As I listened to Jimmy Kimmel's story, I was reminded of a nearly identical experience I had with my daughter 14 years ago. My daughter was born with pulmonary atresia, one of the same congenital heart defects that Kimmel's son had. She also had a belly infection and so she ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks- about a week for the heart defect (repaired by cardiac catheterization and Children's Hospital in Boston), and the rest of her hospital stay was due to her IV antibiotic regiment. She has lived 14 healthy years.
Last summer her MRI showed that her valve had weakened and would need to be repaired. She had her first open heart surgery last October and has a new pulmonary valve. She was home after 6 days of excellent care at CHB. We gratefully had health insurance for both hospitalizations, and every annual check up in between. Granted our plan last year had a $1000 deductible, so we used that to pay for the MRI she had in July, and her surgery in October was covered by insurance. We felt fortunate. That said, like Kimmel shared of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, children are not turned away from Children's Hospital Boston. In the waiting room during my daughter's surgery we met a family from South Carolina who had exhausted the resources for their daughter there, and were told when they reached out to CHB that if they brought their daughter, she could be treated. She had a successful open heart surgery and they were well cared for at CHB. Even in the small medical group I work for, patients who struggle to afford their medical bills can set up any payment plan that works for them.
Kimmel included in his story, some of his perspectives on healthcare policy issues, namely funding for healthcare research, and his view on Obamacare (ACA). I 100% agree that funding for medical research should continue and even grow. It's been amazing to see how cardiac care has progressed since our daughter was born. Now, instead of having a follow up open heart surgery to replace her current valve when it because ineffective, she will most likely have it replaced through cardiac catheterization. That's minimally invasive, same day surgery for a new heart valve! So, yes, keep the research and development funding flowing!
Regarding Obamacare, I think there is more to the debate than Kimmel expressed. I, too, am grateful the ACA covered pre-existing conditions. That is sound, fair healthcare policy in my opinion. I do, however think that the ACA can be replaced with health care policy that retains the pre-existing condition policy and that is overall more affordable than the current ACA. I know too many people who as it stands today with the ACA, their premiums are uncomfortably high and continue to increase year after year. They are self-employed or just beyond minimum wage employees who are struggling to afford healthcare. Health insurance is costing more and covering less. We have come a long way with healthcare, but we can and ought to continue to improve on health care policy. We ought to never be complacent or satisfied with past policies that clearly have room for improvement. I don't pretend to have the answers, mostly because I believe their is no easy answer to the healthcare debate. Yet, it's an important discussion worth having.
- If you were to sit in with congressmen who are crafting healthcare policy, what would you most like to see included in a healthcare bill?
- What about Obamacare is working for you? What is not?
- Do you think it is possible to please everyone with a healthcare bill? If not, who should benefit most from a healthcare bill? The people paying? The sick? The poverty-stricken?
- What can be done beyond government policy to make healthcare more affordable?
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