Health Care: Why I Want Reform

I grew up in one of those "middle of the road" states politically--in a family that votes both Republican and Democrat. My father's more of an Independent than anything, and my mother leans right. Growing up, I knew more about the right side of the aisle (just slightly) than I did the left.

The issue that shaped my political views most? Health care.

At 20, I took a summer job teaching summer school and Vacation Bible School in the Atlanta area. It was my first "big city" experience, and it's about when I started to realize how wide the gap between rich and poor--and, specifically, the gap between those who have health care and those who don't--could be.

While I was in Atlanta, my team partner, Shirley, developed a serious medical condition that required attention. The catch? She didn't have health insurance. Yes, at 20, she was in one of those groups that those who oppose health care reform may tell you shouldn't be counted as uninsured. From the way some talk, you'd think that anyone under 35 never has a health issue.

Of course, we know that's not true, and I believe every one of the more than 46 million Americans without health insurance needs to be counted.

Without health insurance, Shirley had one option to deal with significant pain: the emergency room. She and I were staying with a host family that dropped us off at an Atlanta hospital--they were too nervous about the neighborhood to stay with us, so they told us to call after Shirley got seen--and, once Shirley got registered, the waiting began. We waited a long time.

After awhile, Shirley got called to the second waiting room and, since I wasn't a patient, I waited in the outer room. All around me, people were coughing. People were bleeding. Patients on cots waited next to doors that seemed never to open. Some moaned. Most were quiet. I looked around, and it's not exaggerating to say I was shocked. I was disgusted. I think it's safe to say this: I was changed.

In Iowa, where I'd had health insurance all my life by virtue of my father's job, things were just different. Or maybe my life was different. I realized there were a lot of ways of living--a lot of situations--I'd never seen before. I realized that the gap between those who have good care and those who don't isn't small--it's huge.

Later, my own experiences confirmed what I learned that day: health care in America is broken. As a teacher in Queens, I had health insurance--an HMO. I lived in a working class neighborhood on a very low salary (try living in New York City in the 90's on $20,000 a year). Although I had better care than the uninsured, it wasn't superb by any stretch. Waiting rooms were not pretty places. Waits themselves were long. Doctors were not always top-notch. Yes, care was rationed: by income.

Later, I had health care connected with a job in Prince George's County, Maryland, and, again, I had HMO coverage, though for much of my tenure at the job, I had to pay about $400/month for it. The doctor's office I went to in Hyattsville, the office of Dr. Richard Lilly, had unquestionably the longest waits (often two hours and almost always one) I have ever experienced--and some of the most incompetent administrators.

I had pneumonia while I lived there. Though it was diagnosed right away and I was told to make a follow-up appointment as soon as the X-ray results came back, the office couldn't get me in to the same doctor who made the diagnosis. I had to see another doctor in a satellite office. After dragging myself out to the satellite office, I trusted that they would have had my records transferred--after all, the management was the same.

Instead, when I arrived, the doctor asked me, "Why are you here?" I told Doctor #2 that I had pneumonia and said that the other office, the main office, had already diagnosed me via X-ray. I suggested that she call that office to get my records. She declined. She couldn't even bother to make a phone call. After some arguing, she gave me a weak antibiotic that didn't work. A week later, I had to get another one.

What if I had been in less hearty overall health (sans pneumonia)? Though I know doctors are human and make mistakes, incompetent administrators and a lazy physician were factors in this case. That incompetence and poor care cost me a week of health--it could have cost much more. Was it because the office was in a low-income, mostly minority community? Is that why they could survive though they treated patients poorly--there were just few options for people in the area? I have to wonder.

As a small business owner, I tried to get health insurance that would be better than COBRA, which was running out and cost $400/month with no prescription coverage. I failed and was rejected because I have been treated for mild rosacea and had a shoulder injury along with outpatient counseling after a divorce a few years ago. I have never missed a day of work for any of these conditions, yet I was rejected. Fortunately, in my state, Maryland, a state health insurance program is available, and I qualified for that. What if there had been no such safety net?

What is it like to be uninsured? I know that, too. Briefly, I was uninsured when I was in my 20's--and I had a bicycle accident. I soon found out that no one could tell me how much an X-ray would cost, and I had to guess what care I could afford and ration my own care based on income available. While I was healing, I borrowed a sling from a friend. It didn't fit, but I just made the best of it.

I now have health care through a job, and that's great. But I know what it's like not to have that, or to have poor care. I understand the argument that government health care might lead to lower wages for doctors, but I have to say that I am much more concerned about the millions of people whose only recourse is the emergency room--something taxpayers pick up the bill for, anyway. It sickens me that the debate devolves into name-calling, lies, and exaggerations when so much is at stake.

Though I'm all for examining options carefully, I don't think shouting helps anyone. Though I value debate, I don't think lies about "death panels" or dangerous allegations that President Obama is a "Nazi" help anyone (plus, the latter makes light of something we should never take lightly).

Taxpayers already pay for the uninsured. Care is already rationed. Running health care as a purely market-driven business doesn't work.

So now you know: I'm in favor of health care reform.