This topic is just so HUGE and so charged with emotion and frustration. Of course, if I could wave my magic wand, I’d say: Make all my medical problems (including needing to wear eyeglasses) away so that I never need doctors, hospitals, insurance or drugs.  There, I said it!

That being said, I will limit myself to THREE WISHES:

1. I wish for a medical team (doctors, PA’s, CDE’s, office staff) who really knows me and really cares for me (not only my medical status but how I’m doing with the psychological side of diabetes) and works will with all the specialties that I need. Is that truly possible in this current medical atmosphere?

2. I wish for the insurance conundrum to just STOP! No middlemen, no price gouging, all medications and devices, recommended by my medical team (who cares about me and is knowledgeable and up-to-date on research and best practices) covered, without prior authorizations, which waste my doctors’ time (he/she wouldn’t have prescribed something unless he/she wanted me to have it!)!

  I have to add that I do believe in capitalism and free market and compensation for effort and production.  But I also believe in balance of profits and care.  Is that too much to ask?

3. I wish for a medical PERSONAL ASSISTANT! I’d love to have someone keep track of my bills, my appointments, the paperwork and lab results that I need to bring with me to appointments, take notes during appointments, maintain a highly responsive communication with my doctors and my insurance and my pharmacy. This person can also drive me to appointments and drop me off so that I don’t have to search for parking in lots that are overcrowded. I’d also like that person (or might need to have a team but I deal with the team leader directly!) to have a GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR and the PERSISTENCE OF A HONEY BADGER.

I think that about covers it for now. That’s my Healthcare Nirvana!

Here are some thoughts from my wonderful group:

• SR: I’d like my healthcare providers to know my medical history, care for my well-being, and offer alternative options for treatment. I’d like medical insurance plans to cover insulin pumps and CGM’s. Affordable treatment for all. And I need a person who compiles all of my specialty doctor’s information and coordinates it as my liaison. Coordinated Healthcare.

• PM: I’d like every endocrinologist to check our feet! Yes, mine are super ugly – always have been – but it is so important to Type 1s.

I would like my physician to have reviewed my numbers BEFORE I enter the exam room. Instead, they stare, study and examine the data and it makes me feel invisible. That way, they can ease into a conversation about the numbers they see without making it all about the numbers. The numbers drive us crazy every day…it would be nice to be addressed as a person instead of as a “number”.

Cost. Diabetes (both types) should not be a cost issue to maintain. We all struggle with the cost of supplies, prescriptions, devices, etc. Type 2s sometimes can only test once a day – and we expect patients and physicians to be able to manage the disease adequately?  The more we test, the healthier we are…so what’s the problem? Cost. It should all be free!

• GK: The most important item for me, in addition to wanting a closed loop system, is a faster acting insulin. The slow response of insulin is way too frustrating. I have no issues with my MD and her systems, but want Medicare to pay for my Dexcom, or at least part of it.

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