Before we had Kayden I worked for an insurance company. I understood things about insurance companies and overall I think insurance companies are good. We need them. They give people coverage with medical costs that can be insanely expensive. I also think that they help keep costs down in some ways. I saw what hospitals and doctors charged and I also saw what they were required to write off. I worked for a non-profit company and so I could see how insurance can work without the company "making" money. It can work and it does work, I don't think that people in congress can see it because they never have worked with a group where that works.
Also, before Kayden was born I knew the importance of insurance to an extent and now I have a whole new respect for it. Kayden has been lucky and has had coverage from the time he was born. He has had either Medicaid, private insurance or Medicare. (Yes, he qualifies for Medicare because he has End Stage Renal Disease. His Medicare coverage ends in November because he is three years post transplant and does not require dialysis or does not need another transplant at the moment. The moment he needs either dialysis or another transplant he will qualify once again for Medicare for another three years.) I have looked at what it would or will cost us if he no longer qualifies for Medicaid and has only private insurance. His medications alone for our portion will cost us around $200 a month. That is our portion after insurance has paid. He is always getting blood drawn and at some point we will need to pay our 20% of that and our 20% of his feeding pump. So for those alone you can bet on at least $300 per month on that. I use this to say things add up for those of us who have a child with a chronic illness. Those out of pocket maximums and lifetime maximums are reached REALLY quick. So what do we do after that? We still need coverage desperately and just because we have a chronic condition shouldn't disqualify us from getting the help that we need.
I think about Kayden when he gets older and how I hope that he will be able to have coverage. That when he gets older he won't be deemed uninsurable because of what he has gone through and the ongoing care and help that he needs. Of course he won't have a feeding pump when he is older but he will still need medications, blood draws, and who know when that rejection may happen.
We also need to make insurance is affordable for everyone. Part of the reason why people don't have insurance is because they don't want to pay the outrageous premiums to be covered. But that is also why the insurance premiums are so outrageous. The more people that you have on a plan the lower the premiums are. The less people the higher the premium. That is where I think the government can come in and help. Offer a plan that is lower premiums that will bring the cost of competing insurance companies down to entice people to shop around. It can work but we can't look at it as government control. It should be another non-profit organization coming into the business. I am just able to look at this issue from all perspectives and the only thing that a lot of the representatives and senators and others can see if that the government is stepping in and taking over when if done properly will work and should work.
A few weeks ago there was a big issue with the President talking to students in school, during school. Many parents were upset and were afraid that it was political and would be "indoctrinating" our kids. What a bunch of crap! I think it is cool that the kids were able to listen to the President of the United States talk about school and how it is important to stay in school and set goals. We need to teach our kids respect for the president and tolerance. So many people these days don't have respect for anyone and they do not have tolerance for others. We need to get back to our roots and start teaching our kids and taking responsibility for them and what they are learning. So many people are so caught up in their own lives and in their own drama and their kids are just added players in it.
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I have one thing to add about the president's talk. I have heard some talk-show hosts saying they didn't like the President saying "What can you do to help the president?" Like children would only be helping him, that he was putting himself up on a pedestal to be honored and worshipped. But I felt he was just talking in the language of the parents. How many parents say "What can you do to help your parents?" and teachers say "How can you help us make a better classroom?" Or "What can you do to help your grandmother?" I didn't feel that it was HIM he was asking about, just helping in general. But then, that is my opinion.
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