From a certain point of view

 Sometimes it takes me a long time to put together a thought in my head to the point where I can express it coherently to others. This one has taken me most of my career to figure out, but it all finally clicked into place a little while ago.

 For as long as I've worked in news there's always been a response I haven't quite been able to articulate to the sentiment I often heard from others about how depressing the news always is. How all it is is one bad event after another, strung out over 60 minutes of television. While in most cases and on many days I can certainly agree with the reasoning behind such thoughts I always knew that that wasn't really true. That yes, a lot of bad happens and we report on a lot of it, but I never felt the same sense of doom from the news as so many others seemed to.
I was never able to articulate my feelings about it though so for years I let it go, even as something in the back of my head couldn't totally agree with it.

 That was until recently. I was having a conversation about this subject and was again about to find myself agreeing that yes, the news is indeed largely negative when I had the epiphany it seems I'd been waiting to have for a long time.

 There is just as much, if not more, optimism and inspiration to be found on the evening news than there ever is despair and sorrow. It all comes down to how you choose to look at things and how wide a focus you view what you're seeing.

Here's what I mean.

 For every tragedy you see splashed across the screen there are just as many acts of heroism, bravery and compassion, if not more. While you may see a horrible auto accident with one person gravely injured there are several paramedics trying to save that life. For every shooting there are dozen of police officers who have dedicated their lives to protecting the public as best they can. For every missing person there may be dozens or hundreds of people willing to take time to help in the search. I could go on and on.

 Yes, there is a lot of bad in this world and a lot of it gets reported, but when you look at those reports, within every single one you will find people who are doing whatever is in their capacity to help in whatever way they can.

 Compassion, kindness and love are the human defaults, that's why to such a large degree they've become simply part of the background we don't even see anymore. People doing bad things are still such an exception to that default that that is why it makes the news.

 So while we may talk about the depressing stuff primarily on the news, I suggest you try looking at the pictures from a different point of view. Look for the good being done and I guarantee, you'll find many more things to be optimistic about, rather than dismayed.

Canada's Dirty Healthcare Secret

We have a problem with our health care here in Canada. It's something that the more I ask the more I've learned that this is a problem that most Canadians have encountered in one form or the other. That problem is the companies controlling our extended health benefits and their systemic issue of them delaying or outright denying coverage.

Let me start by laying out my particular situation. As some of you may be aware, I have a chronic disease called Crohn's. It's an autoimmune disease that effects my digestive system and can be incredibly debilitating and painful, usually requiring several surgeries over the course of a patients lifetime. After having surgery myself in 1998 and suffering a crippling bout in 2001 I've been largely symptom free, in large part due to a drug that at the time was in human clinical trials, of which I was a part. Since then the drug has been approved for use in Canada, so therefore it's now a medication that I have to pay for.

This is where our health care system has a problem. For most Canadians, medications are not covered by our basic medical plans provided by the government. Which means we pay for them out of our own pockets. Granted most Provincial governments have programs which subsidise some of the cost, but not all. This is where private insurance is introduced to our system. Most people, either individually or in most cases through their employer have extended coverage which includes in most cases the cost of all prescription drugs. Can you see where the problem is yet?

That's right, you've got private corporations, typically publicly traded companies, responsible for paying for the public's medications. Being a private company their first and main responsibility is not the welfare of it's clients, but rather profitability. One of the easiest ways to maintain that profitability is to pay out as little as possible for medications.

Now it's not as bad here as it is in the States, for example. Here if your doctor prescribes you a drug, legally they have to pay for it, which sadly is not the case in America. So how they get around that here is by delaying payment as long as possible.

It's a story I've heard far too often from too many people. They get a prescription and submit a claim to their insurer only to find there's a "problem" with their paperwork, or they never received the claim, the list of excuses goes on and on. For most this is little more than an annoyance as their drugs typically cost relatively little, usually under 100 dollars. But the strategy here, as far I can tell is exactly that. to annoy most people to the point where it's not worth re-submitting the same forms over and over again. They'd rather forget the 50 bucks and get on with their lives.

But what about those whose medications are necessary to their day to day wellness and which cost considerably more?

This is where I come back to my story. That drug that has kept me healthy for the last 10 years ain't cheap. In fact it costs about 36,000 for a years supply. It's largely subsidised by the Provincial government here, leaving my insurer, Manulife, to pick up the remainder, which is just shy of 10,000 bucks. Because of it's price, the government requires I go back to my doctor once a year in order to assess if I still require the medication, and re-apply for provincial coverage. Something that to me seems perfectly reasonable.

Whether the government decides to cover me or not, Manulife is still required to pay for my treatment. The catch? They need either my approval or rejection forms from the government. This is where the stall tactics come into play. I'm lucky that there is an advocacy group for patients on humira, (my medication) who handle all my paperwork and navigating all the bureaucracy for me, and they received my government approval at the beginning of August. Since then they've attempted FOUR times to get that paperwork to Manulife, the first three times Manulife claims to have never received it. I'll know tomorrow if the fourth attempt was received. So all said and done It's been over a month since I've been on my medication and could possibly be even longer. All so Manulife can save a buck.

In my case it's not so dire. I'll survive with only minor complications that should clear up shortly after I start treatment again. What I wonder though is how many people are being treated in the same manner whose health is in much worse shape than me? What about people who need chemotherapy, organ rejection drugs or HIV treatment? Are they getting the runaround as well?

Maybe it's time for us to put our health in the hands of those whose goal is to maintain our well-being instead of maintaining a healthy bottom line.

American Style Government? Yes Please.

 

 So today's musings are courtesy of last nights election results, in which a party that received only 40% of the vote will form a majority government with essentially dictatorial powers until the next election. I think it's time we change how we do things in Canada, don't you?

Next week, something frivolous. Promise.

Not Suitable For All Ages?

Well things in my computer related world seem to be back on track, so here's this Mondays rant. And in a way my computer melting contributed to my thoughts on todays subject.

Nothing Today

Due to some wonderful computer problems I won't be getting a video up today. The problem has been resolved, but I've been dealing with that and other things, so my Monday rant will be postponed until tomorrow.

I'll try and find something that irks me in the meantime. Something tells me that shouldn't be too difficult ;)