Read on Twitter
Today marks 10 years since the worst day of my life. My father fell from the garage while hanging Christmas lights, which left him with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. He was in a coma for 5 weeks and 6 days. He woke up, and spent a year in and out of hospitals and rehab.
I'm so incredibly grateful to have him in my life. We talk every single day & texts daily weather reports! He struggles mightily with the effects of the injury but his is still my dad. His two goals were to walk my sister down the aisle and get back to work at Acme, which he did.
This was pre-ACA, so what happened to him is the story for many Americans - medical bankruptcy. Precariously middle class, he was an insurance broker that worked nights at a grocery store, for the healthcare. That "good" healthcare had a maximum of $1mm coverage.
Turns out brain surgery costs a lot. He blew threw that million in under three months. They released him from the hospital - with a literal hole in his head - the second he was medically stable. It was up to me and my brother-in-law to make my mom's house into a recovery unit.
No insurance would cover him, due to the pre-existing condition of a hole in his head. Only program that would accept him was Medicaid. We faced what is colloquially called a "medical spend-down" where you effectively become poor enough to qualify.
My dad did everything right, had a modest retirement and savings, as any respectable 59-year old insurance broker would. More than the $8,000 in assets & cash that was the Medicaid max. So, you spend that money until you are down to $8k.
You can't buy a house or a boat (those are assets!) and you can't gift it to your family, as they could *gasp* gift it right back. So you spend it on "free market" healthcare. A home nurse. Prescriptions at sticker price. Physical therapy. Medical massages.
You need to get rid of that money ASAP so that you can get healthcare and go back to the hospital to get ACTUAL care beyond home nursing. It only took three months for them to lose it all. After lawyers went through their finances with a fine-tooth comb, back to the hospital.
He spent the next 6 months in a state program that got him the care he needed. Replaced his skull, taught him to brush his teeth and bathe himself, taught him how to walk again. I'll never forgive our system for those three months he lost at home, languishing.
He got his job back at Acme, where he is a proud UFCW member. The government wasn't there for us, but his brothers and sisters at Acme were. They threw a Beef N Beer for him which literally kept my mother fed for weeks as she adjusted to her new reality.
The ACA means that a version of this never has to happen to another family again. But it is insane that we are still tied to this greedy, soulless health insurance system. In the middle of a pandemic, people are suffering immeasurably. Not every family will get our happy ending.
I'm disappointed at the rejection of Medicare for All, which would eliminate this threat for literally everyone. Not only did my dad lose everything, but now the state has to support him forever. Because his savings went into the healthcare industry's pocket. Who does that serve?
The hardest for me was Christmas Eve in the ICU. He was deep in a coma and we took turns reading him A Christmas Carol, his favorite book. Seeing other families in there, coping in their own ways.
This year families won't be able to see their loved ones in the ICU, or be by their bedside, or hold their hand. If they're lucky they can see them through plexiglass, or for 15 precious minutes while covered in PPE.
Healthcare is a disaster in this country. It's slightly better than 10 years ago - no more insurance caps, no more pre-existing conditions rejections. But the state of things is shameful. And while I'm glad Biden won, I have zero faith he will implement M4A.
I'm so incredibly lucky to still have my dad. While he rejects the title wholeheartedly, he is my hero. His resilience - and straight up stubbornness - got him through it. He got to see his kids get married, meet his grandkids and continue to terrorize his customers at Acme.
The obstinance of this country, its failure to protect its citizens, the denial of science and frankly the protection of profits at all costs will be seen by future historians as an unforgivable moral failure.
My family got a happy ending. Every day, the families of 3,000 Americans do not. If you've made it this far, call your parents and tell them you love them. And for fuck's sake, wear a mask.
END
END
