February Meeting – Author Helene Jorgensen
February 7, 2010, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital
Washington, DC United States
Helene Jorgensen (Ph.D. American University, Economics; M.S., George Mason University, Environmental Science and Policy) studies health care, labor markets, and employment benefits. Her forthcoming book, Sick and Tired: How the U.S. Health Care System Fails Its Patients (Polipoint Press, February 2010), tells the story of her own battle with Lyme disease and examines the institutional failures of the health care system.
BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
Presentation & Book Signing: 2 – 4 PM
Ernst Auditorium
Helene Jorgensen spent many sleepless nights worrying about her growing pile of medical bills. Since being diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease in 2003, her good-on-paper health insurance repeatedly denied claims. She got stuck with paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, because of quantity limits on prescription drugs and out-of-network care. At the same time, she had to fight for continued treatment for her Lyme disease.
Sick, sleep deprived and frustrated, Jorgensen set out to uncover why the health care system was failing her and so many other patients. What she learned surprised her and compelled her to write the book: Sick and Tired: How the U.S. Health Care System Fails Its Patients (Polipoint Press, February 2010).
In Sick and Tired, Jorgensen combines her own experiences as a patient, with her background as an economist, to discuss the role of insurance companies in determining care. She examines the incentive structures of health care providers. She exposes pharmaceutical companies influence over prescription patterns, and the deceptive billing practices by laboratories, such as Quest Diagnostics. Based on the lessons she learned, Jorgensen offers practical advice to help patients reduce their health care costs and demand better care.
This education, discussion and support group is sponsored by the National Capital Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Association for patients, their family members and friends.
Attendees may be chemically sensitive: No scented products, please.
For information call (703) 821-8833
