A generous health care system

I’ve been to some of the biggest hospitals between here and California. I’ve seen how dying patients have been rejected because they don’t have any health insurance policies. What made it worse was their non-qualification for Medicaid and Medicare. They were migrants from Mexico and Latin and South American countries.

Indeed, I was furious and dumb founded to see a three-year-old die in the arms of his mom because she doesn’t have any form of health insurance policy. I was miffed at the thought of “what if” that was my family member being rejected for medical emergency as a result of the lack of health insurance policy.

I am not making this up. In fact, there are 33 million Americans without health insurance policies. So you can imagine the health deterioration that they had to endure because of the lack of the means to pay for medical services. Here, we’re very fortunate that CHC has a policy of attending to any and all patients who walk into AC II or the Emergency Room.

The Clinton administration and US Congress have locked horns over how prescription drugs for seniors should be treated. The other thorny issue is patients’ rights versus the role of health maintenance organizations throughout the country. The latter puts the rights of patients to demand medical services, i.e., services of a specialist in clinics run by HMOs. There’s still no real answer in sight.

Here at home, it came as shock to many of us that sick loved ones at Honolulu hospitals have had to endure denial of medical services because their health insurance policies have maxed out. Even with the intervention of the medical referral program–covering the bills until the patient returns home–hospitals have refused services for NMI because of unpaid bills to the tune of some $4 million.

I know that our doctors, nurses and ancillary staff are giving it their all to see that sick patients return home fully recovered. I know that often we are quick to pull our guns against them in frustration. Often, too, we ignore the fact that they can only do so much. They are people too! Yes, I’ve dealt with them and unless you too play a proactive role in your health, there are other patients who equally need attention. So quit expecting to be pampered either as an ambulatory or acute patient.

On the flip side, there’s also a dire need to ensure that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. Recently, a patient was sent to Guam for insertion of a hemodialysis tube for renal failure. He came to Guam and was brought to the hospital. GMH doesn’t know anything about the arrival of the patient. So the patient and escort returned home. It’s a waste of taxpayers money and that of the family who accompanied him to Guam. Furthermore, such negligent on the part of CHC places the old man’s health in some real fatal danger. I think this can be rectified and refined so that, well, the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, yeah?

There’s a lot about health that we need to come to terms with down the stretch. And for all its complexities, the key player in living healthy lifestyle begins with YOU! Bringing a heart specialist to CHC isn’t going to do any good if all the muscles in your heart have deteriorated or major arteries blocked by cholesterol. Start today! After all, it’s your health!

Strictly a personal view. John S. DelRosario Jr. is publisher of Saipan Tribune.