Different Types of Patient Advocacy: Health Dialogues

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Health Dialogues is a special series from KQED's "The California Report" that facilitates an ongoing discussion of California health care issues that are important to the underserved: children, low-income residents, minorities, and people with disabilities to name just a few.

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« Return to Health Dialogues episode for Thursday, November 20, 2008

Different Types of Patient Advocacy

We explore the various types of patient advocacy, including non-profit, for-profit and government-run. We also hear from people who've had problems with their health care, and talk with the head of the leading non-profit patient assistance organization in the country. Guest: Nancy Davenport Ennis, co-founder, CEO and president of Patient Advocate Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to eliminate obstacles to access for quality health care .

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Extended patient testimonial interviews

Kim Kutcher - Dana Point, CA. Kim's back pain got so bad that she was unable to get up from the couch or pick up her children. The pain only got worse, and Kim (a registered nurse) and her doctor decided that she needed disc replacement surgery ? a relatively new procedure here in the United States. Still, it's FDA approved, and Kim figured she'd be able to get coverage from her provider. She set a date for the surgery, but the provider kept saying no. Eventually, the insurance provider approved the surgery... but then refused to pay for it.

Merry Selk - Albany, CA. For the past 15 years or so, Merry has had knee problems. Shoe inserts would temporarily relieve the pain, but after a while, her knee would hurt again and she would need a higher insert. Merry's knee eventually deteriorated to point where she needed surgery. 13 months, two insurance providers, two general practitioners, four physical therapists and three surgeons later, Merry got her knee fixed.

Maha Soudah - San Francisco, CA. Maha needed to purchase an individual heath care policy. So, she filled out an application and sent it in. Maha figured her clean bill of health would be enough for quick approval for the $750/month plan. But she ran into a roadblock when the insurance provider saw that her doctor had once given her some blood pressure pills to try out.

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