[Vo]:OFF TOPIC A friend without health insurance

[Jed Rothwell]

A friend of mine in his 50s has no health insurance. Normally this is 
not a problem because he is a vet who goes to the VA hospital. He has 
a lot or problems, including some service related ones. The other day 
he suffered from a minor stroke and passed out while at a Lowe's 
hardware superstore. They called an ambulance, which took him to 
Grady Hospital, because that is usually the only hospital in Atlanta 
that take uninsured patients. He was there for 4 days, mostly doped 
up or asleep to keep him from moving. He is much better now.

At Grady they did not have to do much for him other than to take some 
cat scans and keep him immobilized. They sent him home and he went to 
the VA hospital a few days later, where they did a bunch more tests 
and declared him okay.

Anyway, the point of this story is to relate the appalling fact that 
Grady just sent him a bill for $82,000. This is an self-employed, 
ordinary, middle class guy who probably doesn't earn that much in a 
year. In other words, four days of hospitalization for a relatively 
minor health problem cost enough to bankrupt an ordinary person. This 
is insane. The U.S. healthcare system is unsustainable.

Bush correctly pointed out that anyone in the U.S., even an uninsured 
poor person, can get healthcare at an emergency room, just as my 
friend did. He did not say that after a few days in the hospital you 
will be billed more than your net worth, and then hounded by bill 
collectors until they run you out of house and home.

- Jed