Patients' Access to Treatments Act/10 Grassroots Advocates

   
The last week of Arthritis Awareness Month had me writing about advocacy in two different spectrums (spectra??).

First, the Patients' Access to Treatments Act.This is an important bipartisan initiative to limit insurance companies from charging more in co-pays for Biologics than for other drugs:

"When you have rheumatoid arthritis, medication can be an essential part of controlling the disease and managing symptoms. This is the moment where those who are insured breathe a deep, relieved breath. At least they won't have to worry about medication cost. Or will they?"

The rest of that post is here.

Also this week, I had the privilege of profiling ten amazing people in the inflammatory arthritis community, talking about what they do to advocate and raise awareness:

"Many people who live with rheumatoid arthritis are engaged in advocacy and raising awareness in one way or another. Many more want to get involved, but have limited energy or don’t know what to do. As part of our celebration of Arthritis Awareness Month, we wanted to profile a number of people who have found various ways, big and small, to spread the word. We hope that these stories might inspire you by showing that there is a range of activities you can do to advocate and raise awareness, depending on your health, energy and time. All of the people profiled do this is a labor of love by donating their time to the cause."

You can read the rest of that post here.

And now: weekend. I hope yours is wonderful.
  

Comments

Justaplainsam said…
I am very thankful for the coverage that my job provides, however by taking a biologic I have to abide by the schedule of the nearest IV infusion center. Orencia was great with the nurse able to come to my home but its exreamly hard to work with the Infusion centers restricted hours. I know I should be happy to be able to work, but sometimes I think the health care system would be much happier if I didn't work and could be at there beck and call for appointments... Sigh.... sorry for the rant :(
12:49 PM
Prudential Life said…
Inspiring blog, everyone can get plenty of information for any topic. Pretty good post, this is one of the most excellent article that I've ever read! This is an enormous site and I have to pass on good wishes to you on the content.
2:48 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farber’s Disease: Could Your Child’s Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Be Misdiagnosed?

Image
Joint inflammation or contractures. Nodules (small lumps under the skin or in other tissues). A weakened or hoarse voice. Children with these symptoms may have been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or other types of juvenile arthritis . But do they actually have JIA or do they have Farber’s disease? An equine digression When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. This is an adage in the medical world that encourages doctors to not wander off exploring rare and esoteric reasons for a patient’s symptoms. Because most of the time, that hoof beat of a rash likely isn’t the plague, the joint pain more likely a type of arthritis than the bends (especially if the person has never scuba dived) and you get the picture. But once in a while, it actually is a zebra. And even if it’s first identified as a horse, eventually, the stripes come through. It took five years of my parents running around to different doctors before one finally recognized that I had...
Read more

13 Things to Know for Rheumatoid Arthritis Newbies + Facebook Live

Image
Getting a diagnosis of any type of chronic illness can throw you for loop. There is so much to know and you have so little energy. My new slideshow for HealthCentral collects 13 things you need to know as an RA newbie : "Receiving a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a moment of strange duality. On one hand, you may be relieved to finally have answers for the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. On the other, it can be incredibly overwhelming to find out you have a chronic illness. Wrapping your head around all the new factors RA brings into your life is a long-term process. Here are some of the things you need to know." See the slideshow on HealthCentral . And in case you missed it, here is the Facebook Live I did yesterday talking about this topic:   
Read more