Health and the public system

I enjoy reading about how people get where they are in life. Bob McDavitt’s story (“The sky’s the limit”, January 29) was a good example of how often a key experience early in life (the Wahine disaster, in his case) can drive destiny, and he definitely seems like a hard-working and dedicated man who is doing his best to help others.

Unfortunately, his story also reveals one of the base inequities in this country. I’m happy for him that he can afford to pay around $68,000 to extend his life. What destroys me is the thought of all the people who don’t have that ability and how lack of money – personal or government-funded – is causing the early removal from life of people who could be contributing strongly to their whānau and others.

My husband has stage-four lung cancer. We are lucky enough to have partial health insurance and savings, with good jobs, to fund treatment quicker than is possible in the public system, and this has kept him alive. We also had access to $100,000 through a terminal illness/death insurance policy that his employer had on him, which we’ve used so that hopefully someone else can