THE PATIENTS' ADVOCATE

Relations between patients and health insurers, doctors, or medical providers are sometimes fraught with tension.

Maybe the patient was denied a service or the use of medical equipment or had a problem getting a particular prescription covered by a plan. These are just a few examples of the types of situations handled by the Office of the Patients Ombudsman, which the Puerto Rico Commonwealth government set up in 2001 as an independent agency to oversee patient care issues and to protect the rights of all patients on the island.

Whether you are covered by a private health plan, have Medicare coverage, or are one of the 1.4 million Puerto Ricans benefitting from the government's health insurance program for the medically indigent, anyone who feels his or her rights as a patient have been trampled may file a complaint at the Ombudsman's office either in person, by phone or, more conveniently, online. In turn, the office reviews each complaint, dismisses those that have no merit and investigates legitimate ones.  

Some 22 percent of the calls to the Ombudsman's office are complaints, according to Quetzy A. Soto Lugo, interim director in charge of the division of Education and Community Support Services. Between Fiscal Years 2002 and 2009 ( the last year for which statistics are available), the ombudsman's call center logged 315,000 calls, of which 255,000 received attention. Of these, most were requests for information while 69,866, were complaints that the office investigated. Number of complaints resolved: 66,890.

According to Soto Lugo, participants in Mi Salud, the government-paid healthcare insurance program, account for 80 percent of the complaints received. The rest are from patients covered by private healthcare plans. An insurer found at fault may face a hefty fine of up to $5,000, she said.  In addition to its San Juan office, the agency runs regional offices in Caguas, Comerio, Fajardo, Humacao, Jayuya, Juncos, Mayaguez, Ponce, and Sabana Grande.

Office of the Patients Ombudsman (Oficina del Procurador del Paciente) #1215 Ponce de Leon Ave. at stop 18. 787.977.1100 or 0909 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. (1.800.981.0031 island)  www.pacientes.gobierno.pr  

Artwork by Lorraine Blasor

A HELL OF A WIFE

Financial literacy is a must for everyone these days: young or old, man or woman. The internet abounds in resources designed to raise one's financial IQ but for women in particular, wife.org is especially noteworthy.

The acronym "wife" stands for the Women's Institute for Financial Education, self-described as the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to enabling women to achieve financial independence. Created by money manager Candace Bahr and financial adviser Ginita Wall, the organization's goal is "to empower women to succeed and prosper." Its website covers a lot of ground, but pays particular attention to divorce and widowhood, two major life transitions that pose tremendous challenges to women. Other areas covered include finance, family, taxes and retirement. There is plenty of information and advice.Visitors to the site are invited to sign up for a free e-newsletter aptly titled "A Man Is Not a Financial Plan."

Questionable Buys  

☛The meats and fish section at the De Diego Supermax store usually serves up quality but there is one packaged fish brand you might like to avoid: Lisboa. The frozen fish packaged under this brand name has none of the firmness of regular fish but tends to be so waterlogged that the fillets crumble when you cook them, not to mention their lack of taste, no matter what amount of seasoning you add during the cooking process. While reasonably priced, you would do better getting fresh fish.

☛According to its packaging, Suiza Fruit Guava-Piña juice is 100% natural but a look at the list of ingredients that go into this drink -- 17, no less -- reveals that among them is vegetable oil. Now, why would anyone put vegetable oil in a drink?  Somehow, the odd pairing of oil and juice makes the drink totally unappealing.

Artwork by Lorraine Blasor

"How did you go bankrupt?"   

"Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly."

Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises  

 

                                          Below, an average, everyday dictionary

Photograph by Denise Blasor

and now a few words about a dynamite dictionary

Wordia.org

Dictionaries are great at defining words...wordia goes one better: it gives life to words and the ideas behind them. It does this by inviting regular folks to describe a favorite word in their own words, through video. The result is electric and eclectic, and well, you just have to check it out for yourself.

Photograph by Carlos E. Matos

"I wake up like a stray dog belonging to 

no one...

Alone with the heart howling

and refusing to let it feed on mere affection.  Lying in the dark, singing about

the intractable kinds of happiness."

  

Jack Gilbert, The Great Fires

Copyright 2011 ©Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved