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While I wait for last night's Flashpoint to download so I can have some Hugh with my coffee, I wish to rant. Specifically about what it means not to have insurance in America, and how incredibly fucked up our system is. I'm probably mostly preaching to the choir on this one, but it's so messed up it deserves saying as much as possible. Since the beginning of the hives up through yesterday, I have had to spend over $1,500 in one month on various doctor's appointments, testing, and prescriptions. That's with various discounts given because of my lack of insurance. With ever more expensive testing still yet to come, and the possibility of conditions that will require long term dumping of bucketfuls of cash that will make that expense look like the cost of a candy bar. I am lucky. The Bank of Dad is both willing and able to keep restoring my bank account for now. Willing might not be an issue, but able could be depending on just how expensive this all gets in the coming weeks.
I think that scares me as much, or more, than the actual possible conditions themselves. I can't even imagine staring down a scary illness, knowing there is treatment that could help, and not being able to afford it. This is what we are saying in this country with our current system. Some people deserve to die because they are poor. Dress it up with fancy words as much as you want. That's what it means. Ponder for a moment someone without a Bank of Dad to get them even this far. And a job that they need to keep to eat restricting when and how they can get to the doctor before you even get to the part where you have to pay. Does that person get these initial tests done? If they even can scrounge up enough money to cover them, what's the trade off against the possibility that they'll come back negative, now with ever more bills to pay?
Yes, there are programs that help. Many people, especially people who work or have enough income to miss the cap, but not nearly enough to cover what can be astronomical medical costs, do not qualify. The holes to fall through are the size of the Grand Canyon. Not to mention when you are sick, and scared, and facing uncertainty the very last thing you want to do is be sitting on the phone negotiating a price on your life.
Either some people deserve to die because they are poor, or they don't (and I haven't even mentioned people who are insured and still can't afford/have access to treatment they need). It really is that simple. The details of how we change that are debateable, certainly. That it's even a question of whether we change that, I find absolutely and completely unfathomable.
I think that scares me as much, or more, than the actual possible conditions themselves. I can't even imagine staring down a scary illness, knowing there is treatment that could help, and not being able to afford it. This is what we are saying in this country with our current system. Some people deserve to die because they are poor. Dress it up with fancy words as much as you want. That's what it means. Ponder for a moment someone without a Bank of Dad to get them even this far. And a job that they need to keep to eat restricting when and how they can get to the doctor before you even get to the part where you have to pay. Does that person get these initial tests done? If they even can scrounge up enough money to cover them, what's the trade off against the possibility that they'll come back negative, now with ever more bills to pay?
Yes, there are programs that help. Many people, especially people who work or have enough income to miss the cap, but not nearly enough to cover what can be astronomical medical costs, do not qualify. The holes to fall through are the size of the Grand Canyon. Not to mention when you are sick, and scared, and facing uncertainty the very last thing you want to do is be sitting on the phone negotiating a price on your life.
Either some people deserve to die because they are poor, or they don't (and I haven't even mentioned people who are insured and still can't afford/have access to treatment they need). It really is that simple. The details of how we change that are debateable, certainly. That it's even a question of whether we change that, I find absolutely and completely unfathomable.