Jake I am one of the dirty unwashed..... being uninsured. I was between COBRA and obtaining a private policy .... I was asked to wait until after the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holidays. Well, low and behold, before my appointment, I had a heart attack. Not just any heart attack, but a 99% blockage of what they referred to as "the widowmaker".
They had a chopper coming for me and ended up in a mobile intensive care unit that took me to the regional trauma center. Was in CICU for a few days, until I stabilized enough to have emergency multiple by-pass surgery. I was in either the CICU,ER and Recovery Room for a total of 16 days, plus two in a regular room
Afterwards there were some fairly serious complications that had to be dealt with along with all the follow-ups, re-hab, etc over a period of months following "the event"
I won't divulge the actual amounts, but let's just say that it was well over a crap load of money
My wife and I negotiated, and negotiated some more. Then, started writing checks. Took out a mortgageg on our previously paid for house and maxed out a Credit card ot three. The neighborhood where I live took a collection, people brought food and more good whishes and prayers than I deserve. I am still paying and still not able to purchase a private plan unless I want to pay over $3000 per month.
I am, by the Grace of God, alive and Damned Proud to be an American. Call me a throw back..... But I also remember when I was a boy hearing JFK say, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Hard work, not sitting on my ass eating cheetos with my hand out is paying my bills as well as paying for my sanity, nothing else. I never inherited a dime from my parents, matter of fact had to pitch in and pay for their funerals. Grew up as a tentant on a dairy farm, worked my ass off since I was 11. Joined the US Army out of High School, ended up as a Ranger in some precarious situations where we never existed, walked the border between the East German and Czech borders for nearly 4 years, all in one stint by the way. had an armored vehicle blown out from under me because of piss poor parts in a heater .... No money for heaters, but enough to pay for the three guys that died in that explosion.
Nope, I am just a poor, old, uneducated country boy that worked for every single penny I have and will continue to do so until the day I die.
Steve, I have edited just slightly above for brevity. But, I must say that is a spectacular answer. My hat is off to you. You are what you are and do what you say. Fortunately, I have never been faced with anything like that.
But, what I fail to see is why this makes America better. Why should health care break someone and take their retirement? As has been discussed above, we collectively pay for education and many other things. Why should Americans not have the collective security of good cheap health care. Why should we spend more as a country for health care and get a worse and more expensive product?
I am cutting and pasting a story from Canada from the TS forum where this discussion is also a common topic. I expect the poster will not mind:
"I live in Vancouver, BC. On January 14 my wife gave birth to our twin boys, Andrew and Brennan. At 18 weeks into her pregnancy, Brennan was diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The odds of survival at birth were approx. 55% in a singleton pregnancy and these odds were cut in half again in the case of a multiple pregnancy.
Long story short, my wife carried the babies to full term (38 weeks which is considered full term for twins) and Brennan is still in neonatal intensive care. During the counseling we received, we were told that best case scenario, Brennan would remain in NICU for 3 to 4 months before being well enough to go home. As of yesterday, the doctors were thinking that he may be able to go home next week! A full 6 weeks early.
From the time that we found out about the condition until now, my wife and I figure that there have been over 100 health care professionals directly involved in our care - there were 18 doctors and nurses in the delivery room alone! We have received the best of care and can honestly say we never had to wait for anything or felt that we were receiving anything less than the best of care.
Beside Brennan's crib is another baby from Fort St. John (way up in Northern BC). He was born 11 weeks early and weighed less than 2 lbs. He was medi-vac'ed to Vancouver and is doing well, but still has a long road ahead of him. The parents are staying at Easter Seal house and are coping. They have been receiving the same quality of care that we have and are as grateful as we are for our health care system. The father of this baby is a heavy truck mechanic and is just making ends meet.
Yes our health care system is not perfect, but I certainly can't complain about it one bit. "
I think this is a much better societal (and personal) outcome than your struggle. Why is this a bad thing?
Jake
