ACC and all that

National Radio, Monday 31 July, first up, a great interview with Melanie Trevethick, who has multiple sclerosis and is challenging the legalities of Ministry of Health funding. FAR OUT!!! Someone's actually doing what I've been too slack to do any more than talk about! There is a website related to this challenge - Equity for illness. You can sign the petition, email MPs and generally find out about/support the cause.

Here in New Zealand we have two streams of health funding each governed by different entities:

• the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for those injured in an accident
• the Ministry of Health for those who develop an illness.

While both deal with New Zealanders with similar levels of need, there is a vast difference between the support (especially financial) you will receive if your need arises through an injury rather than through illness. It is a situation which frequently sends the blood-pressure soaring.

A few years ago, I was randomly selected to attend a seminar run by ACC. They were paying $50 a session and I thought I should go - maybe an opportunity to change things. Eventually I blew my top... I think it was the suggestion that a person suffering from a condition (I forget what) shouldn't be eligible because they might have a genetic predisposition to it. (Shades of Mengele or what?) The lovely young guy who took the seminar said he agreed it wasn't fair, citing the case of his girlfriend's mother who'd struggled in to work during the final stages of cancer because she couldn't afford not to - but she'd have been on 80% of her pay if she'd had an accident rather than a terminal disease.

Enough about my blood pressure. I was SO impressed by Melanie's calm and rational tone during the interview. Here's hoping it was effective.