health care in america – from myth to mess

I was 16 when i broke my neck and witnessed first hand what it’s like to not have health insurance. I often wonder if i would’ve gotten different treatments if i could’ve afforded it, if i wouldn’t lose vision/hearing like i do now. No small company can afford to hire me and one of the reasons that i find the idea of working for or creating a start-up laughable is that i could not risk the loss of health insurance. Not only could i not afford premiums on my own, i am not sure that i’d even be covered outside of a major institution. I live in fear because of American health insurance. And i’m a lucky one.

In his classically brilliant style, Malcolm Gladwell’s latest New Yorker essay The Moral-Hazard Myth traces the routes of the American health insurance scheme, unveiling its implications through the stories of people who are less fortunate than i have been. At the core of my progressive politics is the solid belief in universal health access. In this country, medical access is a privilege where it should be a right. It is hard to respect this country when it fails to take care of its people at a basic level. And i’m sorry, but there’s nothing Christian about tiered health access.

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8 thoughts on “health care in america – from myth to mess

  1. Gareth Simpson

    US attitudes to healthcare astonish me.

    When a disaster like Katrina strikes, a government response is expected, demanded and widely criticised when it is ineffective.

    Lack of access to health care must cause a continuous stream of personal disasters spread across the entires country which are no less devastating to the people involved.

    But the attituede here seems to be that this isn’t something that should be adressed by govenment.

    Doesn’t anyone make any kind of connection?

  2. Koan Bremner

    “No small company can afford to hire me and one of the reasons that i find the idea of working for or creating a start-up laughable is that i could not risk the loss of health insurance” – so, a talented and visionary thinker is lost to the entrepreneurial gene pool. And this helps the US economy… *how*… exactly?

    As a UK citizen, I have always had the knowledge that the National Health Service exists for the benefit of all. I am a fervent believer in the NHS – I don’t believe that the NHS we currently have is perfect (not by a long stretch!) – but we *do* have it.

    I didn’t know about your neck injury, and the possible consequential effects you mention – the word “bummer” doesn’t even come close. You know the answer – get a job in the UK. Or Sweden… or Denmark… or France… or (insert just about *any* country other than the US).

  3. zephoria

    I definitely have thought about what it would mean to work outside of the US and i probably will at some point. One problem – if i leave this country, getting back on medical insurance here is a nightmare because everything becomes a “pre-existing condition” and thus i might not be insurable again in the United States. As long as i stay continuously insured here, nothing will come up as pre-existing since i’ve passed the necessary number of years with insurance for anything to matter. So leaving is going to be a risk should i ever want to come back. And as long as my family is here, it’s definitely hard to leave permanently.

  4. Brewed Fresh Daily

    Danah Boyd on Health Care in America

    How many people are in a similar situation in this country? From apophenia: from myth to mess:I was 16 when i broke my neck and witnessed first hand what it’s like to not have health insurance. I often wonder if i would’ve gotten differe…

  5. Abby

    If you work for a major U.S. company abroad, they’ll probably provide you with private insurance too, BCBS as often as not. And you can always get covered in Massachusetts.

    The weird thing about Gladwell is that he’s had a complete about face on this issue. In 2000 Gladwell was arguing with Adam Gopnick in the Washington Monthly about the merits of the Canadian system as compared with the American system. Gladwell, the Canadian, was arguing that the American system was vastly superior. He was a little bit glib. I wonder what convinced him to change his mind. It might be useful for those of us who want to change our system to know what arguments convinced him.

  6. PeterL

    One thing the article doesn’t mention: in the US, the cost of medical care for the uninsured is many times higher than for the insured. Insurance companies negotiate fees that are far below the “retail” rates that hospitals and doctors charge.

    And, if something isn’t covered by insurance, just try to find out in advance approximately how much the procedure will cost. After an operation, you may get a bill with the retail rates and then you can spend hours pushing the price down to what the insurance company would pay. This is especially enjoyable if you’re still recovering.

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