Regular readers have heard me gripe about health insurance, or lack of it, on more than one occasion. While doing some research for a story at work today (on a completely unrelated topic) I stumbled upon this nifty little map, published by the Wall Street Journal, but compiled from data from the U.S. Census Bureau. If you’re curious about how many uninsured are in your state, check it out here.
Personally, I think the crisis goes way beyond the uninsured – what about the under insured? I have a Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome friend, for example, (I won’t use her name since I haven’t asked her permission) who underwent a procedure recently. The bill came last week. She owes 20 percent of the total cost, which comes to about $1,000. She’s on disability. I ask you, how is anyone who qualifies for disability supposed to pay 20 percent of a major medical bill? And since they didn’t find anything, how much do you want to bet it won’t be the last procedure?
It’s a common story. Just when you feel like you’re getting ahead something happens to kick you back again.
Personally, I think the crisis goes way beyond the uninsured – what about the under insured? I have a Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome friend, for example, (I won’t use her name since I haven’t asked her permission) who underwent a procedure recently. The bill came last week. She owes 20 percent of the total cost, which comes to about $1,000. She’s on disability. I ask you, how is anyone who qualifies for disability supposed to pay 20 percent of a major medical bill? And since they didn’t find anything, how much do you want to bet it won’t be the last procedure?
It’s a common story. Just when you feel like you’re getting ahead something happens to kick you back again.
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