I don’t want to talk about politics because this issue isn’t political to me. It doesn’t have anything to do with Democrats, Republicans or Independents. It doesn’t have anything to do with left or right sides. It has to do with my life.
I was an extremely healthy kid. I had normal kid ailments, a few broken bones, ear infections and allergies, but nothing that wasn’t easily fixable with antibiotics. In fact, my health was entirely unremarkable until I was around 22.
The fall of 2005, I began having oppressive headaches. They were always in the back of my head, always made worse by coughing, laughing or sneezing. They didn’t respond to any of the migraine medications I was prescribed and so I struggled through them, largely unmedicated. Then I began to have vision issues. My eyes would dart from side to side for long periods of time. I couldn’t read or write when they did their little jumping dance and the longer I waited to see a doctor, the more often it happened.
In early 2006, I went to see an ophthalmologist in hopes of getting some answers. He was extremely troubled by what he saw and ordered an MRI. An MRI that changed my life. On Valentines Day, 2006, I was diagnosed with a condition known as Chiari Malformation. We don’t know when or how, possibly even as early as birth, a part of my brain herniated into my spinal cord. The result of which was a back up of fluid as well as compression of my cerebellum.
I was sent to a neurologist and then a neurosurgeon and though I could’ve opted for surgery on the spot, we decided to watch and wait. Every 6 months we did MRIs and assessed my symptoms. As time passed, things gradually got worse. The headaches were endless, I struggled with dizziness, clumsiness and by the fall of 2007, my left hand had almost stopped working altogether. A new MRI showed a spongy mass in my spinal cord caused by the back up of fluid.
In other words, it was surgery time.
I was fortunate in that I was employed at the time. I was working as a private school teacher and our school allowed us to buy into their insurance plan. The insurance cost me several hundred dollars a month in premiums and had $45 copays and a $5,000+ deductible. The total cost to me of the brain and spinal surgery I had in November 2007 was well over $10,000 and I am still paying it off today.
And this is why health care reform is so important to me.
I am 29 years old and I am uninsurable.
I have a stable pre-existing condition that disqualifies me from purchasing health insurance. The only way I can acquire insurance right now is if I am employed somewhere that provides it, or my husband’s work offers it. Trust me, I’ve tried. And even worse, because the condition can be genetic, there’s a possibility that my son will have it as well and that he too may be denied insurance.
And so you can see why the Affordable Health Care Act was such a beacon of hope for me. This bill meant that I could get the same insurance that everyone else had access to. It meant that people like me, people who need insurance, could actually acquire it. It meant that we didn’t have to worry about whether we would be taken care of, whether we would be bankrupted by our health.
As the Supreme Court considers whether the act is constitutional, I see Facebook posts and hear people talking about how evil this bill is. How terrible it was and how it never should’ve been passed. I hear them say that it should be thrown out and I want to scream and shout because if that law is tossed, my health and the health of millions of other Americans could be jeopardized.
I understand that a great number of people dislike our president. I understand that a great number of people hate that this bill was passed along party lines. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad bill. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t help a huge volume of people. People like me. People who need access to medical care. People who need insurance to keep them from going bankrupt for trying to live the same life that all of you have.
Next time you get ready to bad mouth this bill or say it should be repealed, please consider the lives that are at stake. Please consider people like me, who desperately need this bill, whose futures could literally depend upon it. This bill isn’t political. It’s personal.
It’s life or death.
Katie is a 28 year old Southern Californian, married to a doctor, racking up as much student debt as possible as a full-time graduate student in a health science. Her hobbies include abusing parentheses, baking complicated desserts that almost universally involve frosting and loving her two cats more than is socially acceptable. She’s currently balancing her first child and graduating from graduate school. So planning and timing are also things she excels at. You can read more from Katie on her blog, Overflowing Brain.
Image from MorgueFile
Health care is not a privilege — it is a basic human right. To live in a place that believes denying people appropriate care is ok is bewildering to me. I live in Canada, and to be honest it feels like many people in the US have been brainwashed — social health care is *not* more expensive. You can always see a doctor when you need. Our doctors and facilities are just as good as yours. And everyone — everyone — gets the care they need. Yes, it’s true, you can’t always see a *specialist* exactly when you want, but let me tell you that I have never ever seen anyone who *needed* a specialist be denied one. I’m sorry for your situation, and I hope your new legislation makes things better.
So many people need health care – it’s absolutely unbelievable to me that anyone could be against it. But that’s politics – and our politicians have insurance, so they don’t get it.
Yes, yes, and YES. This is EXACTLY what I meant in the article I wrote about government assistance. This ISN’T a political issue! This is literally life and death for so. many. people. I’ve seen people at my hospital leave against medical advice without treatment which would save their lives. I see it so often, it makes me sick. Healthcare shouldn’t be for those who can afford it, or those who can prove they can’t afford anything at all. Like Jeannie said, it is a BASIC human right. It makes me so sad when people bad-mouth this bill or call it “free” healthcare, and say people will just be leeching off the rich to get medical care. “Socialist” healthcare is not by any means free!! My taxes go into it just the same as anyone else’s!
Thank you so, so much for writing this. This so absolutely needs to be read by basically everyone, ever.
Thank you for writing this. I hope people who get so riled up about it can read it as a calm and informative view of why we need reform. I am uninsurable as well, but only because I had gastric bypass. When I had the surgery almost 3 years ago, I was still on my mom’s health insurance plan through work. They covered it and I paid about $2,000 out of pocket. What I DIDN’T know, was that having that surgery would make me uninsurable in the future. Nobody told me that. I think it is CRAZY STUPID that a surgery that is supposed to make you healthier and decrease co-morbidities and such makes you uninsurable. My employer doesn’t offer health insurance, and my now boyfriend, future husband’s doesn’t at this point either. I am now on the Pre-existing condition plan through the state of Texas. Luckily, it is based on age and it is affordable for me at this point. I pay $268 a month, have a deductible of $1,500 and low co-pays. If it weren’t for the new health care laws, that plan would not be available to me. I didn’t KNOW that I would be uninsurable, or else I might have reconsidered the surgery. We need reform, and it’s not about party politics. Our system is so flawed.
This is so true in our family experience too. My nephew has a heart defect that will make him uninsurable should he not be covered by his parents or later a spouse or employer… it is wildly unfair and unthinkable that this is still an issue in the US today. It is so very personal.
Great article. I’m so lucky that my mom has worked to keep good insurance for me and my brothers. Without the change that allowed me to stay under it until I’m 26, I’d be totally at a loss for getting treatment for chronic migraines (I’ve been hospitalized for them from time to time) and hip problems. Not to mention well-woman care and birth control.
I always forget just how different our two countries are when it comes to health care…until I read something like this which brings it screaming back home. I cannot believe that people would call a health care reform bill that would provide assistance evil. I’ve had five surgeries in my life. Three were life-saving. I have paid exactly $0 for any of them. I can’t imagine if I had to. Either I’d be in crippling debt or…I would likely not be here.
Well done for you to tell your side. A a huge F you to insurance companies who deny those who need the help the most.
I have a very hard time wrapping my head around this health care issue in the US. It’s really awful how basic human rights are made political and a right-wrong -debate in modern world. I keep complaining about the taxes that we pay here, but every time I read something like this article everything is put into perspective again. Thank you Katie for a great read!
I am so perplexed by some Americans and their attitudes towards universal healthcare. I’m a Canadian, who works closely with my American colleagues, and I’m astonished with many of their attitudes toward paying taxes and some of those taxes going towards a healthcare system that would allow every American to have acces to affordable healthcare. It is so greedy and selfish to only think about themselves when they are in a position in life/work that grants them such “luxuries”. As per the first comment, healthcare is not privilege, but a basic human right (just like access to clean drinking water… sshh… maybe I shouldn’t mention that as those on the wrong band wagon may start complaining about their taxes and drinking water!).
This. This EXACTLY. Thank you!!
The only thing that I do not like about this health care bill is that the way I understand it health insurances can’t deny anyone (which is great) but they can still charge you anything they want to charge (which is awful). Right now, my husband is unemployed and we purchased a health care plan independent from any employer sponsored plan. What would cost any ‘typical’ family about $200 a month is costing us $500 a month. I was told by the person we were working with, “We are no longer allowed to deny children like your son but we can basically charge whatever we want and our underwriters say we have to charge you $500 per month to keep you covered.” Right now, we have a $8,000 deductible and pay cash for everything that is not a ‘well visit’. So if anyone in the family (including my son who has a few health issues) needs surgery or even needs to go to the doctor to acquire antibiotics we will pay for everything up front.
It’s both personal and political, and it’s one of the the reasons I’m a democrat and not a libertarian.
My brother is an Iraq war veteran. He is deemed 110% disabled by the VA. Thankfully, the VA covers his care. However, my 11 year old niece and 3 year old nephew are uninsureable. He is trying to get them covered under our state’s plan, but has been going through the process and hitting red tape and denials for nearly a year. He gets denial letters because his income is too “high” but the letter from the Army should negate that. So, he prays nothing happens to his kids in the mean time.
I am also “uninsurable” because I suffered a heart attack (at age 39) almost 2 years ago. The thought of no insurance after my heart attack AND being diabetic and trying to keep myself medicated and alive scares me to death. It is one of the reasons I stay at a job that brings me no joy. I have to be honest and say that there was a time when I was against “universal care” but have become more educated and have a better understanding and now I believe in it. Thank you for a GREAT article!!
Thank you so much for sharing your struggles with us. I am a recent college graduate with a part-time job. There is a possibility I might be bumped up to full-time soon, but even then, it’s an extremely small non-profit and they can’t afford to provide benefits for their employees. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’m able to stay on my dad’s health insurance until I’m 26. I have type 2 bipolar disorder, which means I am also uninsurable thanks to a pre-existing condition. I regulate my bipolar through medication, which I could not possibly afford without insurance. My dad is an extremely conservative Republican who is completely against “Obamacare” even though he sees that I would be completely screwed without it. He makes all these snide comments about how I’m an adult and it’s my responsibility to figure out something, even though he knows my financial situation and my job’s inability to provide insurance coverage. It is so frustrating that people can’t understand how health care is not something political. For me, it’s my life.
I agree with basically everything that’s been said – which is why I’m a little puzzled that most of you say it’s not political. The personal, the way we manage the things that impact people’s lives in important ways, IS political. If our politicians are not dealing with important stuff, then what are we paying them for?
I think it’s terrible that “politics” these days means taking a party side and supporting or opposing policy merely based on affiliation. Debates are either couched in abstractions or oversimplified with personal-sounding buzzwords (jobs jobs jobs), but the decisions ultimately matter to everyday people. Our foreign policy matters to people living in constant fear of bombing in the Middle East. Our free trade agreements matter to children working in sweatshops in China, and the unemployed people in this country whose corporate employer moved away. Our health care policy matters to people with ongoing health issues, especially if their health impedes them from holding a well-paying job.
People need to realize that politics is personal, and form opinions based on what actually contributes to people’s quality of life – not canned party platforms.
I’m not saying that politics are not personal because they definitely are. What I’m saying is that making sure all Americans can afford medical care shouldn’t be up for debate. It shouldn’t be something that we discuss as Republicans or Democrats, it should be something we want as Americans, period.
I don’t think any party would say they don’t think it’s important for Americans to afford medical care (maybe I’m naive?) but I think there’s a large contingent who think the way to achieve that is for everyone to just pick themselves up, “work hard”, “be responsible”, and earn the money to do so. The debate in this case isn’t over the goal, but the method of achieving it – devils in the details.
The problem is that even if *anybody* could become rich by just having gumption and following/selectively bending the rules (a shaky proposition in itself), the way our economy works there isn’t room for *everybody* to do that.
My father in law is covered by the VA, and I have not been impressed with the care he has received from them. For example: he fell and was in severe pain. He went to the dr., they scanned him, and he had a broken hip. So then they sent him home to wait three more days for surgery. Without pain meds. Well, they prescribed him pain meds, but they had to be sent through the mail, so they arrived the day of his surgery, after my he and my husband had already left for the hospital. So, on the day to day wellness checks, they’re fine, but it left a horrible taste in my mouth that he had to wait so long in such severe pain before he could have surgery. For this reason, I’m skeptical of federally managed health care – they do not seem to be able to run the nationwide health care system that they already have. HOWEVER: I really, really wish we had a STATE health care option (maybe mandated by the federal govt, but run by the state?). I hear wonderful things about Massachusetts’ health care, and I WISH we had that here. My son is covered by a very nice state health care plan (we make monthly payments and the rest is funded by taxes). And I so wish adults had an option like that. I’d gladly pay an increase in taxes for something like that. (But in my experience as an uninsured young adult, Iowa is actually good at covering those who cannot pay. My husband was diagnosed with cancer, had two surgeries, chemo, and a whole host of medications for which we paid nothing – the state covered the entire cost.)
This is personal to me too. I’m 23 and I have a back injury that needed surgery so that I could stop taking daily pain killers and function. I’m currently working a job that pays me very little and makes me totally miserable. The only reason I’m still there is because they offer insurance. I’ve had the surgery and, except for a couple of bad days here and there, I’m ok but I’m still at this miserable job because I’m afraid to go without insurance.
I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’d rather be happy and uninsured then be this miserable anymore so I’m hoping that an offer that I got is still on the table. I’ll also be crossing my fingers that nothing happens to me before I can get health insurance again.
I have insurance through my employer, and really, even having insurance is not all it’s cracked up to be for me.
My premiums are, thankfully, pretty low, BUT, my copay and deductible actually prevent me from seeing a doctor. My deductible each year (about $5,000) is almost 1/4 of my yearly net pay. Once is pay for my house, student loans and bills, I literally do not have the money left to cover the deductible.
My appendix perforated a few weeks ago, and I layer on the floor and cried for an hour, not just in pain, but because I was trying to avoid going to the hospital. I couldn’t -can’t- afford it. Finally pain took over and I lost the ability to argue and my sister called EMS.
I’m OK, I’ll be paying this off for years, but I’m OK…and it disgusts me that I cared less about what could have been a life threatening illness al because it was too expensive. Since when are our lives/wellbeing worth money?!?
Comments on this entry are closed.