By Alison Victoria
The issue of healthcare reform is a matter of life and death. It is vitally important for every American, whether insured or not.—too important for us to allow the conversation to be muddied up by myths, lies and scare tactics.
For 15 years, I was a “gatekeeper” for a large organ transplant program in the U.S. Gate-keeping is a heart-wrenching job. I saw firsthand what the abstract economic expression “market-driven healthcare” means in human terms. The “wallet biopsy” is a normal part of any admission to the hospital—almost any hospital procedure must be pre-authorized by the insurance company or patients will be asked to pay at the door.
My staff and I did everything possible to push the gate open as widely as possible. We battled with insurance companies when procedures were unfairly denied, and we were often successful. We also tried hard to find resources for the uninsured, but those resources are few and far between. Too often we had heart-breaking meetings with patients and their families to explain, knowing that a transplant was their only chance, that the operation would not be possible—because of the money. This conversation happens every day all across America.
Too many Americans think that the uninsured must be unemployed, perhaps lazy and indigent. But the truth is that the vast majority of the uninsured are working people or are recently disabled. It can happen to any of us at any time, with just a little bad luck.
These are the facts:
• About 47 million Americans are without insurance (15.8%) and the number has risen in recent years. 8.7 million of these are children. (2006 U.S. Census)
• At least 18,000 people every year die simply because they are uninsured and don’t get the medical care they need. That’s 50 people every day. (Institute of Medicine Survey 2002)My job was a tragic study in who is uninsured and why—a sad picture of the enormous holes in the safety net of the American Healthcare system.
Taxpayers already pay for many services for the uninsured. However, we do so in a haphazard and disorganized way through the occasional County Hospital, unreimbursed medical care passed on to paying patients, crowded emergency rooms forced into giving routine care, hit-and-miss Medicaid programs and lost productivity . Expanding coverage for the uninsured and doing so in a more organized fashion is not socialism—it’s just good sense. And it is consistent with the best of American values.
LINKS
Healthcare facts
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtmlhttp://www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/uninsured.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE54Q63B20090528
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/january/make_that_22000_uni.php
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090610_why_so_scared_of_a_public_plan/
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