Health Care

I don't know what to think of health care. I basically don't trust the left or the right anymore since neither really seems to care about the American people. They just care about their special interests and whatever it takes to get that done. Our two-party system has become more of a contest of winning than an effort to do what is right. I do have a unique perspective on health care, however, from being hospitalized in different countries :). So, this lengthy - and perhaps boring - post is from my experience.

Canada - My pregnant sister in law died in her very early twenties from a brain aneurysm. She was Canadian. I have been told that throughout her life she suffered from horrible headaches, but that a scan, which could have spotted the aneurysm, was never performed. Instead, her prescriptions were just increased again and again. I don't know if socialized medicine contributed to her early death, but it makes me wonder.

Argentina - When I was a missionary in Argentina, we avoided a visit to the hospital if at all possible. If we couldn't avoid it, we would get up at 5:00 in the morning to go wait in a line at the hospital. After waiting, we would be given a number. That number represented when we could come back to see a doctor - no one specific, just any available doctor. If we were lucky, we could come back the same day. Then we would come back at the given time and wait in line again until we could actually be seen by the doctor. It was a horrible process, but it was free. (I was in southern Argentina, which is pretty rural, so things may have been different in Buenos Aires.)

Mexico - While living in Los Cabos, Mexico, I tore my achilles tendon playing volleyball. I elected to have surgery in Mexico rather than come back to the U.S. because it would be free. The conditions (again in a small town) were less than ideal. I was on a rusty gurney for pre-op with my IV tied from the ceiling with guaze, shared a room with five other people and basically felt like I was watching an episode from M*A*S*H rather than waiting for my own surgery. (If you think I'm exaggerating, talk to my mom. If a hurricane hadn't delayed her arrival, I'm pretty sure she would have picked me up and carried me out of there.) Fortunately, my doctor was awesome and the surgery went well. I decided to recuperate in the U.S. and ironically enough, the U.S. doctor recast my leg incorrectly causing me incredible and uneccessary pain. (But now my left foot flexes way farther than my right :).)

Panama - I had a kidney stone attack in Panama and because I was leaking fluid into my stomach cavity, had to have a procedure to blast the stone. The Panama hospital was a former U.S. military hospital and it was awesome. I got better and faster treatment that I had ever received in the U.S. I was very impressed. I understood later that most hospitals in Panama aren't like this. I have no idea how the ins and outs of the billing worked, but I had to put $5,000 on my corporate American Express card before I could leave the country. My insurance company reimbursed me about a year later.

And now for the United States. I strongly believe in always having insurance coverage. For most of my adult life, this wasn't a big deal. When I was making a nice salary, I really didn't notice the deduction. However, when we moved to Utah, I took a 75% pay cut. Then I decided to work part time from home. I paid over $600 a month for insurance. With my limited hours, after paying taxes and insurance, my take home was only about $200. It really wasn't worth the time I was working. So I made the difficult decision to put my children on Medicaid. It was hard for me to do because I don't believe in letting the government do what I should do for myself, but I decided that since it is just temporary while my husband is in graduate school, it was okay.

The insurance my kids get now is far better than any I paid for. I see the same doctor, but now I don't have to pay a dime for it.

My son was just in the hospital with RSV and had a bill of $25,000 for five days! That is a cost of $5,000 per day. There is something seriously wrong with that. Each day he spent in the hospital, there was a "Daily Room Charge" of $623. That doesn't include anything other than the room because everything else is itemized separately. I've stayed in some very nice hotels around the world, but I've never paid that much for a night. Every time they sucked out his nose, it cost $36.70. Oxygen with humidifier was $182.30. I'm not sure how that's applied since it was billed six times a day. And the list goes on and on. All I can say is I am grateful for Medicaid. Even if we were just paying our out of pocket maximum on our old policy, it would have been several thousand dollars.

Then about a week after Jalen came home, Baylie broke her arm. I don't know how much that would have cost, but I have a feeling it is just the first of many broken bones/injuries for this little girl. Breaking her arm has not slowed down her jumping or climbing at all.

One thing I have a hard time understanding is why a plan that I paid for - a lot for - cost so much more in co-payments and deductibles than the plan I get for free from the government. There is really no incentive for someone to go out and get a job and pay for their own insurance that will offer worse service than they can get for free from the government. And that's what's wrong with our health system.