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ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #12: Health Care Reform

Today's Blog Carnival (#12!) is all about health care reform. Reform legislation is six months old and some parts of it are starting to come into play now. ChronicBabes are naturally active participants in our health care. As health care reform is something that will touch all of us, of course we’re paying attention!

People with chronic health issues have the most to lose or gain by this legislation so we asked ChronicBabes for their opinions of the USA’s current health care reform. Thirteen bloggers share info, ask questions and provide input. Some of us even get out the soapboxes and rant. Plus, we have points of view from ChronicBabes in other countries. So read what ChronicBabes have to say about health care reform and get informed!

Health Care Reform Explained

If you want to know the ins and outs of health care reform you’ll want to pay close attention to Jennifer Jaff of Advocacy for Chronically Ill Patients, Inc. Don’t know who Jennifer Jaff is? Mike McCready of Pearl Jam introduced her at a concert this way:

"Hey guys. I'd like to dedicate this next song to this woman Jennifer Jaff right over there who runs a cool thing called Advocacy for Patients and she gets insurance for kids who can't get it and she helps any kind of people who have any chronic illnesses, and she kicks ass. Jennifer Jaff's her name and my wife and I support her. Advocacy for Patients. She's one of your own. Use her if you need to. She's fantastic. Thank you."

How 'bout that ChronicBabes? Pearl Jam dedicated the song "The Fixer" to Jennifer! Check out the video here. This is one health care advocate and ChronicPal who totally rocks! Jennifer really knows her stuff, and she is one of the few people who actually read and undersood the entire health care reform bill. Her comments (read her blog to see comments and insights she has provided to regulatory committees) regarding pending regulations have helped shepherd health care reform into something that will be truly valuable for us.

Jennifer brings us up to date on health care reform in Six Month Anniversary: Changes Take Effect. Read it to find out what is happening now and what the term “grandfathered” actually means when it comes to your health insurance policy. This is a must read for ChronicBabes!  

ChronicBabes have questions about health care reform

Speaking of grandfathered insurance policies, insurance companies put an amazing spin on explaining “grandfathered” health insurance policies. Migrainista just received a Health Reform Surprise in the form of a letter from her insurance company. It leaves you wondering if “grandfathered” is a good thing or not.

Phylor has questions for the president in Dear Mr. President: Health Care Reform and the Art of Writing Letters. How is this going to help sub-contractors? People with chronic illness? ChronicBabes want to know!

Are you confused by the whole healthc are reform hoopla, and what it will mean to you as a person with a chronic illness? Wendy at Transform Your Chronic Life is in wait-and-see mode in Healthcare Reform - Good, Bad, or Indifferent? The only thing Wendy is really sure of is that the system we have now doesn't work, leaving the poor and those of us with chronic illnesses to struggle and fall through the cracks.

Health care reform is a loaded topic...

Did you know that TRICARE (insurance coverage for military members and their families) is exempt from health care reform? Kathy at The Fibrochondriac goes off on a rant in several different directions in Our Health Care System is Broken. Have you noticed?

At Lipstick, perfume and too many pills Nessie thinks the health care reform should have reformed more. In not all that she says it’s “better than nothing, but not by much.”

Nobody is absolutely sure of what is going to happen once health care reform has been implemented…or IF it will be implemented as Rachel at Tales of Rachel points out in Health care reform - hope and reality. Rachel also notes some of the best aspects of the law for people with chronic illness, while questioning whether all the people that need preventative health care will participate. Good point, Rachel!

Health care reform as a person, not a policy

Who is leading the march to change the way the medical system works? Some people whom you wouldn’t expect. Check out this short but interesting post from The Mayday Pain Project in Health Care Reform – Who’s Driving? ChronicBabes in pain might want to check out this site, the purpose of which is to provide access to “well-researched resources in a professional manner for educational purposes” for people in pain. Worth a look!

Our health care system doesn’t always work the way it should, with doctors trying to fit patients into the system, instead of fitting the system around patients. Loolwa at Dancing with Pain shares 10 Culprits of the Good Patient Syndrome where otherwise-assertive individuals become dangerously passive as patients. For people with chronic pain, access to health care is just half the battle. To effectively treat people with invisible illness, especially women, we need to radically transform the culture of the health care system.

The view of health care reform from other countries

Australia has a different health care system than the U.S. but Carly of Tune Into Radio Carly has a question that would be the same if she lived in the states. In Cost of Having Chronic Illness she notes that the additional expense of illness doesn’t go away just because she is employed. How about a little help over here?

KD is Talkin’ bout a (Health Care) Revolution on her Making Noises blog. KD lives in Canada, where she has access to "universal health care." She fantasizes about a Utopian Health Care System and has created a bill of rights for chronically ill people. Nicely done, KD!

Pointing out the positive aspects of health care reform

Kerri at Six Until Me is cautiously optimistic in Health Care Reform: How Does it Affect People With Diabetes? As a Type 1 diabetic for almost 24 years, Kerri views health care reform through insulin-tinted glasses. This health care reform makes it a little less likely that obtaining health care insurance coverage will take precedence over a career choice.

Diana Lee of Somebody Heal Me provides an exceedingly well-researched list of improvements that will be brought about by health care reform in Impact of Health Reform on Patient Mental Health Needs. Great job, Diana Lee!

Like what you see here? Why not enter the next ChronicBabe Blog Carnival?!

We're having so much fun running a blog carnival! But maybe there's room for improvement; we want to hear your suggestions. Let us know what you think in the discussion over at the Forum.

Want to participate in the next carnival? It's two weeks from today (publish date: September 21, 2010), and the theme is: How do you handle a crisis? No matter how hard we try to take care of ourselves, there are times when things go horribly wrong, either with our health or some other personal issue. How do you prepare for such a turn of events? How do you cope in the middle of it all? And how do you recover?

If you want to participate, send us your name (as you would like it to appear), the name of your blog, the name of your post, and a 1-2 sentence description of the post. We'll let you know if you're accepted. Send all that to chronic babe @ gmail dot com. The deadline is Sunday, September 19, at Midnight CST.

P.S.: Why not spread the love and submit a post from your favorite ChronicBabe blogger? Tell us who you love to read and we'll include her, too!

And as always, we thank our pals at Fibrochondriac and Oh My Aches and Pains!, who make this carnival awesome!

P.P.S.: This blog carnival was posted a couple days later, and we're sorry about that...but Editrix Jenni has been under the weather for weeks and playing catchup. Thanks for your patience, Babes!

Posted: 9/7/2010 in Blog Carnival

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