I feel just thrilled to be here to see in 2015! Absolutely thrilled.
I thought I would share with you one story from last year for this new year. One you might have been waiting for for a while but I was too hurt by to write about.
Oh! Before I do go on with my private health insurance RANT, I should have let you know that about a month ago I saw my surgeon and he proclaimed me "officially cured". Rubber stamped. No more cancer. I probably should have written a short post to let you all know this, but I got busy catching up on the life I put on hold for five months, and I neglected to write. Cos I'm trying to move forward (yes, I'm writing a show about the dumb cancer, so I am backtracking a little, but in general, I'm trying to move forward).
So, officially pronounced cured! Fabulous! Although it's just an educated assumption, cos they don't take any scans or blood tests or ANYTHING to really make sure there ain't nothing there anymore - they pretty much just assume the radiation killed everything off, and scans cost money and time and emotional stress, so they just don't do it. And I'm also sure it killed absolutely everything too, cos even now, I'm still peeling weird skin off my nipple after a swim. Mmmmm... hello gentlemen..
But I'm feeling rather great in general. It's almost as if nothing ever happened to me, except that if nothing happened, I can't account for the last 6 months. And I keep my Tamoxifen bitchiness in check by simply explaining that I am on medication, and I also paint my nails every week to keep them hard (cos the meds make them soft, and I apparently need the enamel to keep my nails from ripping off my fingers after washing the dishes). I do get panic attacks about rib pain from radiation effects, but you know, I now just organise to see a GP and that sets me straight again. Basically, I kind of don't take chances on pain anymore. Thanks Medicare for letting me see a GP when I need to, even if I don't need to.
Oh YES! THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT! Medicare!
(Apologies for the tangent - I bought some nice bottles of red for NYE - and although I am not really drinking so much anymore, I am drinking the last 2 glasses of left over wine tonight before they go bad. And due to treatment/meds, I get drunk really quickly, so sorry if this blog post goes slightly off the rails.)
Anyway, here's is what happened. Many many months ago, I was diagnosed. Many many months ago, 4 different sets of people called my private health fund, to whom I had been paying money for DECADES (for admittedly the cheapest policy), to get me covered as a private patient in a public hospital.
- To folks who don't live in Australia, here is how it works: We have a pretty good system here. Everyone EVERYONE everyone is covered by Medicare, no matter how much you earn. You can be a bazillionaire and still be covered in a public hospital if you want. And I will defend the right of bazillionaires to use Medicare if they so desire, cos dammit, they pay a levy and I believe in absolute universal healthcare. Everyone has the option, however, choose to pay for private health. But why pay for private when we have medicare? Well it means you can go into a private hospital, see the surgeon of YOUR CHOICE, and have consistent care - ie. you can see the same specialist for all check ups and follow on surgery etc. It also means less waiting times - elective surgery in the public system can take forever, PLUS you can get a new pair of prescription glasses every year.
BUT our public system is really incredible - the safety standards are the same, and there is zero out of pocket expenses if you go public (in private there will be a gap that you need to pay for). The only thing is, in public, you don't get your choice of surgeon, and you have to go to the public clinic which can cost you hours of waiting time in a waiting room. Of course if you are bazillionaire, every hour wasted in a public clinic costs you billions of dollars, so why wouldn't you just pay the private fee instead? But the average person here in Australia can afford private health insurance in general, because although I wouldn't classify it as cheap, everyone claims their prescription specs and dental back on it, and by then it kind of almost pays for itself. And it's only that affordable here, because we HAVE MEDICARE!!! If we didn't have medicare, the Private Health Funds could jack their rates up to whatever they like, cos the only other competition the would have is other Private Health Funds. But here, they are also competing with public Medicare, so they have to have affordability for people who can't afford it otherwise. Like me. I can afford private health care. And I work in the arts.
Now, for whatever reason, whoever was manning the boards that week at HFWSNBN (Health Fund Who Shall Not Be Named) saw fit to not honour my cover. It was blatantly obvious, that I would not be covered by my health fund for cancer at all. Not in a private hospital (fair enough) and also not as a private patient in a public hospital (not fair enough as I should have been covered for this).
As I mentioned, FOUR people called the fund on this: Myself, the hospital, the surgeon's receptionist, and my parents. Each party was told under no circumstances was cancer covered on my level of cover (bullshit) but I could upgrade my cover should I wish to, however even with an upgrade, I would need to wait 12 months before I could claim.
We all argued that I should have been covered as a private patient in a public hospital. We all got knocked back.
Now I happened to be standing outside my sunshine arts studio at the time, where I often watch people yelling unnecessarily outside my studio cos they are intoxicated. There is a LOT of yelling that happens out there. And suddenly I find that I am the one yelling and crying into the phone and behaving erratically outside my studio. Because it's there that I discover that I am not covered when I thought I was. I cannot tell you how mad I was. There are no words to describe the anger I felt, and the stress, and the hurt that I had been loyal to this company for 40 years, and they burn me. I get told that if I was to have my adenoids out, or that my appendix magically regrew itself and got infected again, that those things would be covered. But Cancer, a fucking life threatening situation, WAS NOT COVERED!
I was not understanding this. Not understanding it at. all.
So I threw it all away. I couldn't think about it anymore. Cos I was due for surgery the next day and now I suddenly had to figure out alternative plans. Screw the health fund. Maybe it was my fault after all? Maybe it was my stupid, dumb, non-fine-print-reading fault. I'd have to go public, and just hope I got the surgeon I wanted.
And you know what? I went public and apart from the fact that I had different surgeons each time and had to wait long periods in clinic, it was amazing. The surgeons and nursing team were brilliant, and I cannot recommend the Royal Women's Hospital highly enough - they were phenomenal each and every time I went in (apart from one time when I ended up seeing a registrar who didn't have a clue what was going on) and the only thing I ever paid for out of pocket was prescription meds.
I felt so well looked after. The thing is, the public system here works really well. Really well. And if it is cancer related, there is no waiting time. None. I was in only a few days after I would have been due in private.
So. After all this, have I continued paying private health cover?
Yes. And not only because I like getting new specs each year. But because I would prefer to have a consistent surgeon if the need should arise again. But when I finally had the emotional strength to deal with the idea of private cover again to change companies, here is what happened:
My old company tried to get me to stay!!
I told them, "you didn't cover me for cancer, nor did you offer to upgrade me with no waiting periods even due to my (pretty much) life long loyalty"
My old company said, "what do you mean we didn't cover you for cancer?"
I said, "You didn't cover me for cancer. I went public. Thanks for the support. Can you do the paperwork to transfer me please?"
They said, "ummm... that doesn't make sense. You should have been covered with us."
I said, "Excuse me?"
They said, "You should have been covered. Hang on. Let me double check your level of cover I'll pop you on hold"
I start to get pissed off while I am on hold.
"Hello are you there? Yes, I've just checked. You are definitely without doubt covered as a private patient in a public hospital on your level of cover."
"For cancer?"
"For anything. If you go public you should be covered as a private patient."
"WHATTTTT????"
"Yes. Look, I am not really sure what happened with your situation, but I will investigate it. And we'd really like you to stay because you've been a loyal member for so long -"
"Are you kidding me? You put a cancer patient under so much stress at the one time I really really needed you, when I should have been covered the whole time? AND YOU WANT ME TO STAY?? Your fund will need to offer me some PRETTY amazing compensation for me to even consider staying with you." (Lana is basically thinking this needs to be free top level health cover for her entire lifetime).
"I can offer you 6 weeks free cover if you stay with us."
"Just transfer the paperwork and don't contact me again."
"Yes I will do that. Once again, I am truly sorry about what happened to you, I don't know why that happened. It shouldn't have."
"Truly sorry won't fix it. Your company is lucky I can't be bothered suing you for the anxiety and stress it caused."
"I'll transfer the paperwork."
"You do that."
And thus, I begin the new year with a different Private Health fund. One that doesn't look after shareholder pockets instead of the people who need them.
But I think this is my real message here:
I am ever so grateful that Medicare covered my costs while my health fund got their fingers stuck in their own assholes. Hey everyone, please don't ever get rid of Medicare m'kay? You should always vote for the people who defend universal healthcare, because apart from the fact that society is only as good as its lowest common denominator and that healthcare is a human right, apart from that? Well it's just possible that you, yes you - the one with high level private health cover - it's possible that you might just find that your health fund just fucks it up enough for you that you discover you need our Medicare as a safety net. And if Medicare isn't there to catch you, then where will you be?
If you are thinking the answer might be 6 feet under or losing your house to pay for treatment? I think you'd be right.
Happy New Year everyone! And may this year see you never needing private or public health at all. Cos I bloody love you.