A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
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Senator Elizabeth Warren & PNHP Webinar - June 3rd
Physicians for a National Health Plan will be hosting Senator Elizabeth Warren on June 3rd, 2024 at 5 pm PST. Here is the link to register. I did.
The title of the meeting is Taking Advantage: How corporate health insurers harm America's seniors.
Even if you’re not a senior it is important to hear because the same abusive techniques used in Medicare Advantage Plans are used in most commercial insurance plans. The government just has a bigger say when it is is Medicare.
To give you a flavor of the meeting - here are some of her comments from a recent Senate committee meeting with the head of United Healthcare.
The profit-driven practices of UnitedHealth Group and other corporate insurers have caused real harm to seniors and people with disabilities. These firms have created daunting barriers to care in their so-called “Medicare Advantage” plans, including:
Restricting access to medical providers through limited networks
Demanding “prior authorization” for routine, medically necessary care
Placing limits on medical benefits
Requiring high out-of-pocket spending, especially for the sickest patients
Trapping patients in the Medicare Advantage program
Sounds familiar, right?
Again, here is the link to register.
Prior Authorization News :)
When your doctor determines what treatment you need, they contact your insurance company and tell them. Then the insurance company decides if they want to pay for it. This process is called prior authorization. If your procedure is not authorized then you are at risk for payment if the insurance company declines to pay up.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse disagrees completely. His idea is that if an insurance company wants to use prior authorizations, they should ask the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for prior authorization.
"There is no logic to prior authorization," Whitehouse, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said at a committee hearing on alleviating administrative burdens in healthcare. "So I propose the companies in Medicare get prior authorization from CMS before they're allowed to impose prior authorization on doctors who are practicing in successful accountable care organizations" that have a proven track record of providing efficient patient care. "No prior authorization without prior authorization."
Cancer Update :)
According to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, researchers have shown that a breakthrough therapy for treating blood cancers can be adapted to treat solid tumors -- an advance that could transform cancer treatment. The promising findings involve CAR-T cell therapy, which supercharges the immune system to identify and attack cancer cells.
The team created five CAR-T therapies that they tested on mice implanted with several types of solid human tumors. One of the therapies—which used two novel components—proved superior in safely and effectively shrinking not only glioblastoma and pancreatic tumors but lung cancer tumors as well.
CAR-T cell therapy, short for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, is a marvel of genetic engineering that transforms T cells (a type of immune cell) into cancer-seeking missiles programmed to attack on contact. The therapy involves extracting the patient’s own T cells and equipping them with a single gene that codes for several different proteins. (“Chimeric” comes from the Chimera of Greek mythology with its lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent’s tail.) The genetically modified T cells are allowed to multiply and are then infused back into the patient.
Their specially designed gene enables the infused T cells to express synthetic CAR receptors on their surface. The CARs can recognize specific proteins, known as antigens, that protrude from cancer cells. Thanks to their new CARs, the T cells are able to home in on cancer cells and then switch to attack mode.
Simply attaching CAR-T cells to tumor cells isn’t enough to kill them. CARs must also include a costimulatory protein to help activate T cells once they’ve made contact with cancer cells.
One of the therapies, TMIGD2 Optimized Potent/Persistent (TOP) CAR, proved effective proved best at keeping mice with pancreatic, lung, and glioblastoma tumors alive. For example, TOP CAR treatment enabled 7 out of 9 mice with glioblastoma tumors to survive, compared with a maximum survival of 3 out of 9 mice achieved by any of the other CAR-T therapies.
I’m always happy to see advances that move us forward.
Alaska and Contraception
The Alaska Legislature is slated to approve a bill that would allow Alaska women to get a year’s worth of prescription birth control at one time. Supporters of House Bill 17 say extending the amount of birth control medicines given by pharmacies from the current limit of 90 days would be particularly helpful for women in rural Alaska. Under the measure, insurance companies and Medicaid would be require to cover prescription contraceptives without a co-payment.
Action - Alaska Only
Just smile and say thank you when a government does something helpful. If you’re in Alaska here is a link for phone or email for your state reps if you’d like to thank them.
Medical Residency and Abortion Bans
Medical school graduates are starting to avoid states with abortion bans. Applications down 4.7% over last year. Ob-gyn residency applications to those states down almost 7%. We saw a few months ago that one of the larger medical systems in Idaho was unable to attract any ob-gyn residents. These states threaten to put doctors in jail for saving women’s lives. What a shock. (AP)
Extra Credit Action - Oppose Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are non-medical clinics that seek to dissuade women from abortion. Their tactics are deceptive and often cruel. Several advocacy groups are sending letters to Attorneys General in 5 states to demand investigations into Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
Click here to sign the letters.
NOTE: under the “Add Your Name” button is an edit subscription button. You can un-check both boxes if you don’t want further communicatons from the groups involved.
Resources
Healthcare Advocacy (Us)
Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
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