After getting to the hospital, I discovered I was having a heart attack, due to a blood clot that lodged in an artery due to a viral infection that enlarged my heart and weakened its function. I was 32 years old. I had the Michigan version of a Blue Cross PPO (still do) that I presented to handle my care. I spent two weeks in the hospital, recovering and getting treatment. The total bill amounted to around $20,000, but my out-of-pocket portion was less than $1,000; most of that was for things like phone calls and incidentals. I was admitted later in the year due to complications that led to a diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure. Another two week stay. Another bill that exceeded $20,000. My out-of-pocket costs? Less than $1,000 again.
If the same situation happened to me now, I’m out of at least $4,000, if not more. The increase wasn’t sudden; it was gradual. A little bit here, a bit more there. Next thing you know, its 9 years later and the economy is struggling, costs are rising and my portion of my healthcare bills directly affects the quality of life for my family. Who stood up for me and the millions of other working people who have seen their healthcare costs rise steadily year-over-year and felt helpless as, each year, employers cut back on the range and breadth of coverage we receive with PPO plans and eliminates other plan choices altogether (no more HMOs)? Who protested as my prescription co-pays rose every year to the point that I pay $110 each month for drugs that at one time I paid $30 monthly for?
Where was the care and concern as the doctors that treated me and my family began sending bills for payment differences that weren’t covered by the plan? I never got those bills 9 years ago. All of those players in the system: doctors, insurance companies, employers, and big pharma can – and do – exert pressure on the system to get their way. At the expense of the individual because the individual has no leverage against the system. The system is broken, needs to be fixed, but there are so many pieces that are fractured or missing that it is very difficult to communicate one solution that works. Socialized medicine is not the answer, nor is letting private business drive the agenda.Until some sanity is present in the system that looks a person’s total situation: financial, physical, mental and spiritual, the system will always be one step away from swallowing more people each year and ruining more families lives.
If the same situation happened to me now, I’m out of at least $4,000, if not more. The increase wasn’t sudden; it was gradual. A little bit here, a bit more there. Next thing you know, its 9 years later and the economy is struggling, costs are rising and my portion of my healthcare bills directly affects the quality of life for my family. Who stood up for me and the millions of other working people who have seen their healthcare costs rise steadily year-over-year and felt helpless as, each year, employers cut back on the range and breadth of coverage we receive with PPO plans and eliminates other plan choices altogether (no more HMOs)? Who protested as my prescription co-pays rose every year to the point that I pay $110 each month for drugs that at one time I paid $30 monthly for?
Where was the care and concern as the doctors that treated me and my family began sending bills for payment differences that weren’t covered by the plan? I never got those bills 9 years ago. All of those players in the system: doctors, insurance companies, employers, and big pharma can – and do – exert pressure on the system to get their way. At the expense of the individual because the individual has no leverage against the system. The system is broken, needs to be fixed, but there are so many pieces that are fractured or missing that it is very difficult to communicate one solution that works. Socialized medicine is not the answer, nor is letting private business drive the agenda.Until some sanity is present in the system that looks a person’s total situation: financial, physical, mental and spiritual, the system will always be one step away from swallowing more people each year and ruining more families lives.
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