UPPER NYACK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today announced the inaugural publication of “A Patient’s Guide to Healthcare: 2018 Edition.” The new publication defines commonly used terminology, explains how to get the most from insurance coverage (across all types of insurance), and empowers patients to advocate for themselves and the chronic disease community.
“In the United States, affording and accessing healthcare can be challenging, particularly for chronic disease patients who benefit from working with specialists and utilizing complex, often expensive, medications to manage their illness over a lifetime,” said Seth Ginsberg, president and co-founder of the Global Healthy Living Foundation and chronic disease patient.
Another patient, Cynthia Arnsdorff, said, “I was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 1967 at the age of thirteen. More than fifty years later, I’ve spent countless hours researching and educating myself about my illness while trying nearly every prescription medication as it became available, in the hopes of alleviating symptoms and preventing further joint damage.” Ms. Arnsdorff is a Georgia-based volunteer patient advocate for GHLF’s 50-State Network.
“What I’ve learned is that I’m my best advocate. By necessity, I’ve become adept at understanding my insurance coverage and fighting for the treatments prescribed by my doctor. But beyond that, it’s important for me to speak up about the impact of RA so that insurance companies and the legislators who write our laws understand this invisible disease.”
Quality Health Care for All
“A Patient’s Guide to
Healthcare: 2018 Edition” commences with a declarative Patient Charter,
which details the guiding principles underscoring GHLF’s perspective
that patients should be the driver of healthcare decisions that are not
limited by external factors (financial or otherwise). Beyond spelling
out how the Affordable Care Act provided important protections to
patients, such as revoking the ability of insurance companies to cancel
coverage (rescission) without notice, the guide spells out how different
types of private, public and combination health insurance options work
and how patients can navigate inevitable paperwork, claim denials and
appeals.
“Frustration is the word I hear most often used when people describe navigating our healthcare system,” said Mr. Ginsberg. “It’s our belief that insurance companies deliberately make their protocols complex and time consuming in the hopes that patients, physicians, and the practice administrators responsible for securing approvals give up. With this publication, we are providing chronic disease patients with the education and tools they need to advocate for themselves and our community. Every patient deserves to be treated as an individual and receive the best possible care at an affordable cost.”
About “A Patient’s Guide to Healthcare: 2018 Edition”
“A
Patient’s Guide to Healthcare: 2018 Edition” was written for chronic
disease patients and the people who care about them by a team of GHLF
writers with input from members of GHLF’s 50-State
Network. The 50-State Network is a grassroots advocacy component of
GHLF, comprised of chronic disease patients who proactively connect with
State and Federal health policy stakeholders to share their perspective
and influence change in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The 50-State
Network mobilizes patients to voice their concerns about access to
treatment, quality of care, and the need to prioritize the
physician-patient relationship by providing public and personalized
opportunities to advocate for the chronic disease community.
“A Patient’s Guide to Healthcare: 2018 Edition” will be updated annually. It is available for free download at http://www.50StateNetwork.org.
About Global Healthy Living Foundation
The Global
Healthy Living Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people living with
chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, migraine, diabetes,
psoriasis, and cardiovascular disease by advocating for improved access
to care at the community, state, and federal levels, and amplifying
education and awareness efforts within its social media framework. GHLF
is also a staunch advocate for vaccines. The Global Healthy Living
Foundation is the parent organization of CreakyJoints,
the go-to source for millions of arthritis patients and their families
world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy and
patient-centered research through ArthritisPower,
the first ever patient-led, patient-centered research registry for
joint, bone, and inflammatory skin conditions. Visit www.ghlf.org
for more information.
