We really need to fix our broken healthcare system

 


So it looks like I might join the ranks of the uninsured in a few days. The coverage through my lost job expired at the end of May. I went to the online NYC marketplace, assuming I would qualify for Medicaid since I’m literally spending more than I am taking in right now — the latter comprised of basic weekly unemployment benefits and a few dozen monthly contributions to my Patreon page. To my dismay, I didn’t qualify.

Why? Because in my application I was required to claim the first 6 months worth of salary at a great paying job as part of my “annual average income.” Never mind that I’m now  unemployed and basically living on beans. I made a lot of money from January through June, so I must be rich, right?? The cheapest plan I could qualify for cost close to $300 a month out of pocket (read: MORE added to my bloated credit card debt). I begrudgingly signed up because I didn’t want to end up having to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars due to one possible hospital visit. But I then canceled the plan because I simply can’t take on any more debt than I already have. It’s just not tenable.

I am now officially one medical crisis from declaring bankruptcy. The meme above says it all.

We live in the richest country in the history of the world. But we have never been able to figure out how to simply take care of our inhabitants. ALL other industrialized countries figured this out long ago. They actually CARE about their citizens, and for them healthcare is a human right, not a privilege afforded only those with the financial means to access basic regular wellness checks. Meanwhile, a simple Google search will inform you that “in 2024, the CEOs of the six largest national health insurance companies collectively earned approximately $159.4 million in total compensation.”

This is just absolutely insane, inhumane, and downright disgusting. But obviously tracks with our country’s decades long deification of the dollar. And is about to soon throttle into overdrive when 17 million more Americans will lose their health coverage due to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” so that billionaires can save $60K in taxes each year.

Where the hell are our priorities??

Oh, and by the way, upon signing up for that individual plan, I was then bombarded by the typical shock and awe of accompanying paperwork pictured below — 52 pages in all full of details (the 2 at the top are multi-page booklets). There’s something sick about this country if it takes THAT much information — which you are technically responsible for and required to understand —  just to have basic health coverage in case of a catastrophic event. Who the hell has time to read all that required material — which obviously also includes the need to understand every bit of accompanying medical and financial and legal jargon? I guess we’re expected to also hire medical consultants, financial planners, and lawyers as well with some future financial windfall? Anybody got good recommendations for lottery numbers?    

Maybe I should just convert and become a Christian Scientist. That way I can just pray the pain away.




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