As someone who has been pretty healthy all of my life until recently, I haven’t spent much time thinking about healthcare.  I’ve always had employer-provided insurance. Clearly this has been a hot topic in the news of late and I’m paying closer attention as it could impact my short and long term care.

Recently, I heard the story of a woman who switched insurance companies and was then no longer able to see her neurosurgeon any longer.  You heard that right.  She was no longer able to see the doctor who performed her brain surgery, to keep him in the loop with her health so that he could continue to be involved in her care.  She wound up  lapsing in her care and her tumor regrew to the point where it was inoperable. This story was told to me by a neurosurgeon.

I also recently heard the story of a woman in a clinical trial who was unable to continue in the clinical trial because she moved from one state to another and the new state had different legislation about participation in clinical trials. This story was relayed by a doctor involved in oncology clinical trials.

None of us likes to think about the possibility that we might have an illness or require short or long term disability in some way.  But I went into the hospital one day and had brain surgery three days later and now I have radiation and chemotherapy treatments in my future. Anything is possible.

Even the seemingly small things that will be in whatever healthcare bill gets passed are important. We should all be paying attention, regardless of our individual political views.

• Uncategorized