Health care reform was first proposed before World War I and, for the last ninety years or so, it’s been one crap reason or another that it has not been passed. The sticking point seems to be whether health care is a right or a privilege.
Let me break this down for you: we already have socialized entities in the country, so calling a single-payer or public option plan “socialism” is bunk. The same aging Boomers who are screaming, “Don’t take away my Medicare!” are the ones calling healthcare reform “socialism.” Nice try, Nixonites.
The “it’s too expensive and we are already in debt” argument can go away as well. The thing is, Reagan cronies, the budget was balanced when your boy Bush took office in 2001; yup, we had a surplus. That surplus was negated and a 3.4 trillion dollar debt was accrued during W’s term. Don’t believe me? Look it up.
Reconciliation is not a “nuclear option,” for Christ’s sake; it is a rule of the Senate. The GOP leadership used reconciliation thirteen times during W’s administration mainly to pass bunk budgets and fund pointless pursuits of world domination. But when it comes to health care, its use is a problem?
Now, to my story: I am a married, very late twenty-something with no children who enjoys a good bourbon and a cigarette so that I do not go truly mad. Growing up in a union household, I never once questioned my insurance coverage, even when COBRA was used during a layoff. When I graduated from college, I purchased a health insurance policy for me and only me. At the time, the policy was affordable and had cheap enough co-pays. After going to my general practitioner for a yearly check-up, I got a notice from my insurer that my premium would be going up by 25 percent. Livid? You betcha! Six months and a sinus infection later, I received another letter from the insurer stating my premium would again be going up by 25 percent. I was 23, working two jobs to pay rent and pay bills, and now, my insurance had been priced out of my reach. Having a family history of cancer, I decided to cut out unnecessary bills to do the “responsible thing” and keep paying for my health insurance.
At 25, I was admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration and exhaustion from working to keep my head above water. My general practitioner called the insurer and set everything up. I was taken to a room and placed on IV fluids for eighteen hours. The grand total for my brief hospital stay: $6,694 for 18 hours, six bags of saline, one potassium pill, and the worst breakfast I have ever eaten. Assuming that my insurer paid this bill, I would have a $300 co-pay. Assuming that my insurer paid this bill is laughable. They refused payment because of a preexisting condition.
I called, cried, and probably cussed them. What was the preexisting condition? I had gone to my general practitioner that day. Yup, that’s right, because I had gone to his office first, the insurer could refuse to pay for the hospital stay. Longer story short, I refused to pay, the hospital ate the $6,694, and I canceled my policy that had now quadrupled in price in five years.
I say all that to get to this. My husband owns his own business. He carries catastrophic coverage through the business and we have a separate policy for our health insurance through the only group policy insurance you can buy into in Tennessee. When we got married, he already had a policy and I was added to his policy. The insurer refused my application because of – you guessed it – preexisting conditions. Our agent fought the red tape for us so that I would be covered; however, our premium doubled.
And I’m one of the lucky ones.
The system is so very broken that anything that can be passed will help. If we must take tiny baby steps to get there, so be it. The American people want and deserve more affordable health care!
LadyLib
One of the Lucky Ones
by LadyLib | February 26th, 2010 | View Comments
Health care reform was first proposed before World War I and, for the last ninety years or so, it’s been one crap reason or another that it has not been passed. The sticking point seems to be whether health care is a right or a privilege.
Let me break this down for you: we already have socialized entities in the country, so calling a single-payer or public option plan “socialism” is bunk. The same aging Boomers who are screaming, “Don’t take away my Medicare!” are the ones calling healthcare reform “socialism.” Nice try, Nixonites.
The “it’s too expensive and we are already in debt” argument can go away as well. The thing is, Reagan cronies, the budget was balanced when your boy Bush took office in 2001; yup, we had a surplus. That surplus was negated and a 3.4 trillion dollar debt was accrued during W’s term. Don’t believe me? Look it up.
Reconciliation is not a “nuclear option,” for Christ’s sake; it is a rule of the Senate. The GOP leadership used reconciliation thirteen times during W’s administration mainly to pass bunk budgets and fund pointless pursuits of world domination. But when it comes to health care, its use is a problem?
Now, to my story: I am a married, very late twenty-something with no children who enjoys a good bourbon and a cigarette so that I do not go truly mad. Growing up in a union household, I never once questioned my insurance coverage, even when COBRA was used during a layoff. When I graduated from college, I purchased a health insurance policy for me and only me. At the time, the policy was affordable and had cheap enough co-pays. After going to my general practitioner for a yearly check-up, I got a notice from my insurer that my premium would be going up by 25 percent. Livid? You betcha! Six months and a sinus infection later, I received another letter from the insurer stating my premium would again be going up by 25 percent. I was 23, working two jobs to pay rent and pay bills, and now, my insurance had been priced out of my reach. Having a family history of cancer, I decided to cut out unnecessary bills to do the “responsible thing” and keep paying for my health insurance.
At 25, I was admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration and exhaustion from working to keep my head above water. My general practitioner called the insurer and set everything up. I was taken to a room and placed on IV fluids for eighteen hours. The grand total for my brief hospital stay: $6,694 for 18 hours, six bags of saline, one potassium pill, and the worst breakfast I have ever eaten. Assuming that my insurer paid this bill, I would have a $300 co-pay. Assuming that my insurer paid this bill is laughable. They refused payment because of a preexisting condition.
I called, cried, and probably cussed them. What was the preexisting condition? I had gone to my general practitioner that day. Yup, that’s right, because I had gone to his office first, the insurer could refuse to pay for the hospital stay. Longer story short, I refused to pay, the hospital ate the $6,694, and I canceled my policy that had now quadrupled in price in five years.
I say all that to get to this. My husband owns his own business. He carries catastrophic coverage through the business and we have a separate policy for our health insurance through the only group policy insurance you can buy into in Tennessee. When we got married, he already had a policy and I was added to his policy. The insurer refused my application because of – you guessed it – preexisting conditions. Our agent fought the red tape for us so that I would be covered; however, our premium doubled.
And I’m one of the lucky ones.
The system is so very broken that anything that can be passed will help. If we must take tiny baby steps to get there, so be it. The American people want and deserve more affordable health care!
Posted in Commentary | Tags: HCR