Gov’t report shows disabled ignored by states and businesses
The National, Council on Disability has written a report on the state of disability access to medical care in the United States. It is a sobering report showing the while some agencies are working hard to help the disabled and to remove barriers, both physical as well as administrative, others ignore virtually all federal laws. Because the disabled use a larger percentage of the medical care infrastructure, it is vital that companies and agencies be held to the ADA. Too many times the disabled have run into issues during natural emergencies where shelters were unavailable, shelter workers refused to help the disabled via documentation provided by the Department of Justice. (Source: National Council on Disability – Sept 2009)
Further problems were found in availability of clinics, tests for medical conditions and pills to control long term conditions. The disabled ran a much greater risk of hearing and visual problems as well as hypertension, obesity and a lack of instructions on how to deal with medical conditions. This creates an environment where those with good medical insurance have access to doctors that are trained to help their patients over a wide range of issues where the disabled typically have to deal with newly graduated doctors that do not have the training or experience to work with those with complicated medical issues. Since the medical infrastructure of the United States is on treating a problem rather than prevention, medical care is much more expensive than virtually anywhere else in the world.
Rather than working to make sure people do not get the flu or popular issues like hypertension or smoking, the medical community and insurance companies waits until the patient is severely sick before they get the care they need. This means that more disabled die or end up with additional medical conditions as compared to the able bodied that have corporate based medical insurance. Many pills are not available on Part B Medicare because they are new and expensive, and most companies have virtually non-existent system to help pay for drugs. This is especially true for those with chronic pain, where most pain medication is prohibitively expensive. As the body requires higher and higher doses to get the same pain relief level, stronger medications are required – that are not covered. Even if the medications are covered, the patient is only covered for the first $2700, after that the patent is on their own for the next $2000 before catastrophic care kicks in.
This all creates an environment where preventative care is non-existent and only very expensive care is available. While this care is great for those that can afford it, for those that are either on Medicare or no plan at all live in excruciating pain or with out of control blood pressure because there is no treatment that the poor can afford. While there may be plans to help the public, the ADA is typically ignored by companies and cities that find it is easier to get sued than it is to build to code. We all need to work together so that the laws are followed and actually help the disabled to live a more normal life.
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