A very personal matter, a project of the heart
In Switzerland, around 5,000 patients are currently dependent on kidney replacement therapy (dialysis). Around 6% of patients with cystic kidneys develop arterial dilatations in the brain (aneurysms). This was also the case with our mummy. After a brain haemorrhage at the age of 47, Mami is paralysed on the left side. For almost 14 years, she has also had to go to the Glarus Cantonal Hospital three times a week for life-sustaining dialysis. For more than 11 years, our dad drove her - every Monday, Wednesday and Friday he drove her to dialysis at 12 o’clock and picked her up again after 5 o’clock. Since our dad passed away from Corona in March 2021, Mami has been dependent on the grateful services of the Glarus Wheelchair Taxi Association. We were able to bridge the first six months thanks to private donations via the colibri donation button here on wemakeit - here again a big thank you to everyone who had supported us during this difficult time. Since then, I have spent countless hours contacting the health authorities, social insurances, foundations and authorities - unfortunately in vain: In contrast to other countries, transport costs for life-sustaining dialysis are not covered in Switzerland. Helsana contributes to the costs of transport to dialysis by ambulance, taxi or Red Cross transport service from the basic insurance with a cost sharing of 50% up to CHF 500 per calendar year, less deductible and retention.
Every month, when we receive the bill for the transport costs to dialysis, it gives me a stab in the heart. The Swiss health system is of high quality by international standards, but it is also one of the most expensive. It is not acceptable that someone whose quality of life is so limited for health reasons should also be financially disadvantaged.
I am dealing with this «stab in the heart» with hand-embroidered hearts, which I offer as buttons and magnets. I hope to cover Mami’s transport costs for at least half a year and at the same time to sensitise the public to the worries and needs of dialysis patients and their relatives.
Reimbursement of transport costs for illness: A gap in the Swiss health system
The social insurances only provide for an illness-related reimbursement of illness and disability costs if patients are entitled to supplementary benefits. In our case, the application for EL was rejected because the asset limit of CHF 100,000 was exceeded. However, this «surplus property» consists of a property that cannot be sold and is therefore immovable. The IV, in turn, only covers the costs of transport for a therapy of medical measures (dialysis) up to the age of 20. Meanwhile, my brother, my aunt and I are doing everything we can to ensure that Mami can live at home as long as possible - in the house that she and Daddy built together over forty years ago.
Funding of transport costs in a wheelchair taxi for at least half a year
The money will be used to finance Mami’s trips in the wheelchair taxi to life-sustaining dialysis for at least six months and at the same time draw attention to this gap in the Swiss health system. This gap can’t be closed by riding through paragraphs and bureaucracy, but by an emphatic and integrative vision that puts people and their individual destinies at the centre. Affected persons and/or relatives are welcome to contact me so that we can join forces to achieve something: daniela.mitidieri@mitidieri.ch
