http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/05/22-1Advocate for Others Fights to Die at Home
Insurer says coverage 'used up'
by Kay Lazar
BOSTON - Hospitalized against her will for depression 43 years ago, Judi Chamberlin of Arlington has devoted the decades since to championing patients' rights. She authored a seminal book touting patient control in mental health treatment, helped mobilize a movement, and won a following.
Now the 64-year-old activist is dying of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an incurable lung disorder. Chamberlin's final wishes are to die the way she has lived, on her own terms. Late last year she halted hospitalizations and instead opted for home hospice care, which manages pain and emotional needs, but offers no curative treatments.
She had no idea she would end up fighting for herself the same battle she has long fought on behalf of others.
Her insurance company recently informed her that she has "used up" her hospice coverage. That benefit is limited to $5,000 in her insurance policy. She can, they said, file an appeal for an extension.
Hooked up to a portable oxygen tank, and often gasping for air, Chamberlin says this battle doesn't make sense; hospice care is not only her preference, it will cost her insurance company less.
"It just seems so counterintuitive when you think about what {the insurance company} paid for me in 2008," she said.
snip//
"Although I apparently haven't died fast enough," she wrote in the "reason for request" section, "I do have a terminal illness and will need some method of care."
And she concluded, "Since I become eligible for Medicare in October 2009, the plan's obligations would end then (providing I am still alive.)"
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