The system in the US is absolutely effed. Hospitals, insurance companies, corporations, etc are making an obscene amount of money off of sick people while lobbying the hell out of congress for their own interests. The nurses, therapists and others working in the industry are not getting paid what they should. Then! To top it off the masses are buying into all the propaganda being fed to them about socialized medicine to stop any real positive change from happening. People live in paralyzing fear of paying more tax without any thought of their current tax dollars going to energy, oil, and other corporations who do not pay any tax at all. We should all be happy to pay a few hundred dollars more per year in taxes to not pay the absolutely ridiculous insurance premiums we are currently paying, but more so to guarantee that not one person dies because of lack of money. No parent should ever be in the situation of having to decide medical care based on the cost. The same goes for those taking care of their parents, or other loved ones. Elliot spent 4 months in the NICU, a total of almost a month in the PICU. Our cost? About $300 in parking. He had CT scans, x-rays, ultrasounds, eye exams, over and over, procedure after procedure. If he needed something, he got it. There wasnt a debate on the cost. I only had to focus on my baby getting well. In addition, a year of paid maternity leave! I didnt have to worry about going back to work or choosing between being with my extremely sick baby or going back to work. My entire focus was on him getting better. Being able to spend hours upon hours at his side. How can people not want that for every parent?? I want it for every parent. After discharge, Elliot was followed up with physical therapists, occupational therapists, pediatricians, more eye exams, hearing tests, etc. The cost? Nothing! The focus was on him getting better and catching up developmentally. If there is a need, every child deserves it. It benefits all of us when children at an early age get all the help they need. While pregnant with Casey, I had a cerclage, 16 ultrasounds, weekly and bi-weekly appts with my midwife AND an OB. My cost? Parking again. The focus was on me having a full term healthy baby, which keeps the overall medical costs down for everyone! All the care I received while pregnant with Casey cost the system way less than if I had another extremely premature baby. When the system is there to take care of all of us, preventive care and proper follow up keeps the costs down for all of us. When the industry is there to make billions, who gives a shit if you get the care you need. Pay up. I could go on and on. $55,000 for an appendicitis... WTF.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:40:51 +0000