This morning, I was reading
this article, and it just stunned me...
Study: Insured Cancer Patients Do Better
By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press
Posted: 2007-12-20 00:27:15
ATLANTA (AP) - Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles.
People without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study also found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.
The research by scientists with the American Cancer Society offers important context for the national discussion about health care reform, experts say - even though the uninsured are believed to account for just a fraction of U.S. cancer deaths. An Associated Press analysis suggests it is around 4 percent.
Those dealing with cancer and inadequate insurance weren't surprised by the findings.
"I would just like for something to be done to help someone else, so they don't have to go through what we went through," said Peggy Hicks, a Florida woman whose husband died in August from colon cancer.
Now, what was amazing to me is that some pointy head somewhere actually got paid to do this study when the whole thesis is not at all different from someone doing study to find out if it's true that people get wet when they stand in the rain. In other words, why waste your fucking time studying the obvious?
The fact is, the oxy-moronic American health care system is essentially a death sentence, and America is certainly no place to ever get sick.
Anyway, this whole article reminded me of my friend's son Drew. He and I weren't particularly close, but his story is a great example of everything that is wrong with American medicine.
Drew went to college, graduated college, and shortly after graduation, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and was dead within two years in spite of the fact that his doctors supposedly "caught it early."
Drew's biggest mistake, much like mine, was to go to college in pursuit of an education rather than get a garden-variety job with insurance. And, the funny thing is, people seem to have this notion that the reason why college kids don't have insurance is because they somehow believe they are young and invincible.
That's complete and utter bullshit, and should someone ever say that to you, do humanity a favor and throat punch the moron saying it.
The fact is, when kids start college, they are usually still covered by their parents' policy. However, I believe when a person turns 19, usually that insurance runs out, and while the kid is still in school paying for things like tuition, food, rent, and books, there is simply no way for a college student to be capable of affording insurance let alone finding enough time to work a decent full-time job so as to get any sort of coverage.
So, it's a crap game, and it's a gamble that some students (like Drew and myself) sometimes lose.
Now, I think things have improved for students to some extent as a result of some diligent little advocates, but they've not gotten to the point where I would ever actually endorse parents send their children to college unless those parents are also willing to pay out of pocket for some level of coverage. After all, if your child is diagnosed with cancer or some other chronic illness without insurance, the odds of you ever again being able to find affordable coverage are a cold, dead zero.
Oh yeah... And even if you do have coverage, there's still no guarantee that the insurance company won't drop you like a hot potato or do what they can to defraud the population by pretending to be qualified physicians and dictate your course of treatment in spite of those who actually know what they're talking about.
So, as for this study, I think those behind it should be slapped repeatedly while
47 million Americans shout "no shit, asshole. Stop the fucking studies and do something!"
Unfortunately, I believe this problem is something that will have to get much worse before it gets better. However, if it pisses you off that some insane terrorists killed a few thousand people some years back for no other reason than to scare our nation stupid (which they did quite successfully, unfortunately), shouldn't it piss you off more to think that there are almost 50 million Americans out there who, if they get sick, will probably be killed due to medical neglect as a result of the greed of just a handful of their fellow American citizens?
To hopefully drive this point home, let me once again drag out the body of my dead friend Drew...
His father, Walter, has great insurance. He's worked in a factory all his life, and he's covered for just about anything, I think. In fact, when he was diagnosed with colon cancer many years ago, his doctors were
allowed to do whatever they could to save his life, and they succeeded, and he's been cancer free and back at work ever since.
Imagine, now, in this day-and-age, after the myriad of amazing advancements that have been made in combating cancer, how difficult it must have been for Walter to watch his twenty-five-year-old son die of the same disease he himself had beaten many years previous at a time when cancer was still a death sentence.
I'll let that sink in.
And, with that, I think I'll end my rambling rant and wrap up this babblefest. As for this pointless study by Elizabeth Ward, I think the only question 16% of Americans have is "So what? Are you going to get off your dead ass and do anything to help, or are you just patting yourself on the back feeling proud of yourself for wasting everyone's time and money to actually find out what everyone already knew?"
-DP
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Posted By Dan to
The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at 12/20/2007 09:45:00 AM
