- Joined
- Apr 16, 2000
- Messages
- 996
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So I just got back a little while ago from an always-fun trip to the ER, this time with my boyfriend who woke up ~6 this morning (we have lived together for >1 year) with intense abdominal pain and nausea. After watching him writhe in agony for a few minutes, I used my aspiring physician skills and made an executive decision that this was definitely not normal and we needed to go to the ER--not a decision to be taken lightly when you don't have health insurance. After negotiating our way past an admissions staff that couldn't be bothered to interrupt their discussion about a co-worker's baby shower to help the man doubled over in pain at their entrance, filling out a s***load of paperwork, and being asked at least 3 times if he really, truly didn't have any insurance, we were finally seen, he was given some morphine, and it was determined that he had a kidney stone. The nurses and doctor who assisted us were at least very friendly and didn't seem too preoccupied with who would be paying the bill. Then, after being asked only about 6 more times if we might not have some insurance we had forgotten about, we were able to make a payment plan and leave. The damage: over $1600, not including medications. Which, at $50 a month, will be paid off in only 32 short months! 
I think this sort of experience, while terrifying and difficult, is probably something that every pre-med should go through at least once, either personally or with a loved one. I work in a clinic, and being on the other end as a patient or patient's family really puts in perspective just how much of a difference one caring, or callous, encounter with a medical professional can make. I think it is particularly useful to know what it's like to be scared, sick, and without insurance or money, as that is the position many (if not most) of this country's ill are in.
I have sometimes heard the crisis of the uninsured in this country dismissed because supposedly a majority of the uninsured are young people who "choose" not to accept insurance available to them thorugh an employer. I suppose my partner and I fall into the group cited by these people, since we both work part-time while attending school and could get insurance through our employers--for only ~ $400 a month! You could call this a choice, as we have made a "decision" to pay rent and eat instead. I think doing so, however, belittles the very real dilemma faced by many of the so-called working poor in this country who must decide between feeding or insuring their children and themselves. We don't live an extragavant lifestyle--no cell phones, no cable, one car between the two of us, and with work and student loans we can just about scrape by. There's certainly not an extra $4800 a year for health insurance hiding in our budget somewhere. It's not so bad for us--we're young, healthy, and this was just one of thsoe fluky things that can happen. I really feel for the parents out there who must deal with this sort of thing with a sick child. I hope that when I do make it to med school and eventually become a physician, I am able to remember what this felt like.
Okay, sorry for the long post, just reflecting on the experience. I should go study for my vertebrate zoology final tomorrow at 8 a.m. and force more fluids on the BF.
-S.
I think this sort of experience, while terrifying and difficult, is probably something that every pre-med should go through at least once, either personally or with a loved one. I work in a clinic, and being on the other end as a patient or patient's family really puts in perspective just how much of a difference one caring, or callous, encounter with a medical professional can make. I think it is particularly useful to know what it's like to be scared, sick, and without insurance or money, as that is the position many (if not most) of this country's ill are in.
I have sometimes heard the crisis of the uninsured in this country dismissed because supposedly a majority of the uninsured are young people who "choose" not to accept insurance available to them thorugh an employer. I suppose my partner and I fall into the group cited by these people, since we both work part-time while attending school and could get insurance through our employers--for only ~ $400 a month! You could call this a choice, as we have made a "decision" to pay rent and eat instead. I think doing so, however, belittles the very real dilemma faced by many of the so-called working poor in this country who must decide between feeding or insuring their children and themselves. We don't live an extragavant lifestyle--no cell phones, no cable, one car between the two of us, and with work and student loans we can just about scrape by. There's certainly not an extra $4800 a year for health insurance hiding in our budget somewhere. It's not so bad for us--we're young, healthy, and this was just one of thsoe fluky things that can happen. I really feel for the parents out there who must deal with this sort of thing with a sick child. I hope that when I do make it to med school and eventually become a physician, I am able to remember what this felt like.
Okay, sorry for the long post, just reflecting on the experience. I should go study for my vertebrate zoology final tomorrow at 8 a.m. and force more fluids on the BF.
-S.
