ABLEnews Extra
     
          Patients AND Families Need Support
     
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Nearly a third of families caring for severely ill relatives at home
after an initial hospitalization lost most of their life savings and
many lost most of their income as well, as study of more than 2,000
adult patients released from five medical centers found.

"Clearly, serious illnesses are devastating not only to patients but to
their families as well," said Kenneth E. Covinsky of University
Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in
Cleveland, the lead author of the study, which appears in today's
Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Most notable is the fact that 96% of the patients surveyed had some
form of hospital insurance, yet nearly one-third of them still lost
their savings," he said. "Home care and disability costs may now be more
devastating to patients and their families than costs incurred in the
hospital."

The study found some family members had to quit jobs to care for the
patient at home. Others moved to less expensive homes. Still others
became ill themselves because of the stress of caring for the patient.
Some reported delaying education or putting off medical care for
themselves. All told, 31% used up all or most of their life savings on
the unreimbursed costs of home care, health aides, special
transportation, and related medical costs. Most of the added expenses
did not result from new out-of-pocket costs for further spells in the
hospital, since most rehospitalizations were largely covered by hospital
insurance.

Moreover, 29% of the families lost a major source of income, either
because the patient could no longer work or the family member taking
care of the patient had to quit working. Many of those who lost income
also were in the group that lost most of their savings, but that was not
true in every case.

The study looked at patients who had suffered major illnesses such as
congestive heart failure, cancer, and acute respiratory failure, and had
been admitted to five major hospitals in various parts of the country
from mid-1989 to mid-1991. From interviews with patients and family
members, the study traced what happened during the six months following
initial discharge from the hospital.

Of the patients studied, 55% were under the age of 65, 81% were white,
55% were married, and 29% had family incomes over $25,000. Only 4%
lacked health insurance. "We found that families of seriously ill
patients experienced severe caregiving and financial burdens," the study
said. [CURE Comment: We deplore the use of such lethal language as
"burdens" which leads to the dehumanizing concept that people, loved
ones in particular, are "burdens." Rather, their illnesses and
disabilities are challenges which love leads us to do our best to
overcome, and where that is not possible, to endure and console.]

The researchers found "families with younger patients experienced
economic burdens with much greater frequency than families of older
patients." The study did not conclusively identify the reason, but said
it was probably that older patients and their families had more time to
accumulate savings, earn pensions, and obtain Social Security, and
Medicare, so they suffered less from loss of income than those dependent
on jobs. [ABLEnews Editor's Note: Older patients may be more likely to
be veterans eligible for V.A. benefits and medical aid.] The five
hospitals from which patients were drawn were Beth Israel (Boston), Duke
University (Durham, NC), St. Joseph's (Marshfield, WI), MetroHealth
(Cleveland), and UCLA. George Washington University coordinated the
project.

[Major Illnesses Found to Deplete Families' Finances, Spencer Rich,
Washington Post, December 21, 1994]

CURE Comment:  Patients may be even more "devastated" than the 
               report suggests as such economic pressures of
               often used to rationalize checkbook euthanasia.
               The challenges of caring for a critically ill
               loved one are considerable and needlessly
               compounded by TAB bias against those who are ill
               or impaired. CURE was established to provide moral
               and social support to families, as well as to
               protect those in their care. For a free Life
               Support Directive and other information, please
               contact CURE.

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