Dispelling myths in health care debate

Please support health care for all.

I have a neighbor who cannot change jobs because of a daughter with a pre-existing brain tumor. I have another neighbor who just broke his leg. Yes, the hospital fixed it but due to his low income he had no health care. This young man is 31 years of age. His future is debt ridden and his job prospects are few.

There are many myths about the new coverage.

I heard one woman on Medicare say her health care would be rationed and she would be required to sign a Do Not Resuscitate directive. It is true that the new legislation requires a service be available to explain the advanced directives in your state, but no where is the Do Not Resuscitate mandate included.

If you do not have an advanced directive, you need one. They can be downloaded from the Internet and they are legal.

Another myth is rationing and lack of selection of your own physician. You already have rationing. Your insurance company limits your treatment options. In really complex cases, they do this through nurse case managers who follow your case through phone contact. I know some of these people. Their cases are audited for profitability. If they are not making the correct decisions with clients, they are pressured or fired.

So while you feel you are free to make health care choices, does your policy pay for total and free care? Only the very high end policies like our members of Congress have does that.

Lastly, I would like to point out a common word I am hearing some politicians use to refer to the concept of universal health care - predatory. If this health care for all is predatory then Medicare is predatory. This open market health care system really serves those who make the decisions, not the patient. We have a system that works for part of our society no matter what they earn and we have a system that does not work for part of the society who earn too little.

Please consider the fairness of this situation. We need to listen to the small and powerless voices as well as the loud, powerful and comfortable. Life is a real struggle for many and health care costs can bankrupt them for life.

Call your representatives and senators. It is time to act.

Tana Durnbaugh, EdD, RN

Elgin