in honor of Sen. Kennedy
A few days ago we got the bill for the hospital stay. I was afraid to open it, and shocked at the final figure.
$56,000.
Yes, you read that right. I'm sure that stay would have cost much more for an infant in a NICU, as well as being much more traumatic for all involved, and cost the system more in long-term health costs for such an early child. HOWEVER. 56,000 smackeroos for 5 weeks of low-level care (except for 1 or 2 days of crisis) seems a little outrageous. What is more outrageous to me is that the insurance company will end up paying less than half that amount because of the fees they have negotiated with the hospitals. Lucky for them, lucky for us, because we happen to have insurance. For the people who have no insurance, they would be on the hook for that "retail" price. And it's the people who can least afford it who are being charged that outrageous price. If these people could afford insurance, they would. And sure, the hospital will settle with people who cannot in a million years pay a bill like that, but they will still try to get as much as possible from people who have no safety net beneath them.
And who will end up paying for the rest of it? That kind and generous hospital? Ummm....I don't think so. One way or another you and I do. That 56,000 contains my part of all the unpaid bills. The system is patently unfair to ALL involved. Decent health care should not be a luxury. It is a right, one that benefits all levels of society in the end.
In the potentially deadly ocean of medical care, we should all be in seaworthy boats, not just those of us who could afford to buy one. Because God forbid your boat is lost, wrecked, or taken because you couldn't make the payments any more: you would be cast into the unforgiving waters with nothing but the hope of luck or maybe a cobbled-together dinghy that would be swamped at the first sign of a storm.
Here's to Sen. Kennedy and others who fought to make stout vessels for all, that none should be left to try to keep their heads above water alone. Let your voices be added to those asking for change that keeps us ALL safe.
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