My Friend Has Lost Everything
American health insurance strikes again
He’s 53, a paralegal by trade. His tale is a cautionary one. Unless you believe in original sin, Bruce has done nothing wrong.
He’s an American who got sick.
In May, his employer covered his surgery for blocked arteries, more commonly known as heart disease. A couple of stents later, he was nearly 100%. He felt better, too, because clogged arteries tend to make a person tired.
In April, Bruce got a big promotion.
Now it’s almost July. He’s out of the hospital and dressing for work. Just as he gets his tie on straight, he passes out.
When he comes to, he calls his neighbor.
One of the most interesting things about Bruce is he used to be homeless. Here’s a guy who has literally picked himself up by his non-existent bootstraps. He’s no spring chicken anymore, so I worry he may not be able to replicate that amazing feat.
Can I Get a Ride to the ER?
Bruce doesn’t trust himself to drive to the ER in his roommate's car, but his neighbor kindly takes him. The doctors tell him he can’t go home just yet.
They admit Bruce and then the tests begin — lab work, scans, questions, chart reviews.
The doctors admit they don’t know what caused his syncope but tell him it’s not related to post-op recovery.
After two days, they send him home, saying it’s probably a bad reaction to oxycontin.
Bruce is highly skeptical but relieved to get back to his normal life.
He’s ready to go back to work, even though he no longer feels 100%.
From Asset to Liability
Bruce will never return to the office because the next day a lady shows up on his doorstep with a box.
“Your fired,” says the lady. She hands him everything he owns from the office.
At first, Bruce is in shock but this quickly gives way to anger. Didn’t they just promote me last month?
In corporate America, in law offices, and everywhere else — that’s how they roll. Are you costing this company money? You are a liability now.
Bruce is out of work, and his health insurance is gone. No severance package, no counseling, no help.
He can apply for COBRA, the government law that allows workers to hold onto health insurance benefits for 18 months.
The problem with COBRA is it’s a ruthless, awful system that charges you for only the health insurance you used to have. Did you have a good plan? Be prepared to pay big bucks every month if you want to stay insured.
Or you can buy something through Obamacare on the Marketplace. I don’t know about Bruce, but my health insurance costs $635 a month for Blue Cross, and every time I go to the doctor I owe $150.
Thank God for Obamacare, though. Without it, I’d be uninsurable. I have a pre-existing condition like the majority of Americans over 40.
The GOP is trying to remove Obamacare subsidies and Joe Manchin is right there in the thick of it. Our ruling class does not believe in handouts, even if you’re sick.
Now Bruce is Penniless
Bruce may not know it yet — but I think he does ’cause he’s a smart cookie — but he just joined America’s underclass. He’ll be lucky if he still has a roof over his head in a year.
If something happens to his longtime roommate, Mel, who isn’t in great health either, Bruce could be on the streets.
Yes, he has a modest savings account but that will be gone soon because he has to pay rent, buy food, get around, and pay for his medicine.
Without health insurance, medicine is expensive.
He can’t get another job because he’s not well.
Right now, he’s mulling over suing his former employer, who obviously fired him because he was sick, and applying for Social Security Disability.
He may do both, but neither has a quick or certain outcome.
Last week, he applied for food stamps. They immediately told him he might not be eligible for full benefits because he has a roommate.
Punishing the Poor
In America, our system has evolved to punish the poor because the ruling class has decided poor people are making a choice.
A choice to be a burden, to be sick, to be homeless.
If only they would get their sh*t together.
Bruce, who is smarter than 95% of people you will meet, has a skillset, an education, a work history, and a circle of friends.
He’s a white man in a nation that still celebrates whiteness and maleness.
And right now, things aren’t looking good.
I told him to call me because I used to be a Social Security Disability Examiner, so I can help him apply.
I haven’t told him yet that with his condition, at his age, with his work history — his chances of disability benefits are slim to none. They are a little better than playing the lottery, and the application process is a much bigger hassle.
Where Did Bruce Go Wrong?
Bruce made his first mistake when he chose to be born to a mom who got married three times, had seven kids, and told him he was a liar when he told her his older brother was molesting him.
His second mistake was not having an inheritance.
His third mistake was going into an unstable career as a paralegal. Okay, that’s sarcasm.
Where Bruce went wrong is by having to depend on a ruthless, punishing healthcare system.
Most Americans with good jobs who are healthy do not grasp the precipice they are standing next to.
I’ve watched lives ruined by this system before, and they were responsible people who had bad luck.
It’s one thing to announce we need to “sink or swim” but another to weigh people down and throw them into deep waters.
That’s what the American healthcare system does.
UPDATE: I talked with Bruce yesterday and his employer insurance is intact, for now. He has till the end of the period, a few months, and is hoping he can get his last surgery. He does have Medicaid, and he’s optimistic he’ll find temp work.
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Jean Campbell recently started her first Substack newsletter to laser focus on getting her book, City of Lies: A Street Hustler’s Omaha Story published.
