Don't get me wrong, I am totally in favour of public health care. I also acknowledge that we are in a much better financial place than many people in Nova Scotia. That said, this whole experience has not done a lot to inspire confidence or offer kudos to the 'system'. There are two areas of complaint for this post: our insurance coverage and the public support system.
Neither of us have had cause to really need our insurance in a big way before this - sure I wear glasses and was aware that our coverage here is substandard but I figured that the insurance would have us covered for major health issues like this. Wrong. Here are the things that our work insurance does not cover: a wheelchair ramp (construction or rental), items to make the home more accessible (shower bench, commode, bed bar, etc), lift chairs. It will cover up to $400 for a wheelchair - this is barely a drop in the bucket.
The ramp was really the big one for us. This is an expensive item and who is going to build one unless it is needed? We got quotes to rent or build a metal one but these were astronomical. In the end we hired contractors to build it out of wood. We can write it off on our taxes, but it was really not a hit we planned on taking financially. In order to qualify for public assistance on such things you need to have a household income of less than $39,000 - rules us out. I can't imagine how it must be for the poor people scraping by at $45,000 or $50,000 - $39,000 seems really low to qualify for assistance to me (though I agree that we should not be in that bracket). Anyway, we have a ramp now and it's great. But what a horrible experience. First of all, we don't know how long we will need it - might be that after this winter I won't ever need a chair again. However, we need it now (there is no other way for me to get in and out of the house).
The Red Cross offers a good service of free 3-month rentals. We are using this for the wheelchair and a bed bar. Hopefully I won't need the chair beyond that. We've bought other things for the house and will write them off, but again, this stuff should be covered. I'm really shocked and disappointed in our insurance coverage. We've spent over $10,000 of our own money on my healthcare needs this fall.
Insurance does cover home care and we have been approved for it. We will pay up front and be reimbursed, which is annoying. Apparently some plans allow direct billing but not ours.My medications are also covered, so that is good. But the stuff that isn't covered is really a racket. Of course, these are all 'specialized' items so they don't come cheap already. Home health support stores live off of hospitals, homes and insurance - no bargains to be found there. Yes, you can find some used items on kijiji,, but do you really want to risk a faulty or broken mobility aid? And the idea of a second hand toilet item just kind of creeps me out.
On to the public system. The biggest issue here is wait times. I am on more waiting lists than I know what to do with. It took 5 months to get an MRI appointment - this is supposed to be diagnostic! I guess it will show how things have progressed and is still likely useful but not as originally intended. Hopefully it does not reveal something that required urgent attention 5 months ago.
I've been on a waiting list for outpatient physiotherapy since August. I spoke with the physiotherapist who does this while I was in hospital. Her job is 3 days a week and the waiting list stretches back to April! The province needs to hire more people - it's nuts. Private physio is expensive. Our coverage allows for 20 visits in a calendar year - 10 weeks at twice a week.... Not nearly enough for a chronic condition.
I'm not sure if we are still on a waiting list for an occupational assessment of the house. We asked for one in September and have since had a private assessment and an inpatient OT come by for assessment. I expect we'll get a call sometime around Easter. When we followed up in October we were told that one person does visits one day a week. That's useful.
Finally there is rehab. That lovely elusive waiting list that I was placed on in early December. I understand that there are limited beds and that priorities come up unexpectedly, but it would be nice to have something more than 'likely weeks more than months' as a timeline. When I get the call I will be moving in to rehab for at least 4 weeks. We will need to cancel home care and appointments and sort out IVIG. I really hate the uncertainty.
As for home care. This is supposed to be available publicly for all. However, the system is so overburdened that my age and our income level exclude us from eligibility for the public offering. Luckily this is one area our insurance will take care of.
So there it is, the airing of grievances... I don't know how to fix the system but something really needs to be done. We have an aging population with more and more people relying on what the province can provide. We need more investment in things like physiotherapy and occupational therapy desperately.
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