THE HEALTH CARE HOAX

I try at all costs to avoid political discussions in any social setting - it just equals baaaad business. It really never ends well. I save it for my husband and my sister because 1) we agree for the most part AND 2) even if we don't we know it will all be okay. That being said, I need to put that general rule aside to discuss a highly debated topic that hits me really close to home; health care. The blog post to follow will be a combo effort between Boop and myself. I will lay out the facts of my story and touch upon a few others I have heard and Boop, in her political savviness, will get into the nitty gritty of what's wrong with the following picture and what should be done about it.

Its no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I have two little pricesses, one of whom was very sick for most of the last 12 months. 2 year-old Rosebud had a mystery illness that took us 9 months to diagnose. That diagnosis resulted in a much needed surgery. Sparing the details of what she had, and what we went through, if she was to be cured of what ailed her there was no other option. This after nearly a dozen specialists weighed in on what was wrong and an extensive battery of tests was run. Strictly by medical standards, the surgery was a routine 1 hour procedure, required a 23 hour hospital stay (considered out-patient) and no other follow up or medication. It seemed such an easy solution and a huge relief to the saga. Until the bills started rolling in....

Rosebud also underwent some occupational therapy over a period of about 4 months. More bills...

Prior to that, Rosebud had an unfortunate incident with coffee table that ended in 6 stitches to the lip. Evil Knevil she is not. Another bill...

Princess number one, nine year-old KK needed physical therapy for a period of 12 months for an eye issue. Huge, whopping bill...

The nicest thing about all of this is, my children are in a much better place health-wise than many other children, who unfortunately deal every day with life-threatening or debilitating illnesses. Their health is what keeps me going. Looking at the financial repercussions of having children that require medical care of any type beyond "preventive" you need that postive thing to focus on so you don't succumb to the pressure.

This calendar year alone, here is what my husband and I have had to shell out of pocket just to put our children on a level playing field:

• KK's therapy sessions: once a week at $115 a pop - completely out of pocket with a very slow partial reimbursement by insurance. Even at that, we were capped at 25 appointments. After that, 100% our burden.
  


• Rosebud's stitches: $1100 total out of pocket
  


• Rosebud's occupational therapy: once a week for four months at $30 per session (bargain!!)
  


• Rosebud's surgery after paying the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and the hospital: nearly $4,000 out of pocket

You may be wondering "what kind of crap insurance do these people have?" but I can say its probably quite representative of what most employers offer. I have a $210 monthly premium, and as long as we aren't sick, everything is covered. If I wanted less out of pocket cost, my monthly premium would be $1100. That's more than half of my mortgage. Clearly, that is not an option financially. So I am forced to take the risk that all will be okay most of the time, then take it in the you-know-where if things go wrong. This past year things most definitely went wrong.

Hubby and I both work for a living and are extremely middle class. Perhaps lower middle class. Not exactly sure what the standards are for that. We have a small but sufficient house, but beyond feeding and clothing our family has few luxuries. Just enough to feel a sense of spoiling ourselves now and again, but not anything beyond our means. We don't vacation, just mini getaways on occasion. We have one car payment due to an upgrade in size when Rosebud arrived. But even at that, there just isn't room to comfortably shell out an estimated $8,500 in medical expenses this year. That does not include my monthly premium. If I can't afford the upgraded $1,100 premium....seriously, come on people!!! Can't the American people get better coverage than this??

My story is representative of so many others, many of them much more severe. I saw a piece on CNN.com about a woman who had breast cancer, was dropped from her insurance and is now $80,000 in debt. She refuses to file for bankruptcy becuase she won't let the system beat her. I have heard several stories about loving spouses divorcing in order for the mother of a child to qualify for public aid to help pay for her son's long term health care. This is just simply, unacceptable.

Luckily, some in Congress agree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ery7RZ4tZ2Y

Boop says:

Let me first of all state for the record that Jen both gives me too much credit, and herself too short a shrift. She is not my sister for nothing and I think you will all agree she's no slouch in the writing department. And clearly, the topic of health care hits home, for lack of a better word. Jen has studied up and her passion and relatability is one of the reasons I urged her to get political for once in a blogtime.

It occurred to me when I set about framing my part of this rant, Jen sort of gift wrapped me the tools I needed to get to the heart of what I think is the problem here. Allow me to quote Jen twice:

1. "I have a $210 monthly premium, and as long as we aren't sick, everything is covered."

2. "Hubby and I both work for a living and are extremely middle class. Perhaps lower middle class. Not exactly sure what the standards are for that. "

Now in case any of you are wondering, Jen was not being remotely ironic when she wrote either of these lines. This is what the brainwashing of our American health care system does to regular Joes and Janes. It engenders a sort of odd security where none is derserved, while at the same time causing hardworking, white collar Americans to go so far into debt, they don't even know where the line bewteen just making it and affluency actually lies anymore. For the record Jen, according to Wikipedia, lower middle class status is arrived at when a family of four generates between $32,000 - $60,000 annually.

But I digress. When summing up the egregious wreckage of the American health care system, nothing says it better than, "As long we we aren't sick, everything is covered." Well excuse me! I thought the point of health insurance was to help you out and prevent you from financial ruin if you DO get sick? When did this change, and a better question: why did we let it? Will this long trip to Crazy Town where we give up 25% of our salaries and get nothing in return never end?

Secondly, heaven, the Dalai Llama, the Luck of the Irish and a rabbit's foot help you and your loved ones if you do have the nerve to come down with something. Look no further than Jen's example above. I don't want to belabor the point. It doesn't need it. It kills me that my hardworking sister and brother-in-law had to make the initial choice between take home pay and enough coverage for their children. Now they also have to explain to KK and Rosebud that there won't be any trips to Disney World in their futures because they had the bad luck to need minor help with non life threatening iproblems. How many different ways must the system make paupers out of us? Why does anyone have to untangle the logic for their brethren, confused that a trip to the doctor could do anything but make them better?

Can we all as a nation agree we're collectively tired of this? Change now! Bring health care back into the headlines and let's get something done.