Healthcare United caregivers ended up submitting 1,390 questions to Steve Chaggaris, the Political Director of CBS News in preparation for this week's final Presidential debate.

While many of you took this opportunity to ask hard-hitting questions on staffing, the nursing shortge, and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements--to name a few--some of the most compelling submissions contained personal anecdotes from the frontlines of U.S. healthcare. A selection of our favorites are provided below:

"I've been a nurse for 20+ years and have seen the end results of not having insurance. It's not a pretty sight. I see so many of our baby boomers (50+) working long past their prime because they can't afford to lose their health insurance. These are folks that have worked hard all their lives and paid their taxes. Now what can we do to help protect their/our health care?

...I also see another group without health care. It's sometimes referred to as the working poor. They make too much for Medicaid/welfare but can't afford the high cost of insurance. There are some states that have insurance for this population but many states do not. They're our future, [and] without adequate insurance the future looks bleak."   - Debbie, RN, Arkansas 

"As a Social Worker who has spent the last 16 years working with children, I cannot tell you how many times that the kids on my caseload have not had access to medical care because they fell between the cracks of what their parent(s) earned and the real cost of living. Many kids have had to go without dental care, without glasses, without braces and without medication which might treat a plethora of illnesses. These have lead to illnesses of more gravity. Parents too, have not had regular medical care, which have caused loss of jobs and sometimes loss of life plunging kids into the foster care system where costs are substantially higher...."   - Denise, MSW

"As an oncology nurse I have watched my patients suffer from many physical and emotional problems. One of the worst I see every day is patients being told that their insurance company does not pay for the best care we could give them. Much of the nurses' and doctors' time is spent filling out massive amounts of paperwork and making time-consuming phonecalls to beg for things that we know the patient would greatly benefit from. This could be a drug for nausea or one to increase white blood cell production. They are denied the newer, more effective, and less painful ones and instead we must use old, ineffective treatments first, have the pt fail, and then we might be able to give a more appropriate remedy."

"Because insurance companies will only pay for one procedure per day the patients are forced to come day after day for each one so that our office will receive compensation.These are people who are suffering from pain, fatigue, nausea, and lack of transportation. My greatest hope is that patient care will someday be placed back into the hands of the doctors."  - Donna, RN, BSN, Michigan

 

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