My Friend Didn't Die Because She Didn't Have Health Insurance

[Blue State Blues]

My friend didn't die because she didn't have Health Insurance. She died because she had cancer.

Her cancer went undiagnosed because she couldn't afford to go to the doctor for routine check-ups that might have caught it early.

Her cancer went untreated when treatment might have worked because it wasn't diagnosed. She wouldn't have been able to afford the treatment anyway.

Her cancer went undiscovered and untreated until it was too late. Too late for anything but a futile attempt to give her more time. And then a desperate attempt to make her more comfortable in the time she had. And then a caring, human attempt to give her ugly, painful death some dignity.

But she didn't suffer, and she suffered in a way that I hope never to see again, because she didn't have Health Insurance. She didn't die because she didn't have Health Insurance.

She suffered and died because she didn't have Health Care.

She didn't have access to care she could afford. And if we've learned one thing from our experiment in relying on Private Insurance, it's that Private Health Insurance is really bad at making Health Care affordable.

If my friend had had a low-cost Health Insurance plan, she still wouldn't have been able to get regular check-ups, because she couldn't afford the co-pays. She still wouldn't have been able to afford treatment, because she couldn't afford to pay the "patient's portion" for hospital stays and chemotherapy and radiation and medication.

The problem isn't that some people don't have insurance. The problem is that all of us don't have access to Health Care.

The problem is that all of us don't have access to affordable, reliable, universal Health Care.

Insurance doesn't solve that problem.

And it's a problem that costs us all.

My friend's community lost a voice in the church choir, lost a volunteer at events, lost a tasty dish at the potluck, lost a sympathetic ear and a heart open to anyone's troubles. My friend's family lost a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a cousin. And I lost a friend.

It is a cost that is incalculable in human terms. It is a cost that is devastating in financial terms.

As a society are we willing to pay that cost, that cost in lives -- a cost we pay every day, over and over again, a cost with faces we know, and names we've heard, and hands we've touched -- are we willing to pay that cost any longer?

I'm not.

[liberalmuse]

1. That's very sad.

I know people who do have health insurance but they can't afford the high deductible, so they don't go to the doctor. So even people with health insurance can't afford health care, which is hard to believe, but it's true.

[JDPriestly]

13. H.R. 3200 permits a deductible of $5000 for one person and $10000 for a family.

That may be doable on the salary of a member of Congress. But it is not doable out here in ordinary-land.

They may be planning to give a tax credit to low income people to cover that deductible, but while I can see a tax credit working to cover the basic cost of insurance, many Americans could not even borrow $5000 over the course of a year to cover a deductible while they wait for a tax credit to help them out.

D.C. is out of touch. Obama was supposed to change the culture of D.C., but I don't see any change.

[ArcticFox]

16. Very few could afford that

I would say a family's healthcare costs should be capped at 10% of after-tax income. Beyond that, all expenses should be covered. This would be basically insuring against catastrophic costs. If a person lost their job, guess what? Any cost would be considered catastrophic and our society would be doing its best to get that person back on their feet. A rich person making millions on investments would basically pay 100% of their healthcare costs.

Yes, that means taxpayer money would be spent for healthcare. To all those against this: WTF is the problem with that?

[truedelphi]

30. You say, (And I agree):

Yes, that means taxpayer money would be spent for healthcare. To all those against this: WTF is the problem with that?

If we are gonna do that, then let's pull out all the stops, and whether we call it MediCare for all or something else, let's push for:

Single Payer Universal Health Care For All NOW!!

[Enthusiast]

36. +1, delphi! nt

[lizziegrace]

65. +2 n/t

[zoff]

53. Republicans don't give 2 sh**s.

All republican plans called for tax credits or HSA's, all doleouts to insurance companies, or something that always has to benefit the private sector. If they're going to subsidize, then subsidize in real terms! We are just statistics to republican (and to an extent democratic) Washington and a bottom-line for insurance companies.

I've read with awe and disgust what right-wingers state on Fox Nation. These soulless teabaggers argue that health care is NOT a right because its not EXPLICITLY stated in the constitution. This is why they are against Universal Care. All ideology, no real debate and not surprisingly, no real solutions.

HR 676 is a real solution. Universal Health Care NOW! The cost of inaction is America' soul. Allowing more deaths like this only serve to cultivate the evil that permeates American society. We all want to believe that America is better. It can begin by treating its own citizenry more humanely. One more death and one more bankruptcy is one too many.

[inna]

58. Universal Health Care funded by progressive taxation, now!

That should be the goal, and it might take a million people march on Washington to get the idea across.

Congress is treating us like we are mindless, brainwashed sheep whose only function is to be sucked dry by parasitic, vampiric, rapacious insurance corps and banks. I don't understand how we let them get away with this; we are the only idustrialized country in the world that treats its citizens in this way.

[berni_mccoy]

18. No, that's not true for the poor. HR3200 subsidizes everyone who makes less than 400% of poverty

[JDPriestly]

38. My point is that if the subsidy is made through tax credits as Obama

stated in his speech last Wednesday, how will low-income people pay the deductibles as they go along?

[wolfgangmo]

68. They won't

I run a clinic. People are delaying treatments and skimping on therapy that they NEED. Already.

They don't have the money to pay so any credits will only benefit those who can already afford to pay the copays or deductables.

[Ms. Toad]

20. Citation, please.

I don't recall any such deductible limitation/cap, and can't find it in the bill.

[berni_mccoy]

21. It's not a deductible, it's a yearly premium for incomes more than 4x the poverty. AND

There are still additional subsidies that can be made for those who make more but are in a financial bind.

[Ms. Toad]

24. That makes more sense -

but I still didn't find specific limits in HB 3200. I would be surprised if it is that low - the average cost per person of providing health care is estimated at between $5000 and $8000.

[JDPriestly]

39. Sorry. When I read the first portion of the bill a few weeks ago I saw this

statement and read it several times. I don't find it now. I may have made a mistake. If so, I am quite relieved because I otherwise think that H.R. 3200 is a good bill. I asked my congressman (who helped write this bill) about this twice but received no response.

One problem with this bill is its length and complexity. (And I'm a lawyer so if I complain it's really bad.)

[Ms. Toad]

43. That's ok. I've read so many they flow together.

I thought there were some relatively specific numbers about out of pocket maximums (and that they were reasonable), but I don't find them now either. I think I may be remembering the Kennedy bill - but I haven't bothered to track it down. I did search the text version of this bill for deductible, "thousand" "5,000," "5000," out-of-pocket, and cost-sharing and didn't find it.

As a premium cost (as someone else suggested) it is reasonable (as long as subsidized for lower income folks) - but thinking about $5000 out of pocket before any coverage kicks in - on top of a premium cost (probably in that ballpark or higher) would not be.

[JDPriestly]

46. I am still concerned because, if those numbers aren't in the bill, what does this bill do

about deductibles.? I will have to spend more time reading it. H.R. 676 is much easier to read and understand.

[ejpoeta]

63. i feel like they want it that way.... want it so no one can understand it.

just like the policies from the insurance companies and credit cards etc... if it's hard to read and understand, then people won't bother reading it. but they won't want to admit they didn't read it either. HR 676 is probably not full of loopholes that have to be hidden in legalese. That's why it will never pass..... though, anyone with half a brain should be pushing for it. But it's easier to believe faux news line of bull and limbaugh and beck then to actually find out facts for ourselves.. (not you, but people like my family members). I tend to assume that when people have to lie about something, it is because they have no real factual basis for it... like the 'death panels'.... they try to evoke a paralyzing fear so that people refuse to listen to the actual facts.

[polpilot]

69. In Japan, if you have a accident, or are sick, you go to a healthcare provider

and give them your 'gov. run healthcare card', and they try to help you get well. No co-pay, healthcare ins. card shit, pre-existing B.S., no bills in mail deny/accept B.S., just a god damn civilized system of care for humans. What a fucking novel concept in 2009.

[nightrain]

75. and that 5K is on top of the premium costs of about the same amount!!! LOL on affordability!

[hobbit709]

2. Damn right

I lost my wife in July because she didn't want to spend the money it would cost to go the ER. That night it became too late for the ER.

[renate]

8. oh no... that is so awful

How heartbreaking. I'm so sorry. What a devastating loss. :hug:

[Blue State Blues]

11. I'm so sorry for your loss

There aren't words for it. Sorry.

[barbtries]

27. i'm so sorry hobbit709!

:cry:

[truedelphi]

40. What a godawful thing. So sorry for your loss.

And DAMMIT!

[Oregone]

3. "As a society are we willing to pay that cost"

There is no extra cost. Its cheaper if they do it right and cover everyone. There is only savings.

[AndyA]

4. I wish I could recommend this 10 times.

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. I'm sure you'll think of her every day.

And your distinction is important: it's not lack of INSURANCE, it's lack of HEALTH CARE. The right keeps saying that if the government gets involved, it will stand between a doctor and patient.

That is already happening, although it isn't the government, it's the private, for profit, insurance companies standing in the way.

[renate]

5. I'm so sorry

I just have to give up on trying to find the words for how wrong it is that this can occur here, with all the resources that the United States has. :cry:

[madville]

6. I'm sorry for your loss

No one has mentioned yet what the co-pays and deductibles will be on the plans that the government provides low/no income people. It's not going to do much good to give someone a subsidized plan for "free" if that plan has a $2000 deductible and 80/20 share after that. If you can't afford a policy you won't be able to afford the deductibles and co-pays anyway. I know we don't know the details yet but I'm very interested how this aspect is dealt with.

[abluelady]

9. "No One Who Matters"

Those of us who believe in single payer are screaming what you talk about. I have a $2500 deductible that is going up to $3000 next month. You can be damn sure I have to feel like I'm dying to go see a doctor. I can't afford to waste a visit because I might have a small pain. I know that small pain could grow, but.....

[eagertolearn]

44. Even for our family the deductables stop us from going to see a doctor

and my husband is a doctor! With a family of 5 we are paying $12000 a year for insurance with I believe $2000 deductable for each of us. We pay cash for all our dentist, orthodontics (x 3) and today the first set of wisdom teeth for my oldest. We have enough money to just pay it but we keep wondering how everyone else is doing this that doesn't have this money ready to use. But when it comes to health exams we really avoid them. Our kids have never had a physical (we do the sports physicals!) and when they get injured in sports there is no physical therapy. I am so envious of those kids who's parents are on some sort of government insurance plan because they get physical therapy (we give ours motrin)! I'm now trying to convince my kids to be a teacher or some sort of state employee so they can have the safety net of insurance. Many of our friends are retiring in their early 60's but find they can't get insurance because of their age and they are healthy! My husband has thought about working for the hospital so he could get us on the hospital insurance plan but what about all his employees who have been working for him for years? So now i'm back at work as a nurse and hoping to get on the hospital insurance plan and soon as one of those jobs opens up. We have friends and family in Norway, Germany and Canada and they think we are crazy putting up with our system. They are very happy with their health care.

[abluelady]

49. I Know We're Not Alone

I can't understand why so many don't get it. Sometimes I wonder if all those people just don't care about being healthy????

[firedupdem]

7. So sorry about your friend.

:cry:

[daleanime]

10. Far too many...

needless tragedy's :cry:

[liberal N proud]

12. I watched the movie Rainmaker this weekend

There are many innuendos and direct messages that apply to the health care debate in that movie. One of the big ones was the uninsured poor and how they were preyed upon by unscrupulous insurance providers.

I fear that if mandated insurance is passed the insurance companies will do just as the one being sued in Rainmaker. Sell policies to the poor with no intention on doing anything for them.

Sorry for your loss.

[unblock]

14. as long as insurance is involved in healthcare, there will be stories like this

insurance is all about avoiding and delaying payment by any legal means.

this means that some patients will be cowed or beaten or intimidated into taking the cheaper medical route (which often means not going to the doctor's or not taking medication altogether), all for the sake of the insurer's profits.


my two cents -- some procedures should be in a government program a la medicare, free or very cheap and available for all. anything having to do with infectious diseases, such as innoculations, come to mind, in part because everyone benefits from everyone else getting immunizations. other procedures, like plastic surgery for purely cosmetic reasons, i'm open to these not being part of a government program and if insurers want to get involved in that sort of stuff, they're welcome to it.

[Enthusiast]

37. +1, unblock! nt

[Greyhound]

15. That's it exactly. and millions are going through the same thing all over this nation.

Millions of people will suffer and die needlessly so that the few can have more. If our "leaders" had any conscience, this charade would make them crawl under a rock.

This is shameful, it is criminal. What is wrong with us?
:kick: & R

[Soylent Brice]

17. .

K&R

[TexasObserver]

19. Recommend

[ChoppinBroccoli]

22. As Long As Death Is Profitable........

I came to the conclusion a while back that insurance companies only turn a profit by DENYING people health care. Actually paying to help people HURTS their bottom line, so it is in their financial interest to deny as many claims as they can.

So here's what it boils down to: as long as the people in charge of paying for our health care are working FOR-PROFIT, death will always be more profitable than helping the ill. And as long as death is more profitable than life, guess what will happen the majority of the time. That's why we need to take the health care decisions OUT of the hands of people who PROFIT BY OUR DEATHS!!!

Why is that so hard for everyone to understand? Why are people willing to fight to the death so some nameless, faceless insurance company can turn a small profit from the deaths of themselves and their families? Yes, I'm sure the big insurance corporations REALLY DO have your best interests at heart. Moran.

[Aragorn]

23. I quit

practicing medicine 2 weeks ago because of garbage like this. I spent 26 years seeing people whether they can pay or not and got too much political grief for it. Sorry to hear this story.

[sce56]

25. My Ex First wife passed away back in Jun she had ovarian cancer

I don't believe she had insurance so she ignored the signs then the pain until our son sensed something wrong by then it was too late and the attempt to help with Chemo probably shortened her life by a month or so. The worst part is she did not live long enough, missed it by about three weeks, to hear that our oldest was nominated for an Emmy!

[barbtries]

28. sympathies for your loss

and your children's - and congratulations on the nomination!

for what it's worth a dear friend of mine died of ovarian cancer. she didn't ignore the signs but the doctors kept looking and looking for something else so it was pretty far gone before they properly diagnosed her. she did last longer than your ex but the cancer still had the last word. i believe it's known as a silent killer because it so often has advanced too far for a patient to survive once it is finally diagnosed.

[midnight]

42. The doctors told my cousin, three years before she died, that

the bloating and pain she was experiencing in her lower abdomen was in her mind.

[sce56]

50. Sorry to hear about all the losses.

Not that this thread is supposed to be funny but you reminded me of my little sister my Mom was 45 when my sister came along 5 years after me and back then there were no ultrasounds and things like that. The doctor told my mom she was not pregnant it was just a tumor so we joke about my little sis being the tumor!

[truedelphi]

33. Please accept my condolences.

And how sad that amidst the joy and pride for your eldest - that she wasn't there to know of it. And to celebrate it.

[barbtries]

26. i'm with you

medicare for everyone, and
my sympathies on your loss :hug:

[HereSince1628]

29. Depressed over this? Buying alcohol on debit or credit card

could cost you your coverage. Your spending habits using devices that create digital records of your spending are available to "background checkers" and insurance companies it could cost you a new job and the possibility of insurance coverage.

[krispos42]

31. What has been lost in the hubbub...

...is that health insurance is a means to an end, not an end unto itself.

:-(


Sorry for your loss. :hug:

[BrklynLiberal]

32. When it comes to health care statistics, we are a Third World Country.

Sad....very,very sad.

[AllyCat]

34. I'm so sorry. While cancer will still kill after reform, it will be less often

Hugs to you.

[orleans]

35. k&r. heartbreaking post. very moving. n/t

[TexasLady]

41. Your post moved me to tears. I am SO lucky to be alive!!!

After losing my leg, at least I am here to post. This story is so similiar to my own, and NOW my own friend with cancer of the bone may lose her own leg AND her own life because of this EXACT same reason!!
I am at my wit's end over this, and I am surrounded by fools who blame US for our problems!
Please please hear this post, and let it speak for the MILLIONS of others out here like ours! It is a nation gone mad, and we are going to have to speak LOUDER and STRONGER than ever before!!!

Thank you SO much for this moving post.

[eagertolearn]

45. I'm sorry for all of you who have lost a loved one or friend to a medical problem

that could have been caught if they had health care. Health care is a basic human right. Most of the people I talk to who are against health care reform don't understand what they are against and when you can get them alone away from the town halls and tea parties they usually agree we need a better system but they are so brained washed by fox and those crazy radio hosts and their pastors of their church that they go back to those bliefs out of fear. It is so pathetic and sad at the same time!

[winyanstaz]

47. I am sorry for your loss..and I thank you for speaking up.

Your friend was also an inspiration for us all to get out there and make a difference so we don't lose more like her.
Peace to you and yours.

[Rex]

48. It is a dark and ugly truth about America, people are only worth a

certain amount of money and that is it. We are not worth saving, if it costs too much - that is the message the world sees about America. So all that garbage and rhetoric we spew about the land of the free and the home of the brave - only if you get lucky and don't develop a catastrophic illness in your lifetime. If you do and you are in the working class, without any health care plan - then you might as well go outside and laydown on the pavement to wait for a car to come by and kill you.

[4lbs]

51. In a "Socialist" health care country like France, people are encouraged (and the costs are made low)

to see their doctors 4 to 6 times a year for regular checkups.

Any major illnesses are caught very early, and thus the treatments tend to be less costly, and work much better, with a much higher degree of success.

We need to move towards that.

[Brigid]

52. This is why only single-payer will do.

We may have to settle for the "public option" for now, but we should not stop sounding the trumpet for single-payer.

[donheld]

54. Your story is one of a multitude like it

We must see that this shit ends.

[lonestarnot]

55. K & R!

[Merlot]

56. My sympathies to you for your loss. I was almost you...

...in that I almost lost a friend who couldn't afford healt CARE.

Being uninsurable due to preexisting conditions and the mother of a disabled son, she didn't go to the doctor. Then one day she felt sick and went to the ER. She ended up having 3 surgeries, almost dying on the table, and being in a coma. All together she was in the hospital for 6 weeks.

Her doctor later told her that had she come in a week earlier, they could have caught the problem and she would have been fine.

So look at the burden that put on her family, the hospital, and the doctors. All because she couldn't afford to see a doctor for regular check ups.

[Norrin Radd]

57. kr

[Kitty Herder]

59. I'm so sorry for your loss. And you're absolutely correct. n/t

[olddixiedem]

60. Thoughts and prayers

Thoughts and prayers for your friend!

[lamp_shade]

61. Your friend would be proud of you for this heartfelt tribute. Thank you for posting.

[Delphinus]

62. I'm sorry about your friend.

:hug:

You are correct - insurance does not solve the problem. There's a huge difference between health insurance and health care. I have (catastrophic) health insurance - I don't have health care. I cannot afford both.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

64. Very touching post

My deepest and sincerest condolences to you on your loss:hug: I'm so, so sorry:hug:

[myrna minx]

66. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend.

:hug:

[comtec]

67. I'm very sorry

My sister has cancer...my only comfort is that her husband is in the coast guard... she they have Tri-care and she is completely 100% covered.

She has a fighting chance.

I'm so sorry about your friend :hug:

we need something like tri-care for all. total coverage, medical, dental, optical.. even if the glass frames are ugly! =]

[wolfgangmo]

70. My mom died last year of cancer after a long painful struggle.

The thing is that she spent weeks at the end of it at the local hospital. She had constant care of a team of doctors.

The cost - nothing. Why? She's Canadian.

I honestly pity Americans. I do.

You can't even get this simple thing right and look at the suffering you allow to happen because of it. The ground under your feet must weep with the pain it has had to witness.

Your own Mark Twain once remarked that you don't get the government you need, you get the one you deserve. If you can't get this passed then is this what you deserve?

[orbitalman]

71. What if it was Me... or You?

I'm not willing to pay the cost either.

[windoe]

72. So why are we paying insurance companies again?

To not give us coverage?

Boycotting them would tell them what they need to know, burn our cards.

I typed this YEARS ago about the M$M and got ridiculed here. But boycotting these companies is crucial in getting their attention. All other avenues are blocked.

[wolfgangmo]

73. I understand your frustrations

But will boycotts work?

Considering that most premiums are paid by employer contributions, will they give a flying squirrel if you don't use their services. You are, after all, just a disposable entry on the expense side of the ledger.

[LiberalFighter]

74. Remember that dumb ass ad by the Independent Women's Forum

Stating that 300,000 American women with breast cancer might have died if our health care were government run like in England?


A lot a good having our current system if women don't have regular appointments with their doctor because of the cost!