Hi everyone!
I'm here with Mom in Washington, D.C. at the 2011 Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Summit. We have been going non-stop. In about 2 hours we will be meeting with Senator Olympia Snowe (Maine) on Capitol Hill. We are excited, but Mom has to be focused because she has an important message for her Senator: Arthritis is UNACCEPTABLE!
Arthritis is Unacceptable because: 1) it took 12 years from the onset of symptoms for my Mom to receive a proper diagnosis; 2) Arthritis interrupted and delayed Mom's education; 3) Mom pays over $500 in copays every time she picks up her Arthritis medication from the pharmacy; 4) even with medical treatment Mom suffers with daily chronic pain that threatens her ability to do simple tasks.
We are going ask Senator Snowe to join the Congressional Arthritis Caucus, send a letter to President Obama asking him to make Arthritis a national priority and to support funding for Arthritis research. Tomorrow we will head over to Senator Susan Collins' and Representative Chellie Pingree's offices to tell them the same thing!
Will our members of Congress think Arthritis is Unacceptable too?
I'll report back soon!
Wags & Kisses,
Service Dog Holden
Hi Holden! Would you please ask your Mom to explain to an ignorant Brit what "copays" are?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Arthritis sucks. I can sympathise with EDS as that's what I have too, but arthritis on top must be agonising. Give your mom a lick from me!
Hi Flash,
ReplyDeleteCopays=copayments, a fee that covers a portion of a treatment or medication. Sometimes insurance in that states has a flat copay (a flat fee each time a medication or treatment is received by a patient, say 15usd per medication received) other times it's a percentage of the total cost of the services received (i.e., 20% copay means for a 100 dollar service the patient would pay 20usd for their share).
Every time Mom refills just her Arthritis meds she has to pay over 500usd of copayments to receive them. One of them is about 300usd alone and can't be stopped because it is a "disease modifying antirheumatic drug" and she would become very ill if she ever had to stop taking it.
Arthritis is an umbrella term and there are over 300 types of Arthritis. Lupus is considered a type of Arthritis, a specific autoimmune form. EDS is also considered a type of Arthritis caused by genetic collagen defect. Mom has an autoimmune form of Arthritis in addition to EDS. And since EDS causes ostheoarthritis, if we get technical she has 3 forms of Arthritis. Mom lives with the effects of multiple Arthritis types daily, so she has become very passionate about Arthritis issues.