D-Blog Week: On Costs, Fears, and Negativity

http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/d-blog-week-on-costs-fears-and-negativity/

There"s a lot at stake for the Diabetes Community these days, and the costs are high for all of us.

So it"s fitting that today, the second day of Diabetes Blog Week 2017, the focus is on financial burden and other obstacles:

"Let’s discuss how cost impacts our diabetes care. Do you have advice to share? ... (And) are there other factors such as accessibility or education that cause barriers to your diabetes care?"

Anyone who hasn"t been living under a rock knows that the cost issue is at the heart of some extremely upsetting conversations these days -- made worse, it seems, by the overall current state of affairs on everything-healthcare and how Americans in general seem more polarized than we have been in a very long time.

Specifically:

• There"s an Insulin Affordability and Access Crisis happening in the U.S., and many are experiencing The Human Cost in ways they never have before. Yep, there"s a very real Black Market emerging for insulin as people get increasingly desperate (as NBC reports).

• Insurers and payers are regularly forcing patients to switch medications and supplies because they prioritize profit over good decisions in the name of health. They don"t seem to understand that #DiabetesAccessMatters and that it should be a #PrescriberPrevails mindset, leaving the choice up to the physician and patient as to what will treatment is optimal for any given individual PWD (person with diabetes).

• There"s a staggering amount of misinformation being circulated among both the general public and key decision-makers in healthcare policy. Take the latest comment from federal Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who made an ignorant statement about diabetes in the context of picking and choosing who gets healthcare coverage or what certain people would pay, based on their particular pre-existing conditions.

• Politics trumps any reasonable discussion on healthcare reform right now, and everyone is on pins and needles trying to figure what impact the "reforms" will have on their health and pocketbooks. Those of us with pre-existing conditions face the most risk.

• Temperatures are HOT: Everyone"s mad, scared, and on edge. Just see this police story of how a Chicago woman tried to run her GOP congressman off the road over his healthcare policy vote - yikes! Yep, it"s crazy out there these days and we"re seeing that in the D-Advocacy world, too. Many people seem enraged, yelling about how outrageous everything is and how scared and angry we all are. What"s missing is a willingness to step back and breath before reacting or judging, and trying to become a more educated consumer in order to channel that fire into productivity. It"s not easy, and none of us are immune to the frenzy at hand. The fact that these very serious and emotional topics can lead our D-Community to sometimes start attacking each other just makes me even more afraid of how all of this will play out.

To be frank, I"m scared as hell. Yes, this brings me down. And yes, it impacts my diabetes care. How are we supposed to maintain a healthy mental balance with all this going on?!

Even though I"ve been fortunate to date, I do worry about losing my decent healthcare coverage through my wife"s employer and not being able to afford (or even get) other insurance thanks to my 33 years of type 1.

You may have noticed a few other hashtags that have come out of all this: #IAmAPreExistingCondition and #HealthHasNoParty, both rally cries of patients with all kinds of chronic illnesses who are facing the same crises we are. (The former hashtag is even available as a Twibbon overlay for your Twitter profile pic.)

It"s sort of ironic when you think about all our efforts to promote can-do messages like "Diabetes Doesn"t Define Me," "You Can Do This," and the parallel "You"ve Got This" campaign for MS. Now suddenly we"re forced into circulating the opposite message that "Our Health Conditions are Serious and Scary!" in order for our legislators and decision-makers to take us seriously.

Ugh. Mind-spinning, isn"t it?

Sorry to say that the whole point of today"s post is a big downer-fest: diabetes continues costing waaaay too much, it"s getting worse, and it"s causing the blame and stigma to snowball. How depressing at a time when we were just reaching the apex of not letting ourselves be defined by this condition.

Yet, as always, there is some silver lining.

People care.

Many good folks are getting fired up (so to speak) and raising their voices, both online and offline. Advocacy is happening in ways we haven"t seen before -- like the MarchForHealth events around the country -- and that in itself should be encouraging. Here in the D-Community, at least we can all agree that we want what"s best for PWDs (even as individual brands of advocacy may differ, i.e. Your Diabetes May Vary).

Here"s to being able to work together effectively. The price-tag for living with diabetes is high in so many ways, let"s do what we can to keep the toll down.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn"t adhere to Healthline"s editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline"s partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment
Type 2 Diabetes Diet
Diabetes Destroyer Reviews
Original Article
#Diabetes_Mellitus
#obesity_help