Millions are crippled by medical debt - welcome to healthcare in America

[Ohiogal]

Shortly after Deb Genetin was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2018, she was told she couldn’t have the surgery that eventually would end up saving her life — all because of costs.

A medical technician at Mercy Health in Springfield walked into the room, right after a surgeon had explained what to expect in surgery, and said “financing isn’t in place,” Genetin said.

“They never told me how much money they needed, how much money I had to come up with. It was just a ‘No,’” said the 57-year-old Springfield resident.

She remembers having trouble breathing, losing her balance and shaking uncontrollably when she heard she couldn’t have the surgery.

The cancer had zapped her energy and, Genetin said, she was in excruciating pain and felt like they had told her to “just commit suicide.”

“I couldn’t live with the pain,” she explained.

At the time, Genetin didn’t have health insurance; it was something she had gone without for 10 years because she said she couldn’t afford it.

(snip)

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy and can haunt people for a lifetime. It can hurt a person’s credit score, make it harder for individuals to rent or buy a house and take a psychological toll.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191231/families-crippled-by-medical-debt-even-after-comparison-shopping-to-find-cheaper-treatment?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Columbus%20Dispatch%20todays-news%202019-12-31&utm_content=COLD_CD&utm_term=123119

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SHAME on Bon Secours Mercy Health!! This is criminal what they did to this poor woman!

[warmfeet]

1. This is the real death panel in the U.S.

Our health care system, if you can call it that, is the most expensive and least effective among all developed countries in the world.

Stupidity and greed abound.

[blm]

2. ✔️

[Ohiogal]

3. + 1000

[dalton99a]

4. +1. The healthcare executives are not stupid

They are evil.

The status quo serves them well.

[Farmer-Rick]

9. So, true

[BSdetect]

8. Exactly. Profits before patients.

[KPN]

15. It always has been. That's what has made this

long battle so monumentally frustrating and depressing for me. I personally know or I should say knew two people who died because they couldn’t afford health insurance and there was no public option in one case and a less than adequate one in the other to provide the health care they needed. These were both more than 25 years ago now.

These are just the two who shared their stories with me personally. I’m sure there have been others within my personal orbit.

This is what drives me to Warren and Sanders. This has been going on for decades ... in plain sight. And yet there are “realists” who feel it’s all because of Rs. But I concluded like so very many others so long ago that it’s because of the system.

[Wounded Bear]

19. We don't have a healthcare "system." We have a for-profit health care industry...nt

[ck4829]

31. Indeed

[Hortensis]

32. Ironic that this is also Sanders' faction's doing by throwing

control of government to the Republicans, who also -- again ironically -- like him and his loyal followers believed in the necessity of destroying the ACA, our national healthcare system.

Yes, there is a big difference. Of course.

It's that Sanders promised to replace it someday. But not in 2017, not in 2018, not in 2019, not in 2020, and not within the next at least 7 years after getting power that it would have taken to write, pass into law, and fully implement his replacement, which existed only in his mind. It took a pitched 2-year battle to pass the ACA in the form they achieved under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi.

The ACA's been remarkably, wonderfully durable, and those who wanted it destroyed have all failed so far, BUT they've all also greatly delayed the expansion of a complete universal healthcare system. The Republicans couldn't have done it without help from the far left because they almost certainly wouldn't have been elected. The numbers prove it even though they don't count those egregiously persuaded not to bother voting at all.

We Democrats will start doing on January 20, 2021 what we expected to do January 20, 2017.

But first do no harm would be a good political resolution for this next year. Because it will only happen if Democrats get the power to make it happen.

[brutus smith]

5. Exactly!

[Scarsdale]

6. What the healthcare industry

pays lobbyists and politicians would pay for many patients to have needed surgery. The healthcare in this country is a disgrace. Sure, doctors and hospitals are terrific, the costs are way too high. Get rid of the republicans and replace them with democratic politicians, and they will clean it up. It will take YEARS to do that, though. The corruption runs deep, as in every aspect of anything positive in this government. Republicans cater only to the rich.

[calimary]

7. How very trumpian. Cruelty. Cruelty is the whole point.

It’s his favorite fallback to assert dominance.

Bastard.

[samplegirl]

10. It's a frightening realization

that most people have no conception of.
Happy New Year!!! Something has got to change!
Bob went to visit his x-wife the other day as she was hospitalized. He was telling me a story about refusing a woman help while he was there!

[Ohiogal]

12. I agree!

People who have never gone without insurance or have never had a life altering or chronic Illness have NO IDEA!

Happy New Year back atcha, samplegirl!

[lonely bird]

11. Weeelllll...

I had a bridge on my four front teeth and it failed. The teeth were no longer viable to be used as part of a bridge so the roots were pulled. I decided to look into implants which could be for a new bridge or four individual teeth. The company’s dental insurance does not cover implants. Each implant is $1,800 apiece. This current year I had a bridge put in because I had an extraction due to the teeth being impacted by long term blood thinners (or so I was told) and because I had “maxed out” I had to pay for the bridge out of pocket, $4,500.

Healthcare payment is a racket.

[smirkymonkey]

13. This is just pure evil.

Refusing to help someone whose life could be saved just because they can't afford to pay. It is absolutely sickening. This is Trump's America.

[KPN]

16. THIS. And it's been going on for decades.

When is enough? When will people smarten up? When will the heath care industry itself grow a conscience? People flock to the health care industry today. Why? Because they want to help people who are suffering?

[ck4829]

25. It is evil, it is disgusting

[MontanaMama]

14. I've refinanced my house 3 times in 25 years

to pay for medical debt. The first time was for the birth of my son when I was 41 years old and the other two times were when a benign but dangerous tumor was discovered between my kiddo’s ear and his brain. He required two surgeries and the rebuild of his ear drum and replacement of his hearing bones - twice. It’s not like we don’t have insurance...we are self insured because we’re self employed. Because of that, our premiums and deductible are huge. There’s no way around it. Only two companies offer individual insurance in MT and one of them is priced so high that they’re absolutely unaffordable. I buy a Silver plan for our family of 3 from the company offering more “affordable” plans and we still paid $18,000 in 2019 for premium and $4000 per person deductible. Needless to say, my house would be paid off if not for medical debt. I am, grateful, however, that I have a house to be able to leverage to pay those bills. Many do not.

[KPN]

18. Thank God your son has you as his mother.

I mentally anguish for you and your situation MontanaMama. It is so unnecessary.

[Skittles]

21. conservatives need to hear from people like you

not sure they would care but they need to understand what our healthcare system is really like folk like you

[Ohiogal]

29. I'm so sorry you have had to go through this, MontanaMama.

Medical care in this country is a disgrace. I hope and pray we can boot the Republicans out of the way this year and let a Democrat fix it.

People who have never had a serious illness or a child with a serious issue have absolutely no idea how costly medical care is, especially when you are self-insured.

I hope you are all doing well .... I have a Bronze plan that has lower premiums but high deductibles and co-pays for practically everything. I’ll never come close to meeting my deductible unless I have an extended hospital stay.

[area51]

17. We need

comprehensive Medicare For All yesterday. We're the only 1st world country that doesn't guarantee healthcare to its citizens.

[Skittles]

20. Trump has made nazi-sympathizers crawl out from under their rocks

time to force them back

disgusting

[appalachiablue]

22. Just like the economics, it's 'Voodoo' health care

[ck4829]

24. That is true

[ck4829]

23. K&R

[redstatebluegirl]

26. I have a friend who is an MD.

She talks about the insurance companies driving this issue. They spend so much money to keep things the way they are. She also brings up the fact that fewer people want to become doctors because of the paperwork, denial of coverage, uninsured and the high debt they come out of school with.

My friend is now working at a clinic that serves a very poor population. She got her student loans paid off working at a large hospital in Chicago, now she is free to do what she wants to. She truly hates the medical machine she worked at for 15 years. She told me that she and most of the other doctors she worked with hated the administration and insurance companies. She said they got in the way of making people well and drove up costs.

This whole system is broken, the education funding that makes it so expensive to go to medical school as well as the crazy medical machine including administrators and the damn insurance companies.

Someone said it functions as a death panel, yes, I think it does. I told her one time that almost every American is one serious illness away from bankruptcy.

[BeckyDem]

28. This post should be an OP on its own.

Thank you.

[BeckyDem]

27. There is one reason why we do not have single payer.

Corporate greed. As a society we must fight against it and we can win. Lets end this disgrace once and for all.

[Hoyt]

30. The hospital let this woman down. They likely could have gotten her treatment covered by Medicaid.

No one should have to go through this. But, until we get universal coverage, hospitals are supposed to have social workers who get this stuff taken care of.