Health Care & Politics

This is what a pre-existing condition looks like.

It's no secret that the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is under extreme pressure right now. It is on the verge of being completely dismantled by our government. Replacement is still hazy, with no real plan being announced for something to take the place of ACA at this time.

I'm doing my best to keep up with what's happening on this front, but things are happening so quickly right now that it is difficult at best. I'm aware that ACA is not a perfect system. There are issues that need to be addressed, including rising health care premiums and deductibles that are breaking the pocketbooks of many Americans.

That being said, I'd like to point out a few things that ACA (Affordable Care Act) has done that are positive. So no matter what side of the ACA fight you're on, I think we can all agree on the fact that we want the best coverage we can get, and it needs to be financially affordable for all Americans. If the ACA is overturned, let's hold our lawmakers accountable to make sure that certain protections are kept in place. If the ACA is kept, and "fixed," let's hold our lawmakers accountable to make sure that everyone can afford good health care coverage.
Some things that the ACA has done:

1.) Children are allowed to stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26 years old, giving them time to complete a decent education and establish themselves before taking over this costs themselves.
2.) No insurance company can deny health insurance to a person based on a pre-existing condition (I have 3 of those!).
3.) A person's health insurance premium is not based on their gender (it used to be) or their health conditions (same thing). Pre-ACA a woman was charged more than a man for health insurance. And if you were lucky enough to get health insurance with a pre-existing condition, you could be charged way more for your premium.
4.) There are no longer annual and lifetime caps on what an insurance company will pay out for a patient. Pre-ACA, an insurance policy could limit the dollar amount they would pay out in a year, or even in a lifetime. Someone with a chronic illness or traumatic event could max these out and be stuck paying the difference.
5.) Preventive care is now free. This means your yearly check up with your doctor is free to you. This just makes sense. Regular health checkups mean less illness. Less illness means less cost to the insurer and to the patient.
6.) Birth control is free to women. Let's think this out: Pregnancy is expensive for patients and insurers. If you offer free birth control, there are less unplanned pregnancies, meaning less cost to insurers and patients. Less unplanned pregnancies also mean less abortions, and I think everyone can agree that is a good thing.

These are all positive, GOOD things that came along with the Affordable Care Act. We need to keep these things (among others) if we are to have a strong, healthy society. So no matter how we get there, by fixing the ACA, or repealing and replacing it with something better, we need to be sure that we keep these things in whatever legislation is used.

So, don't hesitate to contact your lawmakers. There are websites that even make it easy, like DPAC (Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition). Or you can visit usa.gov to find out who your elected officials are and contact them yourself, by phone, email, fax, or set up an appointment to meet with them in person.

This shouldn't be about Democrats or Republicans. This shouldn't be about taking a side, or who you voted for. This is about making sure that everyone has access to affordable healthcare. That isn't partisan. That's just kindness. Diabetes and Celiac don't discriminate. Many other pre-existing conditions don't discriminate. They can affect anyone at anytime. So that means this issue affects us all.

Ignorance is Bliss

One of the things that annoys all of us PWD is when the general populations perpetuates diabetes myths. It has been something that we have been fighting since the day we (or our loved one) was diagnosed with diabetes.

We deal with people telling us to eat cinnamon, run 10 miles a day, stop eating bread, etc and then your diabetes will go away. We deal with people saying that diabetes happens because someone is overweight or ate too much sugar (both of which are untrue for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes).
Sometimes it seems like a constant battle.

Celiac has been in my world for only a couple of months. I spend most of my time trying to figure out what I'm doing, if I'm eating the right thing, and what the best gluten-free food are. It didn't really occur to me that I would step into advocacy for celiac by accident. But it happened.

Last weekend I was at Whole Foods (a store, prior to my celiac diagnosis, I had only been in a couple of times). It was crowded and busy, as most places are on Saturday afternoon. There I was, standing in the gluten-free mixes/flours isle trying to decide which of them I was going to try.

An older lady came up to an employee standing nearby to ask where she could find waffle mix. The employee turned around and came near me and grabbed a box of waffle mix and handed it to the lady. She immediately and quite loudly stated, "I don't want this gluten-free stuff. This whole gluten-free thing has gotten out of hand."

I probably would have let it go. I can agree that so many people are going gluten-free for a variety of reason, not all of them medical. But the older lady didn't stop there. She kept on about how everyone has something and everyone wants to have something just to be different and it is ridiculous.
I couldn't stop myself. I said, "Until it happens to you."

She then proceeded to tell me that everyone thinks their kid has autism when they just want an excuse to say something is wrong and that it is the same way for people who don't eat gluten. Then she said, "Unless you have a medical diagnosis, you aren't sick."

I kept my mouth shut. What I really wanted to do was punch her, but I'm a non-confrontational person and I didn't relish the though of getting arrested in the middle of Whole Foods on a Saturday. It would have really thrown a wrench in my plans.

At first, I was mad. Then I was thinking of all the things I should have said to her, but didn't. Then I realized, this is just like the diabetes myths I've been trying to bust for years. Now it's a whole new disease, and new myths.

Strangely enough, I almost envy that hateful old lady from Whole Foods. She has obviously been blessed to never had a major illness strike anyone in her family. It is where her ignorance stems from. And in that case, ignorance is bliss. I truly hope she never has to have a loved one deal with an auto-immune disease.