I Need Your Help
Advocate Aaron Supporters:
As you all are aware I fight every single day to help make sure moms can have affordable access to prenatal care. Prenatal care is VERY serious and without it “babies born to mothers who receive no prenatal care are three times more likely to be born at a low birth weight, and five times more likely to die, than those whose mothers received prenatal care.” –US department of Health & Human Services
Three weeks ago I was in Washington, DC lobbying and fighting for this very cause. I had the pleasure of working with Karen Fennell, one of the top lobbyist in the women’s health arena. Karen contacted me today and asked me if I could enlist the Advocate Aaron Army. I responded with an ENTHUSIASTIC “YES”, and told her it would be impossible for our moms, friends, family, relatives, etc. to NOT come through with flying colors. The task is SIMPLE, but, I need you to do it NOW and I need you to forward it to EVERYONE you know. This isn’t about us. It is MUCH bigger. This is literally about life and death for the innocent babies whose mothers CANNOT access affordable prenatal care.
Please see the message from Karen below and then TAKE ACTION NOW!!!!
PRO MOM!!!
AdvocateAaron
A Healthy pregnancy for a Healthy baby
Dear Mothers and Friends:
Pregnant Women’s Access to Care is in danger in many States. Over 43% of women’s pregnancy care is paid for by the Medicaid program; an additional 18% of pregnant women have no health insurance.
Action by the Federal Government has jeopardized the financial stability of our birth centers. I am asking you and your friends to sign on to a letter to the United States Congress to fix this problem. As a Mother and Grandmother of twin girls, I cannot stand back and let pregnant women be left with no care.
We need 10,000 signatures by May 31st to ensure that all pregnant women have access to quality, affordable health care. Stop the Federal Government from excluding pregnant women from receiving the care they deserve.
Go to the American Association of Birth Centers website at www.birthcenters.org/news/breaking-news/?id=82 and sign our consumer letter. You can make a difference!
Sincerely,
Karen S. Fennell, MS, RN
Consultant
Healthcare Advisory Solutions
Maternity Healthcare is in Crisis
Everyone Needs Medicaid
How much do you know about Medicaid? If you’re like most people, you know that Medicaid is a program that assists low-income families with health care expenses. And, like most people, you might assume that Medicaid serves only as a vehicle for providing health care coverage to those who cannot afford it – but the stark reality is that Medicaid’s economic influence is far-reaching and provides benefits to everyone from low-income families to seven-figure CEOs.
Many states are considering Medicaid budget cuts, failing to realize that doing so will set off a chain of events that will spiral the economy into an even more dismal state. Consider the findings of this FamilyUSA brief (http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/state-budget-cuts-2008.pdf), which demonstrates how Medicaid benefits keep the natural process of trade ticking. Cutting Medicaid budgets means states lose matching federal dollars, which are used throughout statewide spending cycles:
These new dollars pass from one person to another in successive rounds of spending. For example, health care employees spend part of their salaries on new cars, which adds to the income of auto dealership employees, enabling them to spend part of their salaries on washing machines, which enables appliance store employees to spend additional money on groceries, and so on. Economists call this the ‘multiplier effect.’
Everyone benefits when Medicaid is available: the most vulnerable citizens are provided with life-giving care, companies make money and employees have money to spend. Without Medicare, everyone suffers.
Medicaid already plays a very large role in health care and economic issues, and the ability of the program to sustain or expand services will have an even larger impact over the next several years. More layoffs and increasing medical expenses, coupled with a ‘less for more’ mentality among health care insurance providers, means more people will need Medicaid at a time when families have fewer extra dollars to spend. If millions are without Medicare, and states are not pulling additional federal funding, entire economies face collapse.
In this Business Insurance article (http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=14045&pageNo=1), Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Atlman states: “… we may be seeing the tip of the iceberg of a trend toward less comprehensive, skimpier insurance for many working people with higher deductibles and higher out-of-pocket costs.”
While Altman is referring to employer-provided insurance policies, the same factors that are influencing private insurance carriers to offer less-appealing insurance are influencing state legislatures to consider Medicaid cuts. Medical care costs are rapidly increasing while fewer people are able to afford health care coverage.
Money will never negate the need for health care. Cutting Medicaid benefits will never make the population less dependent on health care. Medical procedures will not suddenly be deemed unnecessary because Medicare is cut. More people will not purchase their own insurance policies if Medicaid is unavailable.
Medicaid cuts are not the solution, and will do more harm than good to state budgets, companies, employees and all citizens nationwide.
All Or None: Pregnancy Must Be Covered
Colorado is considering several proposals that might provide health insurance to hundreds of thousands uninsured individuals across the state (http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/01/05/story7.html?b). Concepts include adding a surcharge to medical bills that would go toward providing health care to the uninsured, and creating a low-cost, guarantee-issue government-subsidized health coverage plan. Yet another proposal would require all insurers operating in Colorado to provide maternity care coverage. All concepts have stirred debate.
The Denver Business Journal quotes Rebecca Weiss, government affairs director for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado, as saying that maternity insurance is a wonderful option, but warning that including it on every policy could drive up costs and put insurance out of economic reach for many.
Of all the conditions covered by medical insurance, pregnancy should be the last one to choose from. Care for cancer treatment can quickly rise to six or even seven figures, while the average pregnancy costs under $10,000. Are we being told that it’s okay to expect coverage for cancer treatments, but not pregnancy?
Pregnancy is the number one reason for hospitalization in the United States, which is probably why insurance companies do not want to cover it. Holier-than-thou attitudes predictably argue that, because one can control whether or not to become pregnant, no one can choose to not get cancer. But this premise slaps the face of humanity itself: are we encouraged to purchase (or have our health insurance cover) contraceptives and physically change how our body behaves in order to avoid insurance costs? Or should we remain abstinent, refusing to fulfill urges that many psychologists agree are key to human happiness?
As some would have it, the answer is yes, we should either change how our bodies naturally behave, undergo invasive procedures or simply refrain from sex and become unhappy in order to stave off the ‘condition’ of pregnancy. Have these holier-than-thou personalities forgotten how they got here?
Legislators must not ignore nature’s course when determining the future of health care and the policies that form the framework of fair and equal health care coverage. If pregnancy is allowed to be considered a condition by health insurance companies, then it must be provided for under health insurance coverage.
Support For Pregnant Women
Sometimes, all we need is someone to talk to who understands what we’re going through. When you’re pregnant, you can be prone to solitary feelings when lonely, upset, afraid or confused. Help for pregnant women doesn’t need to be in form of money or gifts – true support costs nothing at all.
When friends and family aren’t available or don’t understand, speaking with other pregnant women can help you get through tough times and even form the foundation for lifelong bonds of sharing and friendship. Be happy to be pregnant – it’s good for your baby!
Here are five online resources where pregnant women can find free community support and camaraderie by connecting with other pregnant women who “get it.”
About.com Pregnancy and Childbirth Forum
There are literally thousands more – and a quick search with your favorite search engine will help you find additional pregnancy-related communities online.
Everyone needs friends to help them through tough times. I’m thrilled to see so many women coming together to share support, to share their stories, and to share their lives with one another. What a refreshing splash of humanity in an oft-troubled pond.
A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings…
A recent study by the University of Alabama in Birmingham proved how delicate timing is in fetal development. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, linked early Caesarian sections to an increased risk of newborn complications, including respiratory distress, hypoglycemia, infection and extended hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/Insureyourhealth/P74840.asp).
The amazing thing is that the risk of intensive care hospitalization was found to be 50% greater when C-sections are performed just a few days early.
All of these complications can result in tragic outcomes for families, and all of them drive up medical costs. So, why is it that C-sections are often scheduled earlier than the 40-week full-term period? Is it, as many believe, to perform the procedure before the natural course of labor begins? Or is it because hospitals make more money when complications arise?
Despite my firm stance against egregious hospital overcharges – they do try to take advantage of pregnant women, especially those who are uninsured or have no insurance – I’m loathe to postulate that the medical industry would put the health of our women and children at risk in the interest of making a buck. But the question begs to be asked.
When you consider that many medical professionals will not provide prenatal care to uninsured pregnant women without 100% upfront payment, and that the lack of prenatal care is proven to increase the risk of newborn complications and mortality, one has to wonder what underlying motivations exist. These women are not given treatment because they do not have the money, despite the fact that these doctors have taken an oath to uphold the sanctity of life without other consideration. But without profit, they do not feel obligated to uphold this oath.
Denying health coverage is a reactive approach; if one does not have money in-hand, one does not provide life-giving services. Facilitating conditions that result in complications is a proactive approach; if the pursuit of profit pushes medical scheduling forward, we’re all at risk regardless of whether we have insurance coverage or not.
A butterfly flaps its wings in China, a tornado forms in Alabama. A C-section is scheduled a week early, a newborn spends five days in NICU. A woman cannot gain access to prenatal care, her baby dies.
Big Brother that watches over our Hospital Bills
“I saw the literature on your website and watched the video. You are in essence a big brother that watches over our hospital bills to make sure we are not taken advantage of from the hospital. From the first review of our bills, you will reduce it anywhere from 30-50%, and if it can’t be reduced from there to a lower rate, that’s okay, because you will still set us up with a payment plan with the hospital. That’s great! Our hospital told us that we have to pay this huge amount upfront and they refused to set up a payment plan with us on that. If we don’t pay upfront, they will send a hospital administrator up to my wife’s room to collect the money in full. If I don’t pay in full right there, they will add another $1000-1500 on that bill!! You guys will be our Godsend and hope in this situation.”
