This is what happened to my brother, "Michael." He is a 40 year old electrician with a great sense of humor and someone who means the world to me. Last year, he was saving to buy a house he could fix up and live in. He’s a great person, who can always make you laugh, he works hard and is kind to his friends and family.
His story is just one of millions, one of the reasons we need health care reform now, and it must include the public option. Our lives and our health depend on it.
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Late last year, my brother started to feel ill, so he tried to make some lifestyle changes, he quit smoking, drinking, he started riding his bike for exercise, and he changed his diet (gave up some junk food). But he just kept getting worse.
He does not have health insurance, and he lost his job early this year. Most of the jobs he does are contract jobs which do not offer health insurance.
He thought the stress of not having a job was the problem, so he tried to manage his stress while continuing with his healthy lifestyle changes. He did not tell us (his family) how bad he was really feeling, so we had no idea.
On March 10, he disappeared. He left his apartment that day, leaving his keys, wallet, and car behind.
As one can imagine, my family became very worried. Michael had never done anything like this before.
We found him 24 hours later, in the ICU of a large university medical center, he was listed as "John Doe" and the doctor told us he was unresponsive, on a ventilator, and had a very rare blood disorder called TTP (Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura), which causes his blood platelets to be destroyed. A normal platelet count is generally between 150-450. Michael’s platelet count was 14. We were warned that most people do not survive when their platelets get that low.
We found out that Michael had been very sick for months, and the night he disappeared, he became disoriented and wandered out of his home. The police found him, wandering around, lost, and unable to tell them his name or where he lived. They took him to the local hospital; he was then transferred up to the medical center, which is one of the few facilities in the country that can treat TTP.
Michael was in the hospital for over a month. I am happy to say that he survived and is getting better. It was touch and go for awhile, but he’s alive.
He did not qualify for Medicaid during the month of March (when he was first hospitalized) because he had more than two thousand dollars in assets. He finally got Medicaid because now he is completely broke. But he still has over $250 thousand in medical bills.
Our family also found out that Michael’s condition is genetic, so everyone in my family had their blood count tested. The doctors told us that Michael could have avoided this entire situation if he had health insurance late last year, because a simple CBC (which costs about $50-100) would have detected the low platelet count and treatment could have been started before his situation became critical.
Michael is feeling better, and he wants to go back to work, but if he does, he loses his Medicaid, and since people with TTP tend to have relapses, he needs some sort of insurance. But now he has a pre-existing condition. It’s a very frustrating situation.
Now his bills are being paid by Medicaid, so the taxpayers ended up paying close to a million dollars for his care, when a $100 blood test could have prevented the pain and suffering Michael and my family endured.