I was just telling friends the other day that sometimes I feel badly that my views started to change due to selfish reasons. But, I suppose that most of us change or refine our world views when we come into contact with different situations.
I never started to think about health care and a national system until the tech bubble burst. My consulting company started to falter and paycheck frequency became infrequent. I called the Labor department and they couldn’t help me because I lived in Pennsylvania, but I was paid from a California bank. I called the Unemployment department and they couldn’t help me because I seemed to still be employed and had a hope of a paycheck.
I started thinking about whether or not I would start my own one-woman programming business. The big hurdle was health insurance. I would think “I would totally start my own company if there was a national health care system that made sure I was covered.” Around this time, my sister and her family lost their health insurance and a national health care system was even more on my mind.
I started thinking about our public school system. It is not perfect by any means, but it ensures that all Americans get some level of education. People who want something different send their kids to private or charter schools. And richer areas have better public schools than poorer areas.
What if our health care system had the same thing? A guaranteed coverage for everyone and then if you wanted something different, you could pay for it? It seemed logical to me.
Something has gone wrong in America when millions of people are just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy and financial ruin. How many of us are sure we can get quality health care when we need it for our children, our loved ones, and ourselves? Something needs to change.
Fast forward six years and I’m even more convinced that this is something that America needs as soon as possible. I’m going to highlight my family in this post as an example of what I think the average American family is dealing with.
Here is my family structure:
- Dad (61)
- Mom (60)
- Me (35) — Married to “M” (34)
- Sister “R” (33) — Divorced. Has the following kids:
- “A” (14)
- “L” (5)
- “B” (3)
- Sister “E” (31) — Married to “S” (34)
Of the entire list of people in my family, only me, my husband “M”, and my nephew “A” currently have health insurance. This is the thing that terrifies me the most in this world because (1) by not getting regular check ups and tests we have no idea if there is an issue before it might be too late and (2) any one medical disaster could wipe them out. I love them so much and want them healthy and with me forever.
#1 - My parents: My dad and mom had health insurance until March. My dad lost his job and they weren’t able to afford the COBRA payments. This is not unusual.
Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing affordable coverage - not only for the worker but also for their entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to pay for COBRA health insurance - the continuation of group coverage offered by their former employers. Premiums for this coverage average almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly unemployment check.
In this economy, it has been really hard to find another job, even one that would pay him a fraction of what he is worth. My mom is a stay-at-home mom and is watching “L” and “B”, but has also been trying to find a job to provide this coverage for the two of them. As she said to me, my dad cannot be without medical coverage since he has so many health issues.
Last month, my dad was in a motorcycle accident. He broke 6 ribs and his shoulder. He was really lucky, not only to be alive, but also because the accident happened on his motorcycle which has auto insurance. My dad always had really excellent coverage on his vehicles because he saw that it only takes one devastating accident to lose everything.
He was in the hospital and then they discharged him straight from the ICU. My whole family felt that it was too early and, sure enough, several days later he was back in the hospital. This time they kept him until he actually should have been discharged. I really believe that they discharged him early the first time because he didn’t have health insurance and then kept him the right amount the second time because they were afraid of lawsuits.
But what if my dad’s medical emergency was something else? If he fell off the roof, I’m hopeful that they have enough homeowners insurance to cover that. What if it were a heart attack? He would have to rely on the McCain advisor’s universal health plan of showing up to the emergency room without health coverage:
But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain’s health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)
“So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime,” Mr. Goodman said. “The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.
“So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved.”
– Dallas Morning News, August 27, 2008
But what if it were something else? Maybe he has a diabetes setback that is not an emergency situation. Maybe he needs medication for a sinus infection. He would either have to pay for this out of pocket or go to the emergency room.
It will be 4 years until my dad is eligible for Medicare benefits. So, yes, this situation terrifies me.
#2 - “R” and her kids: “R” moved to Florida and in with my parents after her marriage fell apart and it became too difficult to try and work when the combination of just daycare expenses (heavily subsidized by Catholic Charities) and rent was more than she took home in her paycheck. When she was in NJ, her children were covered under NJ’s CHIP program, but she was uninsured.
She found a job, but it did not cover health benefits at all. This is not uncommon. Only 60% of US employers provide any sort of health coverage. (source DividedWeFail.org)
The percentage of people (workers and dependents) with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 59 percent in 2006. This is the lowest level of employment-based insurance coverage in more than a decade.
She quit her job recently to go back to full time school and is eligible for her children to be covered under Florida’s CHIP program. Last time I called, she had been on the phone on hold all day trying to set this up.
Again, what happens if something tragic were to happen to her or her children? I am seriously worried for her health because she has not been to a doctor in years for a checkup. What if she were to get something terrible like cancer and no one diagnosed it? She is the sole support of her two youngest children.
There is no way that I believe that providing health coverage for her to have yearly checkups is more expensive than if they find out that she has cancer, puts a burden on the hospital system to treat it, and then she leaves two little children to survive on Social Security survivor’s benefits.
#3 - “E” and “S”: “E” moved to Florida last year with her husband. She is fully employed with a good job, but they have her categorized as a part-time/contract worker so they do not have to pay for her health care benefits. Her husband “S” is not employed.
“S” has had medical issues throughout their marriage, but since “E” does not have medical coverage for the two of them, he has had to go to the ER instead of seeing a doctor or they have to pay out of pocket for a doctor’s care.
They at least have seen a doctor in the last two years. But, what if “E” became pregnant? How will they pay for it? Medicaid?
About four million babies are born in the United States each year, and Medicaid pays for more than one-third of all births. The number involving illegal immigrant parents is not known, but is likely to be in the tens of thousands, health experts said.
– New York Times, November 2, 2006
Medicaid might pay for the birth, but it will only cover the first year of health insurance for the baby. What happens after that? “E” makes too much money to have the child covered under the current CHIP levels. Will the child then have to go uninsured?
This is a huge problem and not just for my family. I was talking to a friend yesterday about how he jokes half-seriously with his mom that she should marry someone from Canada in a marriage of convenience so her illnesses would be covered under the Canadian single-payer health plan.
It gave me a brilliant idea. First, my grandmother needs to apply to become an Irish citizen. Then, my mom can apply since her mom is now an Irish citizen. Then my dad and sisters can apply based on my mom. Then, we register “L” and “B” as Irish citizens because “R” is now an Irish citizen. Then, if someone in my family gets really sick, we can send them to Ireland to be covered under their national health care system.
If only our own country had a similar plan.
