This is a similar story to what Eve has for us today, except that 1. it's personal and 2. it has a happy ending. For me, but right now, not for us.
I'm cross-posting this from my site, JordansHeartSucks.com, which I am using to experience a web 2.0 open heart surgery, with blogging, pictures, video and real time updates. I want to spread hope to people who have the same issues I have, raise some money for heart causes and change the way we think about the internet.
But, this isn't about ME. I'll be okay. This is about the 50 million people without health insurance:
There is nary a glimmer of silver lining in nearly dying as an infant, limited athletic ability, a giant scar, more surgery in high school, taking life-dependent medication every single day, going through high school and college stone cold sober, literally ticking and now headed back for more surgery and a month of grueling pain.
Except that I am able to experience this at all.
I’ve been working at my job, and enjoying its generous health benefits, for the last year. Before that, I was covered by my dad’s employer-issued health insurance. I was able to go to the cardiologist and get a checkup, and then head on over to the radiology center for more extensive tests, all for a combined co-pay of $10.
Now, I’m able to stare surgery in the face, concerned only with my recovery and fledgling blog.
This isn’t emergency surgery — but conducted six months from now, it may have been. My heart was, literally, a ticking time bomb, and they caught the Aorta before it exploded. But if I hadn’t happened to have done well in some job interview, and got health insurance as part of the resulting hiring, this blog wouldn’t be here, but more importantly, there’s a good chance this blogger wouldn’t be here, either.
Because I did well in a job interview, I’m going to live past 23. Because my dad happened to have a dad that provided him insurance through a family company, I lived past five weeks.
If I was one of a large majority of my peers, or one of 50 million Americans, I wouldn’t be so lucky. I wouldn’t have even had that initial checkup, let alone the outrageously priced surgery I’ll be undergoing next week.
That there are so many Americans uninsured is an outrage. An even bigger outrage? That we have the ability, will and even the fucking bill in Congress to fix it. But a number of rich men in suits far too nice for their slimy skin like their mansions and gigantic profit margins, and want to make sure they can keep things they way they are.
No, they prefer to keep insurance too expensive for so many people my age who don’t get it through work, and denying many of those who do have it the care they thought they were paying for.
A single payer healthcare system is the most just, but right now, Congress is battling over the next best thing, a public option — a not-for-profit government run healthcare plan that would provide affordable coverage for the uninsured.
It’s easy to demonize something when there is no personal connection. My roommate is uninsured. Any number of my other friends are, as well. Luckily, I’m the one with the heart condition, not them. That is, so they think now. But how would they know? They can’t go to the doctor to find out.
This is why we need a public option. Because otherwise, I could be dead. My roommate could be dead. My entire generation could be at risk. But I guess that's just the price of admission, right Senator Baucus?