Mrs. Romney's MS unedited

I was watching the news a few days ago and they were discussing how Romney is defending himself against the accusations that he is out of touch with the experiences of average Americans. Mrs. Romney said that they were very aware of struggle like the average person because they deal with her MS. I know MS is difficult to deal with for anyone, but her statement really got my goat.

I really don't believe that the experiences of a chronically ill multimillionaire are even vaguely similar to the experience of the average person with this illness. Mrs. Romney has practically unlimited resources at her disposal whereas the average person must depend on insurance to meet their health needs. As I've said often before, insurance companies view a patient with chronic illness as someone who will not benefit from many services and treatments because they will show no improvement. Thus these services and treatments are not medically necessary.

For example, Mrs. Romney can afford a home health aide out-of-pocket if there is a problem with the insurance. An average American with insurance receives home health aide service for a limited period of time from the date of the onset of the disease. Someone on Medicare receives this service for an unlimited period of time, but only three times a week. In another example, although physical therapy is known to be beneficial to an MS patient according to doctors and physical therapists, insurance companies find it to be not medically necessary. If the patient cannot afford to pay a physical therapist out-of-pocket or make other arrangements, they will not receive this necessary treatment. These are just two of many examples I could give that show that a patient with unlimited resources has an advantage over someone reliant on insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

From its initial onset, the progression of MS is different in each patient. The level of disability, the symptoms and the speed at which it progresses varies from person to person. I have the most severe form, chronic progressive multiple sclerosis and I've been dealing with the various symptoms for over 20 years. Clearly from observing Mrs. Romney in her various public speaking events, she has a very mild form.

I don't doubt that Mrs. Romney faces many challenges because of her disease and I don't want to give the impression that I wish her ill. But as a multimillionaire, her experiences cannot compare to those who have the illness but have limited resources. I think Mr. and Mrs. Romney be to find some other way to prove some point of commonality with the average citizen. Their struggles are not mine.