Let me just say that I knew the heath care situation in this country was in a dire situation, but I had no idea how horrible until Saturday evening when I was talking with a friend.
Her dad (who is only 50) had a catastrophic medical problem just over a year ago. He was self-employed and unable to get insurance, which is a whole other ball of wax. It was discovered he had anurisms about to burst and had to have them fixed. He was about to DIE, but the hospital wouldn't do a thing for him until he paid $20,000 up front. (This is one thing I've never heard of before.) His family did what they had to do and got him the surgery.
What anyone failed to tell them was that there was a very decent chance he'd have a major stroke due to the surgery, which of course happened. The physical therapy which was recommended by his doctor was only $70,000, I believe. That was, of course, impossible after all the other medical expenses incurred at this point ($300,000 +). So they got what they could afford, which was home therapy, but there wasn't much that could do for him.
At this point, even today, her dad is completely immobile. He can use one arm, maybe the other to some extent. If they had been able to afford the proper therapy, it's expected he'd be walking right now.
In the past few weeks, something else has come up. He has seizures from the stroke and has broken several teeth because of them. Now he has about 4-5 absess teeth which have caused his eye to swell shut and horrible pain. Because he has no insurance, no hospital will take him. They tried to go in through the ER. Nothing. He had a seizure in the ER and they wouldn't even give him a pill, wouldn't draw blood. Luckily, the family had some meds to give him before they turned around to take him home.
He's finally about to have the surgery to remove the teeth. Because of his heath he needs a cardiologist along with the oral surgeon. It's going to cost them all the money her mom & dad made from selling their family home and moving in next door to my friend, and then some I'd guess.
I'm sorry this is so long, but after she told me all the details Saturday I sat there with my mouth hanging open. I couldn't believe that they would deny someone vital medical services without huge sums up front. It makes me so very angry, sad, deflated, but most of all DETERMINED. We must fix this country and Dennis is the only one who's going to do it. Please do all you can. I'm muddling my way through this, my first campaign.
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