A Mother’s View of Obamacare
Posted by Brenda Higgins on February 21, 2012
In the past two years, I have had a great deal of personal experience with the wonders of medical science. These experiences reinforced my belief that the incentive and competition that drive the free market are to the benefit of all of us and have resulted in an outstanding level of medical care available in this country that we should be working hard to preserve and not dismantle.
On April 9, 2010, my son was injured riding a Quad in the desert. He was airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center.
I drove from Orange County to Loma Linda in San Bernardino to meet him at the hospital. As I drove down Waterman Ave., I saw the helicopter just taking off from the roof. I parked my car and sprinted to the Emergency Room entrance. By the time I cleared security and made it to my son’s bedside, he had already been assessed by every relevant professional on the trauma team.
I was greeted by a literal parade of doctors. I can only describe it as seeming like synchronized swimmers. Each professional had an intern, so they appeared in pairs. First the trauma team, they were the lead treating physicians. Then the bone doctors, neurologists, and internists appeared in turn. They each briefed me, explained the tests they had already conducted, answered my questions, allayed my fears and concerns, assured me they were doing all they could, explained the medications and treatments that were already in place and completed as well as the prognosis and forward considerations. As each one completed their discussion with me, the next team appeared on cue. All of this occurring within 30 – 45 minutes of my son arriving at the hospital by helicopter.
After a few days in the hospital with him, I was awakened one night after midnight by hospital staff who advised me that my son’s most recent brain scan showed a blood clot in his jugular vein. An immediate additional scan was going to be performed to determine the scope and severity of it.
The amazing pictures that resulted from this midnight scan showed literally all the arteries and veins in his head and neck and the blood flowing through them. The blood clot was clearly seen as well as the severely restricted flow around it. It was determined that treatment of the blockage could begin.
He stayed in the hospital for three more days and we were then sent home after instruction on how to inject the blood thinning medication at home for the next thirty days. Ultimately, the blood clot dissipated. The broken bones, concussion and bruises healed. He returned to school and the life of a normal teenage boy.
Thirteen months and ten days later, he was in a trauma center again with a different, unrelated injury.
On May 19, 2011, he was playing Little League baseball, and took a high fast ball to his left temple while at bat. It knocked the helmet off his head and knocked him to the ground. He sustained a skull fracture and his brain was bleeding. After assessment at the local ER, they placed him in an ambulance and transferred him to the UCI trauma center. About 16 hours after the injury, he was in surgery to alleviate the brain bleed and repair the fracture. The fracture was repaired with titanium plates which were secured with nylon screws. After 3 days in the ICU, he returned home with 34 stitches and a freshly shaved head. Eight months later he is again playing baseball, and riding motorcycles.
Spending so much time in hospitals with a seriously injured child gave me a new and tremendous gratitude for the outstanding medical treatment, highly trained professionals, procedures and amazing products we have available to us. I confirmed my strong belief that, among the many freedoms and privileges we possess as Americans, one of the greatest is the opportunity to be treated in the most well maintained, and readily available medical facilities in the world, equipped with the most advanced technology and the most competent specialists and professionals.
As much as I would rather have not had those dark moments in my life, I would not have wanted to be anywhere else. The precision and compassion of all of the professionals I encountered at each of these facilities were nothing short of awe inspiring. Each day I am thankful for his remarkable recovery, the professionals who treated him, as well as those who created the medications and devices that helped them put him back together.
The medical system in the United States may not perfect, but it is not by any means in need of government intervention or repair. As Reagan said, the most frightening words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.
Aside from the devastation that Obamacare will certainly wreak on our already fragile economy, it will choke the creativity and life out of the entire medical system. Obamacare targets the drug companies, healthcare insurers and manufacturers, disincentivizes pre-planning by patients, and increases taxes on income and capital gains. We need this kind of change like New Orleans needed the levies to break after hurricane Katrina rolled through.
It might not have been broken, but once they are done fixing it, it surely will be.
OC Political 
Dan Chmielewski said
From your post, it sounds like you have a wonderful health insurance package that offers the best medical care available. That places you in the minority. Your contention that HealthCare Reform will wreck havoc on our fraigile economy is false.
Some facts:
Health care reform addresses skyrocketing costs. In 2011, the average cost for family of four increased 7.3%, to $19,393 which is double was it was in 2002. By 2030, payroll taxes will only cover 38% of Medicare costs while the rest will contribute to the Federal budget deficit which was increased dramatically under the Bush administration for funding two wars on a credit card, expanding the size of the fedral government and a giveaway to Big Pharma all while cutting taxes that resulted in anemic job growth.
Chronic diseases cause 70 percent of all U.S. deaths and affect 45 percent of all Americans. Each year, the cost of treatment totals $1.7 trillion, representing 75 percent of all healthcare dollars spent. This cost can be lowered through disease prevention and wellness programs which are a foundation of HealthCare Reform.
And one of every four Americans have little or no health insurance to cover their costs. More than 100,000 Americans die each year simply because they didn’t have insurance. Half of all bankruptcies result from medical costs.
Fourth, health care reform stems the economic costs of health care fraud which costs the economy between $60-$200 billion annually.
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (not ObamaCare) became law in 2010, it extended coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, children, and those who were laid off. It gave subsidies to small businesses, seniors with high prescription drug costs, and funding to ease the shortage of doctors and nurses. The costs will be offset with higher payroll taxes, higher fees to prescription drug companies, and lower payments to hospitals. By 2011, more than 600,000 new young people became insured, taking advantage of the Act’s provision that children up to age 26 could be covered by their parents’ insurance increasing profits for the insurance companies. In fact, health insurance companies reported record profits for the first quarter of 2011.
And 46% more small businesses offered health care benefits to workers in 2011 compared to 2010. These insured employees have fewer bankruptcies, better credit scores and higher consumer demand. This allows them to spend more, boosting economic growth. In fact, there were fewer bankruptcies due to healthcare costs in August 2011 than in 2010.
HeathCare Reform contained 300 provisions insisted on by Republicans who largely voted no on the bill. We can argue that costs soared under the GOP’s watch.
That said, what’s your plan for healthcare reform?
Brenda McCune said
My plan for health care reform is this. Tomorrow, like every other day, I will get up and do what I do so that I can continue to run a business that provides health care for me and my three employees. It’s not Boeing, but it’s my little free enterprise zone in the world, and I am doing my part.
Health care for everyone is a grand and noble goal. So is providing glass slippers to every little girl under the age of 6.
The problem is the unrealism of current plan and the utter lack of appreciation for the economic destruction it will entail. The PPACA includes the following.
– Increase in Payroll tax
– Fee assessment on health care providers
– 40% excise tax on those with “Cadillac” plans
– Fees assessed against manufacturers and importers of branded drugs
– The threshold for deductibility of medical expenses is raised (Making the deductibility harder to get to for those families who have had high medical expenses)
– Limit amounts for flex spending accounts and reduce the number of products that can be purchased with FSA’s and HSA’s, and a penalty for purchasing disallowed products
– Excise tax on manufacturers and importers of medical devices
– Increase Capital Gains tax by 3.8%
That’s just a partial list of the new taxes and revenue enhancements…..and Bippity-Boppity-Boo, you have $503 billion.
“The costs will be offset with higher payroll taxes, higher fees to prescription drug companies, and lower payments to hospitals.” This is the kind of magical thinking we have come to expect from this administration, $503 billion dollars is just a little “offset”.
“More than 100,000 Americans die each year simply because they didn’t have insurance” I understand that all of this sells better if the Insurance Companies are the bad-guys with black hats, but I’m pretty sure those Americans died because they were sick or injured. Blue Shield is certainly not sending Anthrax letters out to people who fail to subscribe. I’m not trying to be insensitive, but your “facts” should make sense.
Bankruptcies? YES. Absolutely, I know and believe that many people who experience chronic or catastrophic health crises while uninsured do ultimately file for bankruptcy. This is also a choice. Before you start throwing elitist jabs at me, I too was once in the midst of a health crisis and found myself without coverage.
I was eight months pregnant, in my last year of law school and the business I worked for went under. Not only was the business gone, there was NO COBRA option, as that only applied when there was a group to attach to. No group, no COBRA. Additionally, as the business faltered, the premiums had not been paid for months. The cancellation of my coverage was therefore made retroactive. That means most of the treatment and procedures I had already undergone were now uncovered and I’d be paying for them. I purchased coverage. Extraordinarily limited and very high premium, high risk, coverage, but coverage. It was an extreme hardship, but I did it. I made it a priority above all other things at that moment in life, happily. A few months later, I found myself having an emergency C-section. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t convenient, no one gave it to me, but I got insurance before my baby came. I fully understand what happens when people face these things uninsured. Are they forced to be and remain uninsured? Do they have unpleasant and uncomfortable choices to make? Do we all have the ability and opportunity to set our own priorities? Does expensive and limited mean unavailable? There are choices. Unpleasant choices, but choices.
The real problem with Obamacare is that it goes fully against what I and many others believe about capitalism, the free market, and the American ideals of fierce independence. I am willing to take care of myself, I am willing to take care of those close to me, my proverbial neighbors, but I am utterly offended by being mandated to, and having the government picking my pocket and setting goals and agendas for my small business, while it mandates philanthropy as government officials have determined it.
That’s my plan. I will continue taking care of my side of the street.
Brenda McCune said
Reblogged this on brendainyorbalinda.