There are times when it is difficult being married to a Republican. For instance, the night Obama won, he sulked off and went to bed early, leaving me alone to celebrate.
This is one of those nights.
It’s not like we haven’t debated health care ad nauseum. We both are very clear where the other stands. There is no grey area for him or I. I believe health care is a right. He does not believe it’s the government’s role to “run” health care.
Most of the time, we just can’t talk about it. And sometimes, that makes me sad.
I’m not saying that this plan is perfect. I, for one, think it did not go far enough. I would have liked to see the public option. But I am happy that I can now move forward and not live in fear. Fear of losing my insurance and being denied coverage due to my asthma, depression or weight. Fear of my son being denied coverage due to a head injury he had at 6 months old. Fear of having something catastrophic happen to either myself or the kids, reaching the lifetime coverage maximum and going bankrupt from medical costs in a matter of months.
I feat this because it came pretty close to happening to a family member of mine.
When I hear that most people “like” their health insurance, I always wonder how they would feel if they went through a catastrophic medical issue and really put their plan to the test. Because most people don’t put their plan to the test until they are sick. And then it’s too late.
When the twins were newborns, my sister in law’s mother got very sick. She had been fine – in fact, she and my sister in law threw my twins’ shower, just a few months prior – but went downhill fast. She had ongoing heart problems and was quite overweight. She went into the hospital and they decided to do open heart surgery. They opened her up and she just about died on the table. They were not able to do the surgery that day.
This began a horrible, 2 month ordeal that no one should ever have to experience.
The doctors called in specialists and everyone hemmed and hawed about what they were going to do. Her heart was too far gone for surgery, so she lay in a hospital bed.
Meanwhile, the meter was ticking. Their health insurance had a yearly cap of $250,000 and after about a month and one failed surgery, they had surpassed that and were paying out of pocket.
It was decided by her team of doctors that she needed a heart transplant to survive. They would need to transport her to UCSF, a local, renowned, teaching and research hospital in San Francisco. UCSF would take her, but required $300,000 in cash to admit her because they were paying out of pocket.
That’s right.
Now, mind you – these were not affluent people. There were blue collar, middle class people (a retired electrician and housewife) who worked hard all of their lives and saved every penny. They owned some property, they were comfortable in retirement, but they didn’t have that kind of liquidity at their fingertips. The family was left to scramble and scrounge up the money. My own brother loaned a significant portion to his wife’s father as they needed to refinance some of the properties to pull money out and would have taken time.
And god only knows how much a heart transplant costs.
This man, who worked tooth and nail to build a life for his family was now looking at losing everything he had built in order to keep his wife alive.
They did manage to get her admitted to UCSF and over the course of 2 weeks, a team of doctors did every test known to man on her in an effort to evaluate her candidacy for a transplant. Meanwhile, she was going downhill fast.
She did not qualify for Medicaid, or any other aid, because they were not destitute.
To say that this was a grueling time for my sister in law and her family would be a an understatement.
In the end, the team of doctors decided that because she had breast cancer 20 years prior and had some residual scar tissue, she was not a good candidate for a heart transplant.
My sister in law and her family watched their mother disintegrate before their eyes and eventually die.
They let her die.
When I hear people on the right talk about the horrific possibility of death panels, I feel nauseous. Because the reality is, they already exist.
Now, I understand the stringency in selecting candidates for transplants. I get that. Truth be told, she was probably much too far gone at that point to have undergone surgery. But had she not run out of coverage and they’d started assessment weeks earlier, who is to say if she may have been stronger and made it? Maybe they would have considered her a more suitable candidate had she not run out of coverage. We’ll never know.
All I know is today, I see a man who is shattered. Broken. It’s beyond heartbreaking. He lost his best friend 3 years ago. And all because he didn’t read the fine print on his insurance coverage. Prior to this, he and his wife were probably pretty happy with their coverage too.
I am glad that after today, if the new health plan delivers on its promises, this scenario will not play out for anyone, ever again.
I don’t have all the answers. I don’t think government has all the answers. But I think there is something fundamentally wrong with a system that allows their citizen to go bankrupt in order to stay healthy.
Today is a good day.
Now, please excuse me while I ask my husband when Rush will be leaving the country. {insert evil laugh}
I was going to post about this this week too. I am getting info by the minute about the long-term money saving effects including increasing preventative care, saving families from bankruptcy, etc., etc. As soon as I muddle through all the great stuff I get, I will post too. My husband has lost faith in all politicians but we did have an argument over increased vs. decreased debt because of this bill. Hang in there, sister…and have fun celebrating@
I think that's one of the best recaps I've read this morning. I'll join you in the celebration.
I was also for the public option but I'm happy that this health care plan is better than nothing. I too believe healthcare is a right.I never had issue with my insurance until like you mentioned, I had a really expensive health issue. All of a sudden the insurance company became my biggest enemy and I feel like I got a new look into them. They are multi-billion dollar companies, and I'm very happy that something is in place to cap this a bit.Thanks for the overview. It was full of great insight. And yes. . . It would be very difficult to be married to someone of a different political party than yourself. 😀
It is not just health insurance that can be lacking. A co-worker was blindsided when his wife and daughter were massively injured in a car accident. The driver who hit them had only the minimum liability required by law.The insurance ran out while the two were still in the hospital. Their own insurances were wiped out in no time as well.When the mom and daughter were released to go home, my co-worker had to take a leave of absense to care for them.After all this, they were in so much debt they had to declare bankruptcy and sell their home to pay for all the bills.I haven't read all the information yet, but I certainly hope the new regulations will cover such a catastrophe.Susanhttp://susan-potpouri.blogspot.com/
Excellent writing! I agree wholeheartedly. I was in UCSF for 7 when my heart failure became too severe. My insurance spent 1,030,000 for a LVAD to be implanted. If I didn't have such great insurance, I don't know what we would have done. I agree with you that medical care should, and now is, a right not a privilege.
This is brilliant. Very well said. And your point about "death panels" is excellent.