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Patient Voices Blog
June 19, 2020

Let My Story Be a Reminder

I had to search for his advanced care documents after he passed. What I found was paperwork showing that he had cashed out all his retirement while waiting the 3 years it took to get approved for Social Security Disability. I found credit card statements with thousands of dollars of debt on them, one still with my Mom on it. Also, documents that needed to be sent in for life insurance to be given to my sister and me, signed, sealed, stamped ready to go. But, they were never mailed, just lying in his file of other unorganized paperwork.

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  1. November 22, 2017

    In Honor of Family Caregivers

    Family caregivers are the ones who ask the hard questions and keep track of the answers. They make the dreaded phone calls to insurance companies making sure a prescription or recommended service is covered. They see the full spectrum of the patient’s experience with illness and treatment outside the clinic walls. Like social workers, nurses, physicians and patients, family caregivers are critical members of the healthcare team, and they should be rightfully appreciated and honored not just this month, but every single day of the year. 

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  2. March 3, 2017

    Palliative Care: What It Means to Me

    I did not meet my grandmother until 2004, after my mom petitioned for her to come to the US to stay with my family so my mom could be her primary caregiver. Nanay lived in the Philippines, where she was born and where my mother was raised.

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  3. September 9, 2016

    Insured and In Debt: The Catastrophic Unfairness of Medical Debt

    States have released premium data suggesting that the rates for many insurance plans are expected to increase significantly next year, much higher than prior increases in 2015 and 2016. As I look at the coverage landscape now and looking ahead, I can’t help but think of what it all means for the patients we serve through the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF).

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