Around the World
Hey there! It's time to talk about Healthcare Around the World. I am learning that Hospice is a service that is only provided in some areas of the world. I'm learning that healthcare is not something everyone has access to even for major illnesses. I know most of us know that and have heard that, but to see it is totally different. Imagine having a chronic life limiting illness that is not treated because it is not affordable or available.
Let's take it a step back and imagine having gall stones that cannot be treated, cancer that is not detected until major symptoms arise and it is too late or treatment is not affordable or available, imagine a doctor that serves an entire region and has to treat according to priority and someone may wait all day to see them and not be seen. Imagine.... for a moment.... an elderly person with diabetes, who stays in bed all day because they cannot get a motorized wheelchair. Imagine a middle-aged person who needs chemo but one treatment is equivalent to $1500 and insurance and social medicine does not exist. They don't even know what that is! Imagine a hospital is over an hour drive away. Imagine no 9-1-1.
It is easy for us to sit back and judge, but imagine if you grew up without a hospital, a doctor, a police station, a fire station, a marketplace grocery store, and an insurance agency around every corner. Would you know different?
I just had the pleasure of visiting Belize. We stayed in the Corozal district and served the villages of San Juaquin and Ranchito. They have one senior living that currently has 9 residents who are a mix of people from Belize, Guatamala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Some of them have families that help pay for them to be there and some of them have family who have abandoned them. This is the only assisted living within this district. Most elderly are cared for by their families in their homes. I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia last year, and I met her again this year. She is in about her early 50s and she suffers from a blood condition which she did not know the name of. She was in and out of the hospital for a long time. When we visited her this year, she had not been in the hospital for a year. We prayed this would happen, and it was such a blessing to hear that our prayers were heard. I also met someone named Nelvia who is part of the family that started the senior home. She is around the same age and had discovered that she has stage 3-4 colon cancer and is deciding if she can afford treatment. One treatment of chemo is $3000 Belize which is $1500 US. They do not have insurance to cover and they just pay out a bill. There is no billing authorization, there is not a agent to call to figure it out with you, there is no Medicare or Medicaid coverage, no teledoc, and no urgent care when she has symptoms, and no hospice. She is stuck with a life limiting decision. Let's add more to Nelvia's story, she just lost her son who was 30 years old to cancer 2 years ago. When I originally met her, she was still grieving the loss of her son. Do you know what she does have? Hope. She has so much hope that her finances will work out. She has hope in her faith that she will be healed. She has courage. We can all learn about how to remain calm in the storm from Nelvia.
We have similar issues here in the USA, and some have Medicaid and Medicare to pick up the slack, but others may fall in the gap. My point is that Healthcare around the world is not this sugar coated commercial in our minds. There are gaps, some larger than others. There are people who do not have access to healthcare, or a true understanding of what good healthcare is. This is everywhere!
Over the last 15 years, I have learned so much about our healthcare system, and I can tell you, after meeting my friends in Belize, I am thankful for that difficult billing call, that authorization that may take a day, and the flawed system of Medicaid and Medicare. Yes, it can be better than it is, and should be better for our people. Here's a reminder though, systems do not change overnight, and culture does not change overnight.
So, what can we do to help change a flawed system? We can write our politicians, we can share stories that paint a picture of the gap, that are HIPAA compliant of course, and we can continue to advocate for people. One step at a time is what it takes. Not giving up Hope for a change is what it takes. Hard work and passion are what it takes. Don't stop advocating for access to care and healthcare education.
-Angela Cross-
Let's take it a step back and imagine having gall stones that cannot be treated, cancer that is not detected until major symptoms arise and it is too late or treatment is not affordable or available, imagine a doctor that serves an entire region and has to treat according to priority and someone may wait all day to see them and not be seen. Imagine.... for a moment.... an elderly person with diabetes, who stays in bed all day because they cannot get a motorized wheelchair. Imagine a middle-aged person who needs chemo but one treatment is equivalent to $1500 and insurance and social medicine does not exist. They don't even know what that is! Imagine a hospital is over an hour drive away. Imagine no 9-1-1.
It is easy for us to sit back and judge, but imagine if you grew up without a hospital, a doctor, a police station, a fire station, a marketplace grocery store, and an insurance agency around every corner. Would you know different?
I just had the pleasure of visiting Belize. We stayed in the Corozal district and served the villages of San Juaquin and Ranchito. They have one senior living that currently has 9 residents who are a mix of people from Belize, Guatamala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Some of them have families that help pay for them to be there and some of them have family who have abandoned them. This is the only assisted living within this district. Most elderly are cared for by their families in their homes. I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia last year, and I met her again this year. She is in about her early 50s and she suffers from a blood condition which she did not know the name of. She was in and out of the hospital for a long time. When we visited her this year, she had not been in the hospital for a year. We prayed this would happen, and it was such a blessing to hear that our prayers were heard. I also met someone named Nelvia who is part of the family that started the senior home. She is around the same age and had discovered that she has stage 3-4 colon cancer and is deciding if she can afford treatment. One treatment of chemo is $3000 Belize which is $1500 US. They do not have insurance to cover and they just pay out a bill. There is no billing authorization, there is not a agent to call to figure it out with you, there is no Medicare or Medicaid coverage, no teledoc, and no urgent care when she has symptoms, and no hospice. She is stuck with a life limiting decision. Let's add more to Nelvia's story, she just lost her son who was 30 years old to cancer 2 years ago. When I originally met her, she was still grieving the loss of her son. Do you know what she does have? Hope. She has so much hope that her finances will work out. She has hope in her faith that she will be healed. She has courage. We can all learn about how to remain calm in the storm from Nelvia.
We have similar issues here in the USA, and some have Medicaid and Medicare to pick up the slack, but others may fall in the gap. My point is that Healthcare around the world is not this sugar coated commercial in our minds. There are gaps, some larger than others. There are people who do not have access to healthcare, or a true understanding of what good healthcare is. This is everywhere!
Over the last 15 years, I have learned so much about our healthcare system, and I can tell you, after meeting my friends in Belize, I am thankful for that difficult billing call, that authorization that may take a day, and the flawed system of Medicaid and Medicare. Yes, it can be better than it is, and should be better for our people. Here's a reminder though, systems do not change overnight, and culture does not change overnight.
So, what can we do to help change a flawed system? We can write our politicians, we can share stories that paint a picture of the gap, that are HIPAA compliant of course, and we can continue to advocate for people. One step at a time is what it takes. Not giving up Hope for a change is what it takes. Hard work and passion are what it takes. Don't stop advocating for access to care and healthcare education.
-Angela Cross-
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