See Gina Blog

Last week, a fellow blogger Miss Britt wrote on the question of healthcare as a right versus healthcare as a privilege.  I responded to her outstanding post with the following:

I believe healthcare is a right.  In a supposedly evolved and civilized society, it is abominable that so many do not have health insurance or have mediocre health insurance.  Sure we all have the right to healthcare, but only if we are able to afford the bills that follow.  I am one of those American citizens who have health insurance, through my employer, but do not have good health insurance.

My deductible is so high that even with monthly physician visits and prescriptions, an ER visit, and various medical tests throughout the year, I will never get my deductible paid off and so am barely making ends meet with medical expenses on top of normal monthly expenses.  I work in a bankruptcy firm where many clients either have insurance issues like my own or do not have insurance but have health conditions, a sick kid, or have some other medical-related issue come up.  People end up in bankruptcy because of their medical bills alone in this country and that is alarming.

It is astounding to me that many other countries have national healthcare (or are working to implement it now), but we do not.  Politicians, the media, and Conservatives will claim that national healthcare would simply not work or is socialism in action; however I have seen information proving that it is indeed working very well in Canada, England, France, and even Cuba, for doctors and patients alike.  Look at the data before claiming it doesn’t work.  Socialism? The way I look at it our country is based upon “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” right? Then explain to me how healthcare for all does not provide greater quality of life and a greater chance at the pursuit of happiness.

The non-existence of a national healthcare system in this country very likely has more to do with lobbyists and corporate interests than the question of if one would be of benefit to the people or would be a valid solution to healthcare troubles.

I hope to God that Obama is elected and is able to do something, with Congress’ help, to fix the American healthcare system.  It is broken and it is breaking us.

With 45.7 million uninsured in this country and 11.4 million of the nation’s uninsured “working-age adults with one or more chronic illnesses, including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and cancer,” we absolutely must fix the healthcare system in this country.

For an industrialized nation, it is unacceptable that “The United States ranks highest in preventable deaths among 19 developed nations, and the Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 Americans die unnecessarily each year because they lack health insurance.”  Those who have insurance are not necessarily much better off with high premiums, large deductibles, extensive regulations, and battles with bureaucracy.  I am one of the underinsured.

In February I had a seizure and ended up in the Emergency Room, taken in an ambulance.  Even with my current Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance, I was left with a $411 ambulance bill and a $110 emergency room bill.  I was able to pay the $110 bill quickly, but the $411 bill has remained a weight on me and I hope to have it paid off by December.

I have a psychiatrist bill that I have been paying down for a year or more, the amount going toward my large deductible.  The bill is for regular visits, every two to three months, to continue for an undetermined amount of time.  I hope to have that bill finally paid in full by December as well.

I have regular prescriptions that even with the co-pays I question each month if I can afford them.  I have not picked up one of the prescriptions in close to two months because of the cost.  The other prescription I cannot do without, I’ve tried, so I continue to pay for it each month reluctantly.

My chronic health conditions will continue to result in medical bills for years to come.  I fear another ambulance ride, another emergency room visit, and still more unexpected medical costs.  I can’t imagine trying to pay medical bills as an underinsured person with cancer.

For the uninsured and the underinsured, we need to put in place a national healthcare system. We are the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare.  It is time to change this, it is time for change.

Bonus Links:

• A Conservative Case for Universal Health Care
• Physicians for a National Health Program
• Universal Health Care Action Network