PGS,
My best friend's mother is an injecting diabetic who has had two strokes, can barely walk and is losing her eyesight. I have been helping her fight the Social Security Administration in order for her to be declared "disabled" under their terms. After ten years and many appeals, we have finally prevailed with the help of a wonderful attorney. (The judge in the case refused to grant the attorney the money that she, the attorney, requested, even though my friend's mother was more than willing to pay the fees out her settlement. The judge was adamant. The attorney had to appeal the judge's ruling, and with the help of my friend's mother, got the judge to relent and allow for most of the original billing, finally freeing up the funds to pay the back payments. Believe me, what the attorney received was a pittance for all the time and effort that she put in. I say "thank God" for the trial attorneys, because no one could have saved my friend like this woman did.
The problem now is, as Davidal and Nerf pointed out, we can't find a doctor to treat her who will take Medicare.
I don't know what it will take to "fix the system," but I know for certain that poor and indigent people get screwed every which they turn in our healthcare system as it is now constituted.
Bladerunner
