Posts Tagged "health care reform"

On that bill that got signed into law today….

Posted by Michelle on Mar 23, 2010 in health, Life, Observations, Reaction | 0 comments

The health care debate has been a heated one, each side raging at one another. It makes my head ache.

It also makes my heart hurt that in America, there are thousands, if not millions of Americans, who have had to decide between being able to keep food on their tables or buy the medicine that will allow them to live.

We went for years without health insurance. Why? Because our jobs neither offered it nor could we afford what it would take from our checks if it could. Fresh out of college, struggling to make ends meet, every penny meant the difference between a roof over our head or none. At that point in our lives, health insurance was a luxury that we simply couldn’t afford. Heaven forbid that we go to the doctor when sick. A doctor’s office visit without insurance? Close to $100. That doesn’t include non-insurance covered prescriptions, even a generic could cost more than $20. Follow up visit? Another $100. And no insurance meant that everything was due at time of service.  And that doesn’t include any lost wages from missing a day of work.

And surgery without insurance? Oh dear god. Before we were married, The Hubs had to have surgery. This simple outpatient surgery would have cost us everything we had and then some. Only due to an extremely generous family contribution were we able to pay for the surgery and even then, I had to nearly empty my 401k to pay the remainder.

There are so many Americans out there who have been denied health care because of pre-existing conditions.  Maybe I’m thinking too logically here but folks with pre-existing conditions may need that insurance most of all to help them with their health care costs.

And how can we call ourselves a civilized country when you can survive cancer but lose your home because your medical bills have bankrupt you?

So yeah, for the record — I am glad health care reform passed. It may not be a perfect bill but it is a step in the right direction. I fail to see how universal health care is anything but a boon to our society.