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Kay Zwan
Wilmington, NC
Our Defining Moment & Purpose is Realized by Our Ability to Rise Above Our Challenges Not by Laying Victim to Them. I am an Unyielding Force as an Individual, Mother & Wife Demanding a Healthcare System that Protects the Human Race Right to Life, Liberty, Sovereignty & Prosperity. Healthcare is our Right & Responsibility! Disease/Disability crosses all boundaries of society therefore, our solution is a healthcare system designed to prevent and defeat disease with access for all. The question that was ask during presidential debates: “Is Healthcare a Right or a Responsibility?” My life experience as well as my read on the constitution is that it is both – It starts with Our Right but requires Our Responsibility at all levels in order to create our Win-Win of a Healthy Productive Society with the ability to defeat disease while controlling and reducing healthcare cost.
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Kay recruited diana to sign the petition | -
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Kay signed the petition | -
Kay signed the petition |
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Kay signed the petition | -
Kay signed the petition | -
Kay commented on the article |Discriminate Job and Healthcare Coverage Loss, Because of My Family’s Medical Liabilities – As a mother I have a story speaks to my family’s tremendous losses caused by our US Healthcare System Driven by Greed but, without your support I will not be heard. The Wilmington Yes We Can Healthcare Reform Team and the Obama Transition Team are giving us our voice back. We must Stand Up as an Unyielding Force Demanding a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for All. Just like millions of Americans who have suffered tremendous losses due to a government and healthcare system driven by greed – I have spent 2008 polarized by fear and disappointment, calculating our losses, my job, our healthcare and our savings. Families that have High Medical Liabilities are forced into Government Programs where the insurance industry can legally increase their power to deny & control access to quality care for our most vulnerable those that are sick and of minimal means.Professionally I was in the top 4% of performers for years but, because of my family’s high medical liabilities, my husband who is a Stage IV Kidney Cancer Survivor & my son has Terminal Genetic Disorder called Wolfram Syndrome caused me to miss a higher % of days than my colleagues. High medical liability employees drive up the cost of Healthcare Insurance for employers therefore, when a national a lay-off was announced I knew that I was at risk of being laid-off. While my performance throughout my 18 years was consistently high so were my family’s medical liabilities -I was laid-off in Jan 2008. The US Public Healthcare Programs of Medicare & Medicaid are programs designed to legally control access care to the human beings who are considered to be the least contributors and the drain on society. Within Government Programs the beauracy is so extreme and the reimbursement rates so low that it limits their access to medical care, medical devices, specialty care and medicines for our most vulnerable our sick with lesser financial means are denied access to the care they need to survive disease. The documentation below is an attempt to describe my family’s challenges with Medicare in trying to gain approval for of insulin pump supplies the medical device that is my son’s lifeline. This is our first experience with Medicare my private insurance expired in September my COBRA cost was $1850/month my unemployment was $1100/month. While we are thankful to have coverage for Adam through Medicare because the reality is he is uninsurable therefore, without it he would not have access to any care. The Initial Medicare Denial Process has taken 3 months many hours & conversations with Medicare operators at all levels, Medtronic Medical Supplier, healthcare professionals, 5 trips to hospital and clinic labs; only to get a denial for a device that is Adam’s life line. Wolfram Syndrome is a neuro degenerative type of diabetes not autoimmune – low blood sugars put him at risk of long lasting seizures. Wolfram Syndrome is a neuro degenerative disease causing neuropathy of all the tissues therefore all systems are involved. The acronym for Wolfram Syndrome is DIDMOAD (Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Mellitus, Optical Atrophy & Deafness). As I have explained to every operator with Medicare the progression of Diabetes Insipidus has left Adam with only 20% kidney function therefore, he is unable to tolerate long lasting insulin or large amounts of short acting insulin because it cannot be excreted and builds up putting him at increased risk of seizures. Unfortunately within this bureaucratic healthcare system designed to control access to care, these operators, healthcare professionals as well as patients we are ALL powerless because, our system is designed to control access to care not disease.I have spoken with no less that 12 Medicare Operators 3 or 4 have read Congressional Bills that stated that ALL Type I Diabetics were to have access to Insulin Pumps or if a Diabetic was utilizing the insulin pump prior to becoming a Medicare participant – Adam meets both criteria stated in the bill passed by Congress - he has been a Type I Diabetic since the age of 7 he has been utilizing insulin pump since the age of 10 (he is now 21) because of seizures and his inability to handle long lasting insulin. The reality is that because we have a medical system that is designed to control access to care not disease congress passes legislation and then leave it up to private and public insurers to interpret how they will administer it so that the insurer maintain control of access to care and 2.6 Trillion Dollars. Medicare just like all administrators of healthcare policy writes the law with loopholes then they apply their interpretation and manipulation of the laws. The Law states that “All Type 1 Diabetics Insulin Dependent Patients – should (the loophole) have access to insulin pump” Medicare uses the should loophole in the Law to apply their interpretation for denial and to control access devices and money: Medicare Added this criteria - ONLY if they meet these specific lab requirements 1)C-Peptide along with concurrent Fasting Glucose 2)ICA (Islet Cell Autoantibody) 3)GAD (Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase) 4)IAA (Insulin Auto Antibody) 5)IA-2(RIA). Now all the lab test and ranges that Medicare requires will NOT change the fact that my son has been a Type 1 Diabetic since the age of 7, he has been on the insulin pump for 11 years due to seizures and lack of kidney function therefore, the pump is critical to control levels of insulin dispensed. The longer they jockey around denying the device that is Adam’s lifeline they put his life at risk. Why? What is their Goal in Denial of Care? My family has been humbled by disease but not defeated we feel the same way about our healthcare system. Adam is one of the most compliant patients he inspires all that come to know him by his spirit and courage to rise above whatever challenge or loss he is faced with. My son’s daily treatment regimen; he self-caths 4-6 times a day, he takes 9 different medications, utilizes multiple medical devices, he exercises every day, he follows a renal and diabetic diet. I am sure that we will gain approval for his pump supplies eventually. Our experience and challenges with private & public healthcare system just reinforce my commitment to bring about change for all patients. Our private & public healthcare system is fundamentally flawed in design it is designed to control access to care not disease. Within the public healthcare system denial of access to care is further compounded by the bureaucracy and low reimbursement. I have turned to my legislators and the Patient Advocate Foundation – to assist us in 7 STEP Medicare Appeal Process we have reached out to friends and family to get supplies to hold us over until we get through this bureaucratic denial of care. Denial of this device puts my son’s future wellbeing at risk just like our current healthcare system puts all of our future health and wealth at risk. The US Healthcare System is Destroying Families Medically and Financially!My family and the millions of other families who struggle with disease greatest losses have NOT been from disease but, from a Healthcare System driven by GREED – a system that treats human life as nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold on our US Healthcare Free Market. Our Healthcare System is destroying families medically and financially. While our family’s stories are tragic they should be criminal in the US - the wealthiest most educated country in the world where human life is valued for only those that can write the biggest check. My greatest fear is that healthcare reform will be put on the back burner again – our reality is that our healthcare system in its current form is a barrier to our future financial recovery. Below is my attempt to describe my family’s losses and betrayal of our US healthcare system as well as my battles with private and government insurance administrators. My own life experience has provided me with a unique and valuable insight into the healthcare system. I have witnessed personally and professionally the miracles of science and the corruption of a healthcare system designed to exploit human life not preserve it. My family’s story speaks to the possibilities of science as well as the failures and betrayal of our healthcare system. The insurance industry has been very successful in lobbying our legislators and employers to design and administer our healthcare system to control access to care as our solution to healthcare cost. They take that denial power a step further with our most vulnerable our sick with minimal financial means. The Insurance Industry has been successful in defining those that struggle with disease as the drain on society instead of a Healthcare System that is design to exploit our loss. The insurance industry has drawn a line in the sand on who they believe deserve access to quality healthcare; that is the Young, Healthy & Wealthy – all others are forced onto government programs where there only destiny is premature death. The insurance industry has all the decision making power as well as complete control of the money – our legislators have given the Insurance Industry Absolute Power to decide who has the Right to survive Disease without any responsibility to their decisions. The goal and role of Insurance Industry is to maintain control over 2.6 Trillion Dollars through denial of care that human beings need to survive disease. We CAN protect the Human Race Medically and Financially from our common enemy Disease through the Non-Discriminate solution Science. Therefore we must demand the creation and implementation of a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for ALL.
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Kay signed the petition | -
Kay commented on the article |Dear Lee, I have reviewed other country's H/C Plans while I realize there are no easy solutions to H/C reform. I am confident selling human life on the US H/C Free Market is not our solution. We can create and implement a healthcare system in the US that protects every human beings right to life, liberty, sovereignty and prosperity. My suggestion to you is that you watch Frontline “Sick Around the World” A Must See www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld . The Switzerland Healthcare Plan is the one that protects every human beings right to life and affordable equal access to quality care. I am glad that you have affordable quality healthcare available to you, my hope is that you are able to maintain it; within our current healthcare system you’re only at risk if you are your loved ones become ill. Take care! Kay,
Lee Dorsey sent you a compliment in reference to comment on the Universal Health Care blog entry Health Care on Whitehouse.gov: In Your Face: Just a note
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Long comment. Could write separate blog. Study other national health plans before you think there are easy solutions in the US.- -
Kay commented on the article |
The US Healthcare System in its Current Form is the Greatest Violator of Human Rights of the 21st CenturyThe US Healthcare System is Designed to Exploit Human Life as a Commodity to be Bought & Sold in H/C Free Market.Fact: Healthcare is our Right & Responsibility! Disease/Disability crosses all boundaries of society therefore, our solution is a healthcare system designed to prevent and defeat disease with equal access for all. The question that was ask during presidential debates: “Is Healthcare a Right or a Responsibility?” My life experience as well as my read on the constitution is that it is both – It starts with Our Right but requires Our Responsibility at all levels in order to create our Win-Win of a Healthy Productive Society with the ability to defeat disease while controlling and reducing healthcare cost.Healthcare is not a Democrat or Republican issue it is a Human Race issue – President Obama’s personal family story and his mother’s battle with cancer and insurance companies gives us HOPE that his life experience will give our families a voice in healthcare reform. I am so inspired by President elect Obama’s and Sen. Ted Kennedy’s commitment to Healthcare Reform – I feel confident that a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for All is a real possibility. President Obama promised not to turn his back on us and I must believe that in order to maintain any sense of hope in the possibility of a Healthcare System designed to preserve human life not exploit it.The US Healthcare System is Destroying Families Medically and Financially!My family and the millions of other families who struggle with disease greatest losses have NOT been from disease but, from a Healthcare System driven by GREED – a system that treats human life as nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold on our US Healthcare Free Market. Our Healthcare System is destroying families medically and financially. While our family’s stories are tragic they should be criminal in the US - the wealthiest most educated country in the world where human life is valued for only those that can write the biggest check. My greatest fear is that healthcare reform will be put on the back burner again – our reality is that our healthcare system in its current form is a barrier to our future financial recovery. Below is my attempt to describe my family’s losses and betrayal of our US healthcare system as well as my battles with private and government insurance administrators. My own life experience has provided me with a unique and valuable insight into the healthcare system. I have witnessed personally and professionally the miracles of science and the corruption of a healthcare system designed to exploit human life not preserve it. My family’s story speaks to the possibilities of science as well as the failures and betrayal of our healthcare system. The insurance industry has been very successful in lobbying our legislators and employers to design and administer our healthcare system to control access to care as our solution to healthcare cost. They take that denial power a step further with our most vulnerable our sick with minimal financial means. The Insurance Industry has been successful in defining those that struggle with disease as the drain on society instead of a Healthcare System that is design to exploit our loss. The insurance industry has drawn a line in the sand on who they believe deserve access to quality healthcare; that is the Young, Healthy & Wealthy – all others are forced onto government programs where there only destiny is premature death. The insurance industry has all the decision making power as well as complete control of the money – our legislators have given the Insurance Industry Absolute Power to decide who has the Right to survive Disease without any responsibility to their decisions. The goal and role of Insurance Industry is to maintain control over 2.6 Trillion Dollars through denial of care that human beings need to survive disease. We CAN protect the Human Race Medically and Financially from our common enemy Disease through the Non-Discriminate solution Science. Therefore we must demand the creation and implementation of a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for ALL.My Family’s Story of Betrayal by Our Government & Our US Healthcare System:As a mother I have a story speaks to my family’s tremendous losses caused by our US Healthcare System but, without your support I will not be heard. The Wilmington Yes We Can Healthcare Reform Team and the Obama Transition Team are giving us our voice back. We must Stand Up as an Unyielding Force Demanding a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for All. Just like millions of Americans who have suffered tremendous losses due to a government and healthcare system driven by greed – I have spent 2008 polarized by fear and disappointment, calculating our losses, my job, our healthcare and our savings. Families that have High Medical Liabilities are forced into Government Programs where the insurance industry can legally increase their power to deny & control access to quality care for our most vulnerable those that are sick and of minimal means.2008 was not just an awakening for my family but for ALL Americans we must finish what we started in demanding a Government and Healthcare System of the People. We cannot afford to stand down while special interests write the laws that destroy our constitutional rights of Life, Liberty, Sovereignty and Prosperity. Our health is at the core of our wealth individually and collectively therefore; we can create our Win-Win by designing a healthcare system that protects every human beings right to Life, Liberty, Sovereignty and Prosperity. Our current healthcare system is flawed in designed with a goal to control access to care not to control and defeat disease. The Human Race needs a Healthcare System designed to preserve human life not exploit it. My willingness to share my family’s story of the possibilities of science and the betrayal of our government and healthcare system are my attempt to demand the change we ALL need to defeat and control disease our common enemy. Discriminate Job and Healthcare Coverage Loss, Because of My Family’s Medical Liabilities – Professionally I was in the top 4% of performers for years but, because of my family’s high medical liabilities, my husband who is a Stage IV Kidney Cancer Survivor & my son has Terminal Genetic Disorder called Wolfram Syndrome caused me to miss a higher % of days than my colleagues. High medical liability employees drive up the cost of Healthcare Insurance for employers therefore, when a national a lay-off was announced I knew that I was at risk of being laid-off. While my performance throughout my 18 years was consistently high so were my family’s medical liabilities -I was laid-off in Jan 2008. The US Public Healthcare Programs of Medicare & Medicaid are programs designed to legally control access care to the human beings who are considered to be the least contributors and the drain on society. Within Government Programs the beauracy is so extreme and the reimbursement rates so low that it limits their access to medical care, medical devices, specialty care and medicines for our most vulnerable our sick with lesser financial means are denied access to the care they need to survive disease. The documentation below is an attempt to describe my family’s challenges with Medicare in trying to gain approval for of insulin pump supplies the medical device that is my son’s lifeline. This is our first experience with Medicare my private insurance expired in September my COBRA cost was $1850/month my unemployment was $1100/month. While we are thankful to have coverage for Adam through Medicare because the reality is he is uninsurable therefore, without it he would not have access to any care. The Initial Medicare Denial Process has taken 3 months many hours & conversations with Medicare operators at all levels, Medtronic Medical Supplier, healthcare professionals, 5 trips to hospital and clinic labs; only to get a denial for a device that is Adam’s life line. Wolfram Syndrome is a neuro degenerative type of diabetes not autoimmune – low blood sugars put him at risk of long lasting seizures. Wolfram Syndrome is a neuro degenerative disease causing neuropathy of all the tissues therefore all systems are involved. The acronym for Wolfram Syndrome is DIDMOAD (Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Mellitus, Optical Atrophy & Deafness). As I have explained to every operator with Medicare the progression of Diabetes Insipidus has left Adam with only 20% kidney function therefore, he is unable to tolerate long lasting insulin or large amounts of short acting insulin because it cannot be excreted and builds up putting him at increased risk of seizures. Unfortunately within this bureaucratic healthcare system designed to control access to care, these operators, healthcare professionals as well as patients we are ALL powerless because, our system is designed to control access to care not disease.I have spoken with no less that 12 Medicare Operators 3 or 4 have read Congressional Bills that stated that ALL Type I Diabetics were to have access to Insulin Pumps or if a Diabetic was utilizing the insulin pump prior to becoming a Medicare participant – Adam meets both criteria stated in the bill passed by Congress - he has been a Type I Diabetic since the age of 7 he has been utilizing insulin pump since the age of 10 (he is now 21) because of seizures and his inability to handle long lasting insulin. The reality is that because we have a medical system that is designed to control access to care not disease congress passes legislation and then leave it up to private and public insurers to interpret how they will administer it so that the insurer maintain control of access to care and 2.6 Trillion Dollars. Medicare just like all administrators of healthcare policy writes the law with loopholes then they apply their interpretation and manipulation of the laws. The Law states that “All Type 1 Diabetics Insulin Dependent Patients – should (the loophole) have access to insulin pump” Medicare uses the should loophole in the Law to apply their interpretation for denial and to control access devices and money: Medicare Added this criteria - ONLY if they meet these specific lab requirements 1)C-Peptide along with concurrent Fasting Glucose 2)ICA (Islet Cell Autoantibody) 3)GAD (Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase) 4)IAA (Insulin Auto Antibody) 5)IA-2(RIA). Now all the lab test and ranges that Medicare requires will NOT change the fact that my son has been a Type 1 Diabetic since the age of 7, he has been on the insulin pump for 11 years due to seizures and lack of kidney function therefore, the pump is critical to control levels of insulin dispensed. The longer they jockey around denying the device that is Adam’s lifeline they put his life at risk. Why? What is their Goal in Denial of Care? My family has been humbled by disease but not defeated we feel the same way about our healthcare system. Adam is one of the most compliant patients he inspires all that come to know him by his spirit and courage to rise above whatever challenge or loss he is faced with. My son’s daily treatment regimen; he self-caths 4-6 times a day, he takes 9 different medications, utilizes multiple medical devices, he exercises every day, he follows a renal and diabetic diet. I am sure that we will gain approval for his pump supplies eventually. Our experience and challenges with private & public healthcare system just reinforce my commitment to bring about change for all patients. Our private & public healthcare system is fundamentally flawed in design it is designed to control access to care not disease. Within the public healthcare system denial of access to care is further compounded by the bureaucracy and low reimbursement. I have turned to my legislators and the Patient Advocate Foundation – to assist us in 7 STEP Medicare Appeal Process we have reached out to friends and family to get supplies to hold us over until we get through this bureaucratic denial of care. Denial of this device puts my son’s future wellbeing at risk just like our current healthcare system puts all of our future health and wealth at risk. Our Solution to Disease is a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science:My unyielding determination and courage to stand up for my son and husband is a result of watching them demonstrate amazing courage to rise above their challenges of disease every day. I ask my son to maintain his courage to control and defeat disease therefore, I must demonstrate that same level courage to stand up for him and all that struggle with disease. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 18 years. During this time, I spent six years working in clinical research and learned about the development of new medicines and the value they provide. I then spent 12 years in the Sales and Marketing where I learned about formulary access, reimbursement, and government programs from the industry perspective. I have been inspired by science and by the healthcare professionals that used their knowledge to empower my husband and son with the ability to control their diseases. My greatest disappoint has been and continues to be in the policy makers and administrators arrogance and corruption of our healthcare system. The reality is that I have had to fight with private and public insurance companies all along the way for my husband and my son to have access to care they need to defeat and control disease. Patients Ability to Defeat & Control Disease is Realized by the Convergence of Human Will and Science. (Access to Care & Education)My husband was diagnosed with metastatic renal cancer 8 years ago. After the standard treatments failed him, he was given less than 12 months to live and told there was nothing else to offer by his oncologist. However, through contact with an oncologist at work and through his tireless effort to find potential clinical trials, my husband was enrolled in a Phase I study and had a complete response to treatment. Seven years later he remains disease free. I cannot begin to describe the impact this has had on our family. We were lucky to have a connection with this oncologist. I want everyone to have access to that kind of information and the opportunity to be considered in clinical trials when standard treatment fails.My son has a rare terminal genetic disease called “Wolfram Syndrome”. Since the age of 7 he has coped with Type I diabetes and subsequent symptoms of neurodegeneration, including kidney disease, optical atrophy and hearing impairment. The neurodegeneration will ultimately affect his brain stem causing premature death sometime in his 20-30s; he is now 21. While there is no cure, the progression of his disease may be impacted by how well he controls his blood sugar levels. Yet, I had to fight for 9 months with an insurance provider to get approval for his insulin pump that measures his blood sugars and dispenses insulin. He is a model patient; informed and proactive about his healthcare. However, without access to the necessary tools he will not be empowered to take the best possible care of his health. I want everyone to have access to the care they need so they can be empowered to care for themselves in the best possible way. Please join our coalition in appealing to our government to demand a Healthcare based on the probability of disease and the possibilities of science. We will be an unyielding force to demand a healthcare system that is driven by need NOT greed. Health and wellbeing are at the core of our individual and collective wealth; health affects our ability to perform in the workforce as well as our children’s ability to performance in school. Our reality is that disease can and does cross all boundaries of society therefore our non-discriminate solution to disease is the convergence of science and human will miracles happen. Our Common Goal of Human Possibility of Defeating Disease will be Realized by the Creation & Implementation of a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for ALL. Together We Can Create our Win-Win through a Healthcare System that Protects Our Right to Life Combined with Clearly Defined Roles & Responsibilities at all Levels –– By Controlling and Defeating Society’s Enemy Disease We Will Create Healthier More Productive Society as well as Control & Reduce Healthcare Cost.The Wilmington Yes We Can Healthcare Reform Team is a network of about 140 members while they are not all on the Yes We Can Wilmington Portal – www.yeswecanwilmington.ning.com/ we will reach out to encourage full participation to keep our grassroots movement going. The Wilmington Yes We Can Team will unite as an unyielding force to demand the creation and implementation of a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science that provides Affordable and Equal Access to Quality care for ALL. If you or your coalition have any experience in advocating for Patient’s Rights or Healthcare Reform would you be willing to advise and support our cause of demanding a Non-Discriminate Healthcare System Powered by Science with Equal Access for All. A healthcare system that protects The Human Race's Right to Life, Liberty, Sovereignty and Prosperity. I would be deeply grateful if you could help me take the first steps towards realizing this goal by finding some time to speak with me. My contact information: e-mail kzwan@att.net - cell 731.267.2792 - home 910.395.5121. With warm regard,Kay Zwankzwan@att.net5329 Sun Coast DriveWilmington, NC 28411(910)395-5121 (H)(731)267-2792 (C ) “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt
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