I haven’t written anything since April as you may have noticed. The main reason is that I have been busy becoming extremely familiar with our health care system.
Let me state unequivocally, that I know what befell me was nothing in comparison to a lot of people, but it was my experience. I am not looking for sympathy but I am sharing this to present knowledge and the truth as I see it.
It all started with a car accident in March 17th 2007, which led directly to the problems of the past 10 months.
On that date I stopped for another accident that had just occurred in front of me; however the SUV behind me didn’t, ramming me at approximately 35mph. I had multiple lesser problems, but I lost a third of the hearing in both ears and ended up with some inner ear problems. My doctor call it “proximal spacial relationship dysfunction”.
This resulted in several mishaps, mainly falls, until the 24th of last December when I finally did something serious. I dislocated my shoulder, tearing the rotator cuff and three ligaments and breaking off a piece of bone. The surgery to correct it all took place on the 22nd of January. That went very well and I am back to about 98% functioning. I had a fantastic surgeon.
Ten days later I was in the emergency room beating my head against the wall from pain. I found that I had 2 kidney stones, 6.5mm & 5.5mm. The 5.5mm was attached to the ureter connecting my left kidney to my bladder. Over the next 6 months that problem cascaded, with other complications too numerous to mention, into the total destruction of that ureter.
From December of 2008 until September of 2009, I had: 22 x-rays, 18 CSCANs & MRIs, 4 ultra-sounds, 5 hospital stays, 2 major operations, 5 procedures, 1 smaller operation (2 weeks ago I had my parotid gland with a benign tumor removed which only took 2 hours), and a lot of other treatments.
If the current proposed “health care reforms” had been implemented especially with “a public insurance” provision before all that occurred, I might not be alive to be writing this. There is no way I would have been eligible for that much treatment at my age, 63. In countries with similar coverage, it takes six to ten months just to get 1 MRI or CSCAN.
My final situation in late August was a choice of the following:
- Get a reconstructed ureter from a flap of my bladder.
- Get that reconstruction from a piece of intestine, or
- Throw the kidney away.
I’m sure under the proposed plans, #3 would have been the only action that would have been allowed, as it was the cheapest. Procedure #1 was performed (a 6 hour operation) and I am happy to say, everything appears to going well, although I do look like Dr. Frankenstein did a C-section on me.
I had to shoulder a lot of the expense myself since I have basically major medical insurance coverage. I will discuss that in another article about the changes I would make.
If any of you think you will be better off with the current proposed legislation, please think again. With the cut-backs and massive changes at the US Post Office making that system a farce of its former self, think of the chaos if it were a government run medical system.
As always, be prepared,
The Hammer
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Comments: 25
You do know that the Mass Health (and a similar program in Tennessee) is in big trouble, fact not conjecture. This is mostly because a large number of people quit their regular insurance coverage and signed to this program. The costs have become catastrophic. I doubt your "indigent" would receive the same quantity of care today. Should that coverage be limited to state sanctioned enrollees?
When care is rationed as it is presently in Mass Health and Tennessee, and will inevitably be if there is a Federal takeover, who will make the life and death decisions. Do you want to do it?
Presently, I doubt if anyone in the country would be abandoned in that situation, regardless of how the current Washington, DC elites try to convince everyone and make them feel guilty, that we are an uncivilized people. Americans always have been the most caring and giving public in the world. If government takes over everything as they are trying to do, this may not always be the case. Government is the enemy not the American public.
I do agree that people do fall through the cracks, but that is almost always because of government; reference the child welfare scandals in Florida.
Again, I believe I would not have received the care I did if any of the five current proposals had been previously enacted.
Also, where is any of this in the Constitution? Should we throw that (the Constitution) out with our health care?
Mass Health was suprised with the number of uninsured. When we get a national program the nation will also be shocked with the same. The numbers do not mitigate the problem. What surprises you about those who dropped overpriced insurance?? That action symbolizes the desperate need for a nationwide competitive health care market that is reasonably priced.
Bert you have a well known libraterian slant, an opinion upon the relation of the government to the citizen. You made sure statements using the idiotic "age" argument debunked ad nauseum. Ergo the base conclusions drawn are patently false.
On the other hand, I have friends living in Canada and a couple of them have had what could be called medical crises. They both were able to receive treatment immediately and no treatment was withheld because of their age. One person is 69 and the other is 62. It sounds like you have heard some horror stories, don't know from where, but I know much misinformation has been floating around designed to scare people.
I wish you well in your healing journey and hope that you are headed for good health and less drama in your life.
lol
I regret your horrible misfortunes, but I say you are totally wrong about being against universal healthcare.
That's what the corporate world wants, something no one needs but something that reaps HUGE profits.
We don't need insurance, we need affordable health care, something we will not be getting, ever. From here on out costs will rise for both health care and prescription medications and services provided will be diminished. It's called Capitalism in the 21st century, NOT to be confused with the capitalism we all know and like. 21st Century capitalism has morphed into profit via greed at the expense of humanity and it ain't changing anytime soon, if ever.
Look at prescription drugs. A report by Life Extension magazine found that such well-known drugs as Celebrex, Lipitor, and Prozac had enormous mark-ups, topped by Xanaz, marked-up from 2.4 cents to $136.79 per 100 tablets! The mark-ups ranged between 2,000 and 40,000 percent. Nothing new here, right?
Anyone who believes that ANY new proposals out of Washington will improve current circumstances surely also believes we needed to provide 1.2 trillion dollars to banks that were too big to fail or that AARP represents the aged. It's all nonsense and the American public, clearly the least educated 21st century developed society, will fall for almost anything, well, actually not almost, ANYTHING.