This is indeed a sad story, Jed, that is repeated many times each day.
The basic problem is that the American people have accepted the idea
that life in this country should be based mainly on the individual
effort, with socialism being un-American. Liberalism, which tries to use
the state to protect the individual, is considered a dirty word. These
ideas are accepted by the ordinary working person even though this is
not in their self-interest to do so. Your friend probably even voted for
Bush and would not support a politician who proposed socialized
medicine, even though variations of this approach work well in other
countries. We get what we vote for. If we are too ignorant to vote
wisely, we get the government we deserve. Hopefully, the pain inflicted
by the Bush philosophy will cause people to reexamine their criteria for
voting.
Ed
Jed Rothwell wrote:
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
