Eye Can See Clearly Now

Some of you may have noticed the absence of a Ratts’ Rambles column last week. Did you miss it? I hope so.

No matter how well we plan, life has a way of coming at us, showing us again and again that things can change in an instant. Without warning. In Beautiful Boy, John Lennon wrote "life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans." It’s true.

Two weeks ago while I was busy making plans, life as I knew it took an unexpected twist. I was diagnosed with melanoma of the eye. This was never on my radar. Nope. Not ever. Talk about a detour. It was like leaving my Mountain View house one morning expecting to drive to Palo Alto and ending up in a foreign country without a map or GPS.

I’m not sharing this personal information looking for sympathy. I’m moving toward treatment and hopefully a positive outcome. I’m sharing my situation because this new turn of events has me seeing things with different eyes. (Pun intended.)

Maybe it started when I spotted a double rainbow on my way to a medical treatment in San Francisco. I saw it as a good omen. (That kind of thinking can’t hurt, right?) Good omen or not, I can clearly see how fortunate I am.

I have a strong support system of family and friends. I have access to exceptional medical facilities and resources. And most importantly, I have health insurance. If I didn’t, if I fell into the category of uninsured, the outcome could be grim.

The issue of health insurance, or lack thereof, is an indisputable hot button. I think it’s fairly safe to say that currently it’s close to No. 1 on the hot button list. In previous columns I’ve addressed local subjects like crosswalks and traffic, but nothing major or controversial.

My stance on the issue of health insurance and care is clear. There comes a time to speak up and speak out. For me, that time is now.

At the end of 2011, the US Census Bureau reported that over 49.9 million people under the age of 65 years were uninsured. Not because of ignorance or negligence—rather because of circumstance or limited resources. Some folks have no insurance because they’ve lost their jobs in the recession. For others, their employers no longer offer health insurance benefits. Still others have had insurance cancelled or denied because of previous claims or pre-existing conditions.

The cost of health care is not trivial. Even minor health issues, never mind a catastrophic illness, can escalate to exorbitant amounts. Without health insurance these costs can be financially and medically devastating. Many hard working people’s finances are stretched so thin they are barely surviving. Spending additional money on health care can mean not paying the rent or buying groceries—tough decisions to have to make.

Add co-payments for office visits, lab tests and the cost of prescriptions to the list. Some drugs require full payment because prescription drug plans don’t list them in their formulary. How about $100 for eye drops? And what about non-medical costs in the process of seeking care? Every time I drive to San Francisco or Davis for treatments there are extra expenses. Out-of-pocket expenses like parking and gasoline.

I have the resources to absorb these expenses but uninsured people or those with restricted finances often don’t. It’s not uncommon for them to forgo consulting a doctor at all, or worse, opting out of a necessary treatment. This lack of care can mean the missed diagnosis of a treatable condition that can escalate to a potentially fatal level. This is a bottom line that is unnecessary and unconscionable.

How is it that a country of incredible wealth and phenomenal resource seems unable to assure that the people who need healthcare get it?

Each of us is part of the human race. Each of us deserves decent medical care. A system that promotes boutique medicine for one segment of the population while limiting, preventing or disallowing another segment even basic healthcare is broken.

Whatever side of the current healthcare issue you find yourself on, the question needs to be addressed and resolved. It’s time to face the issue squarely and right the inequity.

It’s time to see things with different eyes.