mugged, plundered, and raped, along with our civil rights, our treasury, our health and environment, the constitution and our futures. etc. as we "New Americans" sit idly by, wondering how much the next screwing is gonna cost us. Maybe that's why the new economics are working beyond the fascist's and industry's wildest dreams? Somewhere along the way our "Spirit of '76" passed away. (Probably because it couldn't afford the premiums.)
Dada: WOW..what can I say....you really said it all..I am officially crowning you with my Rant Tiera, because you covered the Gluttonous Orgasmic Historical Aspects I only glossed over...and you are right their goal is only insure healthy people....We are living 1984, and Animal Farm...
DIMITRI: Good to see you and you are right this Regime has perpetrated malnutrition and not just in Africa- there is malnutrition here, just not on the visible starving level of Africa, yet.....But you are right we will not sit back and watch...me- I write- it is my strongest weapon....
AND A NOTE TO THE ENIGMA CAFE POSSE AND EVEN TO MY LITTLE LURKERS HEAD OVER TO Dada's Blog- he has wonderful commentary on a variety of subjects- he is a talented observant writer. AND ALSO: head over to DIMITRI's as well- it is a beautiful blog- a respite....truly a retreat from the havoc of life...
thank you for this. i want socialized universal health care.
I went back this weekend and checked some of my stats- and it turns out I was wrong-
43 to 48.5 MILLION is the correct number for uninsured.
12.5 are children.
It is unclear if these figures includes the 38.5 that live below poverty level in America ( go to Fuzzy&Blue and read more)
JENNY: yes we need a nationalized system- but considering how this administration has murdered Medicare, FEMA and the VA system I have even bigger worries that they would contract and outsource out our healthcare...even though we need to do SOMETHING...
e4e: Thank you for the very kind words. But thank you most of all for the beautiful Rant Tiara. I'm a little nervous wearing it in here this morning, lest you glimpse it and see in the three short days I've been wearing it, it's tarnishing! (Maybe that's what it's supposed to do if one is doing what they're supposed to, i.e., rant?)
Re Universal Healthcare under Bush....Ahhh, what's the matter? Does the thought of your HMO being run by Kellogg, Brown & Root make you uneasy? Or the fact your doctor got his medical degree at an Aetna Insurance Co. campus somewhere in Kentucy bother you? Or is it disturbing all the instruments and diagnostic tools, like the doctor's office computers, and the all those MRI's and CAT Scan machines read on their sides in bold red letters, "DIEBOLD", which might mean something other than a 'speedy recovery'?
Damn, why's this crown keep tarnishing?
Strange that King George went to Wendy's. Burger King would suit him better. He could commune with their still-less-creepy-than-Bush mascot king and convince their CEOs to change their slogan to "Have It My Way."
Hear! Hear!
As a Barker it's in my blood to say that.
Excellent post. Insurance is a scam. This has been pointed out above, in better words than I have at the moment, by many of your commenters. Even the logic behind insurance is a scam. How do insurance companies make money? They make money by NOT paying back what their suckers/chumps (customers) have payed in.
Americans are clever people. Why haven't they come up with an alternative to this scam?
Enigma: I am firmly convinced that single payer insurance is THE only hope we have in this nation since the insurance behemoths/ GOPers will never ever go for natl healthcare. It is beyond immoral that we do not have natl healthcare coverage but I truly do think that it is their grand plan to have us drop like flies b/c let's face it, a dead people won't be desperatly searching for jobs that do not exist in this country. If enough of us keel over, the market will be wide open for us to take those jobs that require us to work at a slave labor rate.
And then when enough of us develop clogged arteries from living off the fast food where we work, they can deny us any coverage b/c we have pre-existing conditions.... and their circle of evil will be complete!
TINA: To be honest I don't know what the solution is, one would be a State Wide Insurance per state to share costs, and it could serve more as a provider , and even a competitor to the Big Evil Insurance Companies. ( so in a way it is like your single payer idea). I just know what we have is not helping anyone's healthcare.....
JUSTIN: You can come and Bark here anytime...and yes the system is soooooo Broke and needs some smart folks to come up with something better....Anything ...( well not FEMA...)course give these assholes time and they would put it under HLS- due to friggn bird flu.
Cruel Animal: So True and so funny- yes he should have gone to Burger King....( and that King guy is sooooo creepy)...
DADA: Hey there, you are doing fine with Tiara duties...hang in there ....spit will get the tarnish off...
and sometimes I too get spitting mad...works like a charm...
Not aure if you are so inclined, but a bunch of bloggers (including us, at Lose The Nose and Consider The Boot) are going to blog about Corporate Appreciation next week, week of Feb 25 etc. the point is to use our forum to highlight corporate criminals,polluters, etc. and see how this theme touches us. Some will write about animal testing, one blogger on reproductive organs and toxins, especially in South America where toxins have been so recklessly dumped in water supplies... graphics, photography, corporate scandal, even the murders of labor and union organizers...all will be themes. I'm hoping to post a list of participants willing to do a post or two on this next week.
Voices are great, but when applied, that much greater.
Just wanted to let you know.
I didn't know that about MVP. It's rarely diagnosed around here--one of those it's all in your head brush-offs.
LILLY: Thanks for the heads up and it sounds like an interesting week...
NB: I am not sure where you are , but even in the states it is not diagnosed unless people have a problem, or sometimes it gets diagnosed due to the murmur or sometimes it gets noted during pregnency.Heart Disease and heart issues in women tend to get missed or misdiagnosed in women, or even downplayed. In the 1970's and 1980's it was not uncommon for women with symptoms:irregluar heartbeat, palpitations, nausea, SOB, or chest pain to be told "it was all in their head". Hopefully we have come further than that....Hard to say if women , 1000's are not getting proper health care ( even basic maintenance).
The medical community tend to do this to women as you know. I hope all is ok with you Enigma.
Lilly:
Thanks for the messege...I will be fine and over to visit soon at the Lose the Noose....
OK -- Where are you and what have you been thinking about?
Missin' you E4e.
just checking on you, enigma. wondering if you've any thoughts to share. D.K.
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