That breaks my heart. So does the fact that so many people in this country are willing to let someone else die because he or she can not afford health insurance and that they think Universal Health Care is a bad idea. Tell the single mother who can’t afford to feed her child and take them to the doctor in the same week that it’s a bad idea. Tell that to the homeless and the sick.
We are slaves to insurance companies who charge outrageous rates simply because they can and the one bit of relief we’ve had in sight EVER is being fought by people too fucking stupid to know that UHC doesn’t automatically equal socialism/dictatorship.
I’m so tired of this.
@ZombieMom_Speaks - I always wonder when i see things like this if people really are too stupid to live or just so lazy they want someone to tell them what to believe.
@ascultafili - And when I read your comments I wonder if you’re so heartless that doing the Grinch (growing your heart three sizes) would still leave it microscopic. At least the Grinch didn’t wish death on anyone he was doing wrong to.
@GodlessLiberal - The reference to stupidity is for people who believe UHC is a threat to society because it is “socialist,” whatever that means. The reference to laziness is for people who have been told all their kives what to think. My comment isnt an attack on you or the comment i replied to. In other words, i agree with your point. I was not calling the poor man stupid who thought he could expect his rights to health care. The people that are stupid are the ones that would deny him the care he deserves.
I’m lucky to have no major health problems. I’ve been without insurance for almost five years working part time minimum wage jobs because that’s all I could find. If something ever became seriously wrong with me, I’d have to choose between death or a lifetime of debt, if I was lucky enough to even get treated. There are a lot of things about our country that are extremely broken, but our healthcare system is probably the worst since it is what stands between us and death.
I had health insurance, but I’m glad that I didn’t get breast cancer until I was on Medicare. I was able to have surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and five years of monitored care and oral chemo by a pathologist WITHOUT worrying about exhausting my benefits. Also, I I was able to be treated by an endocrinologist for a thyroid that was damaged by the radiotherapy. I am all for UHC – there is enough to worry about with cancer without worrying about how you will pay for care. I can’t understand Romney – if he has a better health care plan, why didn’t he do it in MA? Why was what he did in MA great for MA, but not for the country? The Republicans in the House have voted 33 times to repeal The Affordable Care Act – but not ONCE for a plan to replace it. Of course, they have government health care so they don’t have to worry about it.
Yes, the pharmaceutical companies who have ruined our health, should be in charge of taking care of it…
Ugh.
After a month of being unemployed, I finally found someone willing to offer me a job. $11/hr.
That would mean I would lose my health insurance, which has saved me from paying $40,000 in medical bills associated with my RA in the last three months. I would have to buy their health insurance at nearly $900/month because of my preexisting condition. I would also have to pay $140.00 per WEEK in childcare, just to attend this job. Lets do the math on that. This country is fucked.
@ascultafili - Sorry for misreading your comment. I truly apologize.
That is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen and completely not fair.
That is true. A hospital will kick you out sooner if you can’t pay.
Yeah, the Republican narrative is that people like this either don’t exist or are so uncommon that they aren’t a problem. Only social parasites that aren’t honest or willing to work hard fall through the cracks.
I have a similar story to the one in the post. A good friend of mine got engaged a few years ago. His fiance has cystic fibrosis. They decided to move to Texas after the marriage, so she quit her job. She was hired for a new job within a few months of completing the move, but because of her condition, she had to perform a physical before her employer’s insurance provider would cover her. The physical revealed she had cervical cancer. So, they wouldn’t cover her (pre-existing condition). She would have died without the federal safety net in place. Now, she’s arguably one of the top 10 cardiologists in her region of the country. When I look at the research she’s done, or the lives of patients she has saved or improved, I wonder how much money her death would have “cost” society, in terms of suffering, economic costs, etc. If I had to value it, it would be in the hundreds of millions. She’s a prolific genius.
Burying your head in the sand about the many problems with our health care system, or suggesting we should simply let the uninsured die, is a really callous, short-term solution that is obviously a bad idea. It’s just another example of conservatives holding their “principles” (e.g., “personal responsibility”) absolute and refusing to compromise on any issue that doesn’t neatly comply with those assumptions about the way the world should work (not how it actually works).
I can relate to the mother with the choice of food or medication. Once when Bobby was out of work one of my sons got bitten by an insect, at least we think it was an insect. The wound started turning red so I took him to the doctor. Got my prescription, went to the pharmacy, the prescription was ready, and the cashier told us the price. Now this was a little tube of cream no larger than one of those travel toothpaste tubes. $158.00 and that was 25 years ago. I had to turn and walk away…I think that was the hardest thing I have ever done. Another time I went to get food stamps, they asked me what food I had at home and I said 1lb of pinto beans, truth. They told me in three days they would send someone to my house to check my supplies, now in three days two growing boys can get mighty hungry (I didn’t know about churches with food pantries or any other sources, I was estranged from my family and my then husband had left for the better life, but that is another story.) I can’t exactly remember what I did, I think my neighbor across the street helped with some mac and cheese and I found enough change in the couch to buy a loaf of bread. So we ate that, and within three days even without a visit I got a check for $135.00 to feed us for a month. Now it is my fervent hope that UHC doesn’t follow in those patterns. Bobby has now worked for the same company for over 20 years. We have excellent insurance through them…a little short on home health care which I use…But never a question on the half-mil they have spent on me. (Heart surgeries and strokes ain’t cheap.) They also helped me get an electric wheel chair. Unfortunately in my house it looks like I have parked a Volkswagon in the middle of my living room but it is mine, hook, line, and sinker.
My question is that if we do go to UHC, what kind of hoops will we have to go through before it accepts us?
I apologize I didn’t mean to blog your blog. Forgive me this once and I will try to do better next time.
I don’t know what it was called, but it was a documentary on HBO about the realities of unemployment in the U.S after the economic collapse a few years ago. It was heart breaking to watch, and it terrified me that I would be next. I couldn’t imagine throwing a cancer diagnoses on top of it. The fact that he probably has thousands of dollars in medical bills after fighting for his life is disgusting, and it makes me sick to think that there are people who don’t give two shits about people like this man, that they would throw him under the bus to make a buck. Disgusting.
But fucktards like TheoDan will say “you just gotta work hard.” They live in a fantasy world where everything is black or white. And of course, they hate the black. OH, SNAP!
the good news is the Americans have begun to see through the lies propagated about healthcare reform by republicans in Congress and FOX news. the approval rating of healthcare reform has gone up to where as many like it as those who do not and the trend line is moving in that direction. even among many who say they don’t like healthcare reform, when asked, say they like that there will be no more preexisting condition clauses. they like that their kids can stay on their plans until age 26. today the story from republicans, after “it’s a plan to pull the plug on grandma” and other such lies have been handily dispelled, is healthcare reform is making it impossible for small businesses to grow or start up. not true. there are testimonials all over the place from small business owners who say that after years of seeing insurance rates go up by 16% every year…for the first year rates have not increased and in some cases have declined. one last thing i’ll mention. republicans are calling it the biggest tax hike in history. not true. the Supreme Court decided the penalty for not buying health insurance is a tax so the republicans began their propaganda but the truth is the only people who will be taxed are those who can afford health insurance but refuse to buy it. it is estimated these people will account for about 1% of the population if that. the reason for the mandate and the penalty is if someone can afford insurance but refuses to buy into it then gets sick or is in an accident and winds up in the emergency room (the most expensive place to receive care) the rest of us wind up footing the bill. if you can’t afford healthcare you won’t be penalized.
Truth. I can’t get a medical card because I “make too much money.” I only make minimum wage and I’d only been working 25-30 hours a week. Working part time means I can’t get insurance through my employer. I have a fuckton of medical issues that need to be monitored, but I haven’t been able to see a doctor about any of them in close to ten years. If my husband or I don’t have better jobs by next year, our son will also be without medical coverage. Children in our state are guaranteed coverage until the age of five, then coverage will depend on the parents’ income.
@ascultafili - *tackle hug* That’s my official apology. Can the court get that on record?
…lalala…meanwhile in Canada…=)
I can personally attest to the fact that without insurance coverage, hospitals and doctors can and do refuse proper treatment in an emergency. In my husband’s case, a surgeon went so far as to lie to him about the need for surgery (he said there was none). After getting medical insurance from my employer, we went back and only then did he receive an offer to remove his infected gall bladder that had festered for 1 1/2 years because, without insurance, an accurate diagnosis was just out of reach for us. These are the stories that conservatives refuse to believe, deeming them “liberal rhetoric.” The ACA is the change we needed.
Can-a-da! Can-a-da! Can-a-da!
@theKisSilent - You should sue that doctor if your husband suffered injuries as a result of his misdiagnosis. At the very least, you should report him to the state licensing board. He could use his license to practice for knowingly lying to a patient about his health.
We don’t know it, but most of us *are* that guy. Some have told their horror stories of medical nightmares, things that happened because they lacked health insurance. Those of us who have no stories yet are one downsizing, one car accident, one diagnosis, one job hiccup away from the same thing happening to us. The “gotcha” clause of the pre-existing condition can rear it’s ugly head at any moment. Ever have chicken pox? a blip on an x-ray? ashma? acne? Yes, these things can keep you from health care in the future. Unless we keep the current health care law (or write an even better one.) Scary, isn’t it?
@UTRow1 – Ugh, maybe. Maybe not. We couldn’t pay. I had a job so we couldn’t get Medicaid, but my employer was too small to get a group rate so I had to pay half of the premium for a traditional family plan, and my employer paid half – until the insurer suddenly doubled my rate because of pre-existing conditions, age, and gender. My employer informed me she could no longer afford to pay half and I couldn’t afford to pay more or all of the premium. I had to choose between feeding my family or keeping us insured. I’m still bitter about it. No one should ever have to make that choice. In any event, the thought of suing never entered my mind until well after the hell we went through started to wear off. At that point, we were just trying to put the pieces back together and … yea, it just remains now as an anecdote in support of the ACA.
@theKisSilent - I am not a licensed attorney or anything, but I do know a thing or two about med mal law and, generally, the fiduciary duties doctors owe patients.
If the doctor knowingly gave you or your husband bad advice, and that bad advice resulted in harm to you and/or your husband, you may have a law suit against him. It usually doesn’t matter if you could pay or not. If the doctor made factual misrepresentations to your or your husband that affected your decision to seek care (being told he had no problems would satisfy this), I would think you have a claim in many jurisdictions. Med mal varies from state to state, but I would be surprised if he could get away with it anywhere.
At the very least, you should report him to the state licensing board. Seriously, that is despicable. There are rules in place for how you turn away patients, and actively concealing a health issue isn’t one of them. That’s prohibited in the states I have worked in. You can go to jail.
sad
WOW. i’m… lost for words.
I’ve been very lucky to not need anything more than a clinic visit, in the years that I’ve worked for minimum wage. My mother, who has health insurance, was astounded to hear that I had no medical debts when I was discussing my finances with her. I have no idea what I would have done if something worse would have happened to me.
Thanks for sharing this information its really nice. lose weight
Comments (31)
That breaks my heart. So does the fact that so many people in this country are willing to let someone else die because he or she can not afford health insurance and that they think Universal Health Care is a bad idea. Tell the single mother who can’t afford to feed her child and take them to the doctor in the same week that it’s a bad idea. Tell that to the homeless and the sick.
We are slaves to insurance companies who charge outrageous rates simply because they can and the one bit of relief we’ve had in sight EVER is being fought by people too fucking stupid to know that UHC doesn’t automatically equal socialism/dictatorship.
I’m so tired of this.
@ZombieMom_Speaks - I always wonder when i see things like this if people really are too stupid to live or just so lazy they want someone to tell them what to believe.
@ascultafili - And when I read your comments I wonder if you’re so heartless that doing the Grinch (growing your heart three sizes) would still leave it microscopic. At least the Grinch didn’t wish death on anyone he was doing wrong to.
@GodlessLiberal - ?????
@GodlessLiberal - The reference to stupidity is for people who believe UHC is a threat to society because it is “socialist,” whatever that means. The reference to laziness is for people who have been told all their kives what to think. My comment isnt an attack on you or the comment i replied to. In other words, i agree with your point. I was not calling the poor man stupid who thought he could expect his rights to health care. The people that are stupid are the ones that would deny him the care he deserves.
I’m lucky to have no major health problems. I’ve been without insurance for almost five years working part time minimum wage jobs because that’s all I could find. If something ever became seriously wrong with me, I’d have to choose between death or a lifetime of debt, if I was lucky enough to even get treated. There are a lot of things about our country that are extremely broken, but our healthcare system is probably the worst since it is what stands between us and death.
I had health insurance, but I’m glad that I didn’t get breast cancer until I was on Medicare. I was able to have surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and five years of monitored care and oral chemo by a pathologist WITHOUT worrying about exhausting my benefits. Also, I I was able to be treated by an endocrinologist for a thyroid that was damaged by the radiotherapy. I am all for UHC – there is enough to worry about with cancer without worrying about how you will pay for care. I can’t understand Romney – if he has a better health care plan, why didn’t he do it in MA? Why was what he did in MA great for MA, but not for the country? The Republicans in the House have voted 33 times to repeal The Affordable Care Act – but not ONCE for a plan to replace it. Of course, they have government health care so they don’t have to worry about it.
Yes, the pharmaceutical companies who have ruined our health, should be in charge of taking care of it…
Ugh.
After a month of being unemployed, I finally found someone willing to offer me a job. $11/hr.
That would mean I would lose my health insurance, which has saved me from paying $40,000 in medical bills associated with my RA in the last three months. I would have to buy their health insurance at nearly $900/month because of my preexisting condition. I would also have to pay $140.00 per WEEK in childcare, just to attend this job. Lets do the math on that.
This country is fucked.
@ascultafili - Sorry for misreading your comment. I truly apologize.
That is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen and completely not fair.
That is true. A hospital will kick you out sooner if you can’t pay.
Yeah, the Republican narrative is that people like this either don’t exist or are so uncommon that they aren’t a problem. Only social parasites that aren’t honest or willing to work hard fall through the cracks.
I have a similar story to the one in the post. A good friend of mine got engaged a few years ago. His fiance has cystic fibrosis. They decided to move to Texas after the marriage, so she quit her job. She was hired for a new job within a few months of completing the move, but because of her condition, she had to perform a physical before her employer’s insurance provider would cover her. The physical revealed she had cervical cancer. So, they wouldn’t cover her (pre-existing condition). She would have died without the federal safety net in place. Now, she’s arguably one of the top 10 cardiologists in her region of the country. When I look at the research she’s done, or the lives of patients she has saved or improved, I wonder how much money her death would have “cost” society, in terms of suffering, economic costs, etc. If I had to value it, it would be in the hundreds of millions. She’s a prolific genius.
Burying your head in the sand about the many problems with our health care system, or suggesting we should simply let the uninsured die, is a really callous, short-term solution that is obviously a bad idea. It’s just another example of conservatives holding their “principles” (e.g., “personal responsibility”) absolute and refusing to compromise on any issue that doesn’t neatly comply with those assumptions about the way the world should work (not how it actually works).
I can relate to the mother with the choice of food or medication. Once when Bobby was out of work one of my sons got bitten by an insect, at least we think it was an insect. The wound started turning red so I took him to the doctor. Got my prescription, went to the pharmacy, the prescription was ready, and the cashier told us the price. Now this was a little tube of cream no larger than one of those travel toothpaste tubes. $158.00 and that was 25 years ago. I had to turn and walk away…I think that was the hardest thing I have ever done. Another time I went to get food stamps, they asked me what food I had at home and I said 1lb of pinto beans, truth. They told me in three days they would send someone to my house to check my supplies, now in three days two growing boys can get mighty hungry (I didn’t know about churches with food pantries or any other sources, I was estranged from my family and my then husband had left for the better life, but that is another story.) I can’t exactly remember what I did, I think my neighbor across the street helped with some mac and cheese and I found enough change in the couch to buy a loaf of bread. So we ate that, and within three days even without a visit I got a check for $135.00 to feed us for a month. Now it is my fervent hope that UHC doesn’t follow in those patterns. Bobby has now worked for the same company for over 20 years. We have excellent insurance through them…a little short on home health care which I use…But never a question on the half-mil they have spent on me. (Heart surgeries and strokes ain’t cheap.) They also helped me get an electric wheel chair. Unfortunately in my house it looks like I have parked a Volkswagon in the middle of my living room but it is mine, hook, line, and sinker.
My question is that if we do go to UHC, what kind of hoops will we have to go through before it accepts us?
I apologize I didn’t mean to blog your blog. Forgive me this once and I will try to do better next time.
I don’t know what it was called, but it was a documentary on HBO about the realities of unemployment in the U.S after the economic collapse a few years ago. It was heart breaking to watch, and it terrified me that I would be next. I couldn’t imagine throwing a cancer diagnoses on top of it. The fact that he probably has thousands of dollars in medical bills after fighting for his life is disgusting, and it makes me sick to think that there are people who don’t give two shits about people like this man, that they would throw him under the bus to make a buck. Disgusting.
@GodlessLiberal - It’s OK. Forget it.
But fucktards like TheoDan will say “you just gotta work hard.” They live in a fantasy world where everything is black or white. And of course, they hate the black. OH, SNAP!
the good news is the Americans have begun to see through the lies propagated about healthcare reform by republicans in Congress and FOX news. the approval rating of healthcare reform has gone up to where as many like it as those who do not and the trend line is moving in that direction. even among many who say they don’t like healthcare reform, when asked, say they like that there will be no more preexisting condition clauses. they like that their kids can stay on their plans until age 26. today the story from republicans, after “it’s a plan to pull the plug on grandma” and other such lies have been handily dispelled, is healthcare reform is making it impossible for small businesses to grow or start up. not true. there are testimonials all over the place from small business owners who say that after years of seeing insurance rates go up by 16% every year…for the first year rates have not increased and in some cases have declined. one last thing i’ll mention. republicans are calling it the biggest tax hike in history. not true. the Supreme Court decided the penalty for not buying health insurance is a tax so the republicans began their propaganda but the truth is the only people who will be taxed are those who can afford health insurance but refuse to buy it. it is estimated these people will account for about 1% of the population if that. the reason for the mandate and the penalty is if someone can afford insurance but refuses to buy into it then gets sick or is in an accident and winds up in the emergency room (the most expensive place to receive care) the rest of us wind up footing the bill. if you can’t afford healthcare you won’t be penalized.
Truth. I can’t get a medical card because I “make too much money.” I only make minimum wage and I’d only been working 25-30 hours a week. Working part time means I can’t get insurance through my employer. I have a fuckton of medical issues that need to be monitored, but I haven’t been able to see a doctor about any of them in close to ten years. If my husband or I don’t have better jobs by next year, our son will also be without medical coverage. Children in our state are guaranteed coverage until the age of five, then coverage will depend on the parents’ income.
@ascultafili - *tackle hug* That’s my official apology. Can the court get that on record?
…lalala…meanwhile in Canada…=)
I can personally attest to the fact that without insurance coverage, hospitals and doctors can and do refuse proper treatment in an emergency. In my husband’s case, a surgeon went so far as to lie to him about the need for surgery (he said there was none). After getting medical insurance from my employer, we went back and only then did he receive an offer to remove his infected gall bladder that had festered for 1 1/2 years because, without insurance, an accurate diagnosis was just out of reach for us. These are the stories that conservatives refuse to believe, deeming them “liberal rhetoric.” The ACA is the change we needed.
Can-a-da! Can-a-da! Can-a-da!
@theKisSilent - You should sue that doctor if your husband suffered injuries as a result of his misdiagnosis. At the very least, you should report him to the state licensing board. He could use his license to practice for knowingly lying to a patient about his health.
We don’t know it, but most of us *are* that guy. Some have told their horror stories of medical nightmares, things that happened because they lacked health insurance. Those of us who have no stories yet are one downsizing, one car accident, one diagnosis, one job hiccup away from the same thing happening to us. The “gotcha” clause of the pre-existing condition can rear it’s ugly head at any moment. Ever have chicken pox? a blip on an x-ray? ashma? acne? Yes, these things can keep you from health care in the future. Unless we keep the current health care law (or write an even better one.) Scary, isn’t it?
@UTRow1 – Ugh, maybe. Maybe not. We couldn’t pay. I had a job so we couldn’t get Medicaid, but my employer was too small to get a group rate so I had to pay half of the premium for a traditional family plan, and my employer paid half – until the insurer suddenly doubled my rate because of pre-existing conditions, age, and gender. My employer informed me she could no longer afford to pay half and I couldn’t afford to pay more or all of the premium. I had to choose between feeding my family or keeping us insured. I’m still bitter about it. No one should ever have to make that choice. In any event, the thought of suing never entered my mind until well after the hell we went through started to wear off. At that point, we were just trying to put the pieces back together and … yea, it just remains now as an anecdote in support of the ACA.
@theKisSilent - I am not a licensed attorney or anything, but I do know a thing or two about med mal law and, generally, the fiduciary duties doctors owe patients.
If the doctor knowingly gave you or your husband bad advice, and that bad advice resulted in harm to you and/or your husband, you may have a law suit against him. It usually doesn’t matter if you could pay or not. If the doctor made factual misrepresentations to your or your husband that affected your decision to seek care (being told he had no problems would satisfy this), I would think you have a claim in many jurisdictions. Med mal varies from state to state, but I would be surprised if he could get away with it anywhere.
At the very least, you should report him to the state licensing board. Seriously, that is despicable. There are rules in place for how you turn away patients, and actively concealing a health issue isn’t one of them. That’s prohibited in the states I have worked in. You can go to jail.
sad
WOW. i’m… lost for words.
I’ve been very lucky to not need anything more than a clinic visit, in the years that I’ve worked for minimum wage. My mother, who has health insurance, was astounded to hear that I had no medical debts when I was discussing my finances with her. I have no idea what I would have done if something worse would have happened to me.
Thanks for sharing this information its really nice.
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