The Ink Well
Fix our broken health care system
By ALEXANDRA CALDWELL
| Article published on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 |
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Health care in this country is broken.
I recently spent five hours in the ER with one of my best friends because she’d had severe abdominal pain for weeks.
She couldn’t go to a regular physician because she can’t afford health insurance and she has no money to pay the bill up front.
She’s a single mom with a great teenage son she hardly gets to see because she works several jobs. But she makes too much money to qualify for low-income health services. She falls into that dreaded gap – too much income to get help but not enough income on which to survive.
Over several weeks, my friend’s pain had gotten worse. She hadn’t had a yearly woman’s exam in about seven years. I feared for her. I called her at midnight as she was finishing work.
“That’s it, I’m taking you to the ER,” I said.
“Well wait, maybe the pain could be –” she started.
“No,” I said.
“No?”
“No. Whatever it is, you need to see a doctor. It could be anything. We’re going,” I said.
She stalled. She’s a strong woman, and it’s difficult for her to ask for help. I understand. Eventually we made it to the ER.
Tests, prodding and an ultrasound revealed a bad urinary tract infection. But even after a round of antibiotics, she remains in pain. What now? The bills will still come. I’m afraid to know how much it will cost her. And something is still broken.
The Census Bureau shows that more than 45 million Americans and more than 8 million children lack health insurance, even though most of those families work.
Eight million children.
I thought we tout ourselves as the greatest nation in the world. How can we allow so many children, so many families, so many friends to suffer without basic health insurance?
The United States House and Senate are drafting proposals to overhaul the nation’s health care system, including establishing a public health insurance program which would compete with private insurers. The House version, as described in a recent Wall Street Journal article, would require nearly every American to have health insurance and would provide subsidies to people with incomes as high as four times the poverty level. The Senate version would require everyone who could afford it to carry health insurance and would provide insurance subsidies to families with incomes up to five times the poverty level.
The current poverty level, according to the United States of Health and Human Services, is $14,570 for a family of two, and $22,050 for families of four. My friend would certainly qualify.
Conservative groups, business groups and the American Medical Association (which also opposed implementing Medicare 30 years ago) are speaking out against a government-sponsored insurance plan because they are afraid of losing money. But many others support such a plan. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, Small Business Majority, published a study on June 11 that reports small businesses suffer disproportionately with health care.
“The results are clear: Small businesses will be far better off under a thoughtfully reformed health care system based on shared responsibility among individuals, businesses, government and the health care industry,” the report states.
The report shows that health care costs are growing faster than the economy, and if it is not reformed, small businesses would have to pay almost $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years to cover health care costs for their workers. Reform could save small business as much as $855 billion, it showed. This would help preserve wages, boost profits and competitiveness, and save small business jobs, it said.
The employees could finally get adequate, affordable health care. Couldn’t you work better if you weren’t afraid that someone in your family might get sick and you’d be unable to care for them? Or if you got treated right away instead of waiting until issues escalate to become serious problems?
The American public supports changing the health care system, according to a June New York Times/CBS News poll. It found that 85 percent of respondents believe the health care system needs to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, and 77 percent said they support a government-administered insurance plan. Even half of Republicans said they support a public plan.
Yes, there will be upfront costs involved in forming a public health insurance program, but it will save the country much more over time. According to “Health Affairs,” Feb. 2005, more than half of all personal bankruptcies today are prompted by medical bills.
I pray that my friend will not be one of them. I pray that my friend can find a doctor who can fix her. I pray she will not drown in medical bills in that process. She, like the thousands of other uninsured Americans, is a special human being who deserves needed medical care.
The big businesses are lobbying Congress to protect their interests. Will the American people speak up to protect theirs?
Alexandra Caldwell is editor of the Clearwater Beacon
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Article published on Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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