4 ms·

What frustrates me is that in the United States, most insurance companies won't pay for hyperbaric oxygen treatment for traumatic brain injuries. My son, 26, w

What frustrates me is that in the United States, most insurance companies won't pay for hyperbaric oxygen treatment for traumatic brain injuries. My son, 26, was injured in a car accident last November. I would love to be able to get Oxygen therapy for him, but cannot.

mabbo 9y ago
This is what's nice with a single payer health system. The same cost center has to either pay for disability related costs, or pay for treatments that would potentially end the disability related costs. It's a sane investment by the government here in Canada to make such choices. On the other hand, if your health insurance is through one system and your disability insurance through another, you have everyone optimizing for their personal local minimums rather than the global minimum.
- refurb 9y ago
  Does Canada pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
  - mabbo 9y ago
    I have no idea. But if it's proven, available, and makes sense then generally it will be available with prescription for it.
    - johnnyb9 9y ago
      That's generally the case with US insurance companies as well, which leads me to believe this is more "experimental" and thus not a good example of the merits of a single payer system.
  - dmix 9y ago
    For treating brain damage? No. Because no doctor would sign off on that as a treatment. There's no scientific evidence that oxygen therapy helps with brain damage. Like most "alternative" medicines this one gets pushed hard as a solution for everything, regardless of evidence.
quotha 9y ago
Do whatever you can to get him that treatment
bonniemuffin 9y ago
You really shouldn't extrapolate from this particular story that HBOT would necessarily have any impact on an adult brain. Developing children's brains have the capacity for regeneration in a way that adult brains don't.
- amykhar 9y ago
  I'm not. I've read many other studies, particularly with veterans with TBIs.
dumbneurologist 9y ago
Does his neurologist recommend it?
- amykhar 9y ago
  His neurologist is pretty old school.
  - dumbneurologist 9y ago
    yet she/he is still a human being, and (i hope!) cares about your son. being "old school" means that she/he was trained in a certain way, but it doesn't mean that they have been brain-washed or is incapable of seeing success with unconventional treatments (look at CBD / cannabidiol, which is unconventional but is in the process of being adopted by these same "old school" doctors). we wish it were otherwise, but: if your son had a brain injury where cells died, no amount of oxygen is going to bring them back (or even help his recovery). i'm sorry for your son's circumstances (and yours...). But you are a victim twice when you invest time, energy, money, and hope in these quack therapies (I'm sorry to call them that, because it seems so pejorative, but that's what they are). i don't know what it is about quack treatments that make us so susceptible to them... I think it's a missing piece of the Kubler Ross model of grief. Just like our parents who fall victims to ridiculous "nigerian prince" or "check cashing" scams when you can't understand how... it's not because they are dumb, or stupid, but because there is some aspect of human psychology (hope? denial? grief? whatever...) that puts us all at risk of fooling ourselves... we become unable to see the truth, because of how powerfully we want to see something else. i hope this possibility makes sense to you, because your son will benefit a thousand times more from your attention than if you take the same attention and spend it fighting against "the system" (in whatever form it takes). and take comfort in the fact that even though "the system" really sucks in terms of its limitations, that it does, in general, stumble toward progress, and the future will be better than the present. Until then... cherish your son and enjoy your time with him to the best of your mutual abilities. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model
dmix 9y ago
This isn't an insurance issue, it's a science one... > Neuro-rehabilitation > As of 2012 there is insufficient evidence to support using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat people who have traumatic brain injuries.[51] In stroke, HBOT does not show benefit.[52][45] HBOT in multiple sclerosis has not shown benefit and routine use is not recommended.[44][53] > A 2007 review of HBOT in cerebral palsy found no difference compared to the control group.[54][55] Neuropsychological tests also showed no difference between HBOT and room air and based on caregiver report, those who received room air had significantly better mobility and social functioning.[54][55] Children receiving HBOT were reported to experience seizures and the need for tympanostomy tubes to equalize ear pressure, though the incidence was not clear.[54] https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hyperbaric_medicine https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hyperbaric_medicine

mabbo 9y ago

This is what's nice with a single payer health system. The same cost center has to either pay for disability related costs, or pay for treatments that would potentially end the disability related costs. It's a sane investment by the government here in Canada to make such choices. On the other hand, if your health insurance is through one system and your disability insurance through another, you have everyone optimizing for their personal local minimums rather than the global minimum.

refurb 9y ago
Does Canada pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
- mabbo 9y ago
  I have no idea. But if it's proven, available, and makes sense then generally it will be available with prescription for it.
  - johnnyb9 9y ago
    That's generally the case with US insurance companies as well, which leads me to believe this is more "experimental" and thus not a good example of the merits of a single payer system.
- dmix 9y ago
  For treating brain damage? No. Because no doctor would sign off on that as a treatment. There's no scientific evidence that oxygen therapy helps with brain damage. Like most "alternative" medicines this one gets pushed hard as a solution for everything, regardless of evidence.

quotha 9y ago

Do whatever you can to get him that treatment

bonniemuffin 9y ago

You really shouldn't extrapolate from this particular story that HBOT would necessarily have any impact on an adult brain. Developing children's brains have the capacity for regeneration in a way that adult brains don't.

amykhar 9y ago
I'm not. I've read many other studies, particularly with veterans with TBIs.

dumbneurologist 9y ago

Does his neurologist recommend it?

amykhar 9y ago
His neurologist is pretty old school.
- dumbneurologist 9y ago
  yet she/he is still a human being, and (i hope!) cares about your son. being "old school" means that she/he was trained in a certain way, but it doesn't mean that they have been brain-washed or is incapable of seeing success with unconventional treatments (look at CBD / cannabidiol, which is unconventional but is in the process of being adopted by these same "old school" doctors). we wish it were otherwise, but: if your son had a brain injury where cells died, no amount of oxygen is going to bring them back (or even help his recovery). i'm sorry for your son's circumstances (and yours...). But you are a victim twice when you invest time, energy, money, and hope in these quack therapies (I'm sorry to call them that, because it seems so pejorative, but that's what they are). i don't know what it is about quack treatments that make us so susceptible to them... I think it's a missing piece of the Kubler Ross model of grief. Just like our parents who fall victims to ridiculous "nigerian prince" or "check cashing" scams when you can't understand how... it's not because they are dumb, or stupid, but because there is some aspect of human psychology (hope? denial? grief? whatever...) that puts us all at risk of fooling ourselves... we become unable to see the truth, because of how powerfully we want to see something else. i hope this possibility makes sense to you, because your son will benefit a thousand times more from your attention than if you take the same attention and spend it fighting against "the system" (in whatever form it takes). and take comfort in the fact that even though "the system" really sucks in terms of its limitations, that it does, in general, stumble toward progress, and the future will be better than the present. Until then... cherish your son and enjoy your time with him to the best of your mutual abilities. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model

dmix 9y ago

This isn't an insurance issue, it's a science one... > Neuro-rehabilitation > As of 2012 there is insufficient evidence to support using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat people who have traumatic brain injuries.[51] In stroke, HBOT does not show benefit.[52][45] HBOT in multiple sclerosis has not shown benefit and routine use is not recommended.[44][53] > A 2007 review of HBOT in cerebral palsy found no difference compared to the control group.[54][55] Neuropsychological tests also showed no difference between HBOT and room air and based on caregiver report, those who received room air had significantly better mobility and social functioning.[54][55] Children receiving HBOT were reported to experience seizures and the need for tympanostomy tubes to equalize ear pressure, though the incidence was not clear.[54] https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hyperbaric_medicine https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hyperbaric_medicine