Brain injuries common, but not Giffords' level of care

[Still a Democrat]

I'd never call Gabrielle Giffords lucky, given the severity of her gunshot wound or the random cruelty of her would-be assassin. But in the universe of people recovering from traumatic brain injuries, the Democratic congresswoman from Arizona is fortunate in two very powerful ways.

She has access to state-of-the-art care, and her supporters number in the hundreds of millions. That's hardly the norm, to put it mildly. What's more typical is a lonely battle with the insurer for decent therapy -- plus a sense of isolation from friends who want things back to "normal" right away.

"The worst thing about a brain injury is that you look normal and people don't understand that you're suffering," says Sherry Stock, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Oregon. "You are always, always going to feel like you're alone."

...


http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/susan_nielsen/index.ssf/2011/01/good_recovery_brain_injuries_c.html

[2Design]

1. exactly right - she has double the health care coverage because of her

husband

I am glad for her

I just wish the rest of us had that level of healthcare

[area51]

6. +1

Instead, access to health care in this country is rationed on personal wealth.

single-payer health care is what we'd have if we were a civilized nation.

"Any proposal that sticks with our current dependence on for-profit private insurers ... will not be sustainable. And the new law will not get us to universal coverage ...." -- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America

[skygazer]

2. I work with a guy who had a stroke at 47

At the time, he was a mid-level executive, made six figures, owned a very nice home, had a very comfortable life.

The stroke took many of his motor skills as well as language skills. Because the treatment he needed was considered "experimental," much of it was paid for out of his own pocket. He lost his home, he is unable to work in his former field and he now lives in a small apartment and works at a grocery store as a bagger. He is philosophical about it all - happy to be alive and he recognizes that he has a lot less stress and a simpler life than he did formerly. But it is too familiar a story - so many of us are one catastrophic illness away from losing everything.

[jberryhill]

3. But what about all the miracles and prayers?

I keep seeing that what's really helping her are various deities and so forth.

Miracles are free for everybody, so what's a little health care, more or less?

[Shallah Kali]

4. Congress to Investigate Pentagon Decision to Deny Coverage for Brain Injured Troops

Sen. Claire McCaskill's committee wants to examine a contract between Tricare, the Pentagon's health plan, and ECRI Institute, which found insufficient evidence to support cognitive rehabilitation therapy
http://www.propublica.org/article/congress-to-investigate-pentagon-decision-to-deny-coverage-for-brain-injure/

[w8liftinglady]

5. thank you for sharing this..