American healthcare is hopelessly broken, and Obama’s healthcare reforms are not going to be able to fix the current system… they need something new. Patrick Appel at The Atlantic has collected some responses from Americans to an article about the View From Your Sick Bed, and they make for an enlightening and terrifying read about how terribly broken the American system is. For their sake, I’m looking forward to when the whole system inevitably comes crashing down, so they can start fresh and build something that’s sustainable and affordable for all Americans.
Go have a read of the responses yourself – well worth the time. My favourite:
[...] After I completed the detailed application and provided additional information over the phone, I received a letter telling me Blue Cross California was “declining” my coverage. Days later, I received another letter listing three reasons:
* Knee tendonitis and low arches treated with physical therapy (in 2002)
* Shin splints treated with physical therapy within the past year (which
cost me $3,000 out of pocket)
* History of treatment for sciatica (once-in 2004)My blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol are all low, and I weigh less now than I did 20 years ago in college. I take no prescription drugs, have never been seriously ill, and have never received ominous test results. But I couldn’t get group coverage because I’d previously sought medical care while insured under COBRA or grad school policies. And a traditional individual policy would be prohibitively expensive. This is how we encourage people to become entrepreneurs?
Our system is clearly in need of reform.
Tags: america, healthcare, insurance
