They Got Us in a Strangle Hold (Baby)

Insurance companies are nothing more than legalized extortion corrupting the American way of life.

Before I continue on with what is in a sense a rant, a railing against the inequalities heaped upone the financially burdened, let me first appeal to your sense of justice.

It isn't often that I use my 'blog as a scope-box. In fact, I am not very fond of those out there in the "blogosphere" (another term that, like Mr. Maddox, I find deplorable) who use their 'blogs to spew quasi-political rhetoric or spread their agenda driven antics. This entry, however, is a one-off for me.

I am asking you, few readers that frequent my sight with any degree of infrequency to read through this, think it through, and regardless of your stance on the issue - encourage a few other folks to read this as well.

I am not poor, but I am not wealthy either - I do okay though. As is often the case in Middle America I have just enough to get by and pick up a just enough of the few personal luxuries to keep myself in a reasonable amount of debt. This "essay" is not a plea. I don't want money, I don't want anything tangible from you more than the time it takes for you to read this and perhaps have a few other folks you know come to this ‘blog and read it as well. All I ask is that you read this and ponder the points I make. At times I will come across as a bit defensive - though I am trying to refrain from that - this is an issue that is very emotionally charged for me. I do not intend to insult or harm - I just want to create thought, and perhaps in my own way a seed for change.

My baby brother is 19 years old. He was recently diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure. His condition is such, that without the right amount of care and treatment it is a death sentence. He turned 19 in January. He has problems with his kidneys since he was three years old, and due to extraneous circumstances (i.e. a WHOLE OTHER rant, which I will refrain from launching into here) he has lived most of his life without receiving any treatment for his problems.

On Mother's day of this year, while visiting family out of town for a funeral (my maternal uncle had recently died from a heart attack; he was 56 - more on that in a bit), my baby brother went into congestive heart failure, respiratory failure, and basically began to die as his body no longer had the power to function. He was rushed to a nearby hospital some twenty-miles away where he was revived by ER personnel. The facilities at the first hospital were insufficient to provide him the level of care he needed - the ER doctor determined that he must be sent on to a better facility. This second hospital, 110 miles away, would be able to help him. The ER doctor then informed us that we should start calling family, as he would most likely not survive the drive.

This facility was equipped with a helipad, as is the second hospital, and though it was available - the decision was instead made to take my brother to the second hospital by ambulance. This situation was severe enough that the ER doctor spoke to the commanders in the Navy and told them to send our other brother home - that there would most likely be a funeral. Our baby brother was dying. The situation was important enough that our other brother was shipped home from where he was stationed fighting the War on Terror.

When asked why air evac wasn't being utilized - I was ignored.

Before they hauled him away, I begged my baby brother to fight - to hold on. I wept silently into his ear, begging him to stay with us. I reminded his nominally conscious frame that our third brother needs him around to act uncle for his new-born son. I reminded him of how much I loved him, of how much he meant to me. I watched in mortal horror as they loaded him into a van to begin a 110 mile journey across interstate on Mother's Day Sunday. I knew that his chances were slim.

My baby brother had to be revived twice while in route, but he held on. He fought, and he survived. Though the odds were against him - he made it. I followed the ambulance the entire way - we made the entire trip in just under 90 minutes.

Several hours later, I was finally able to see my brother. They had placed him in a shared room in the terminal ward of the hospital. If you have never been in one of these places - let me tell you that I hope you never have to. They are hellish. Every room is occupied by one, some times two, patients that have each been told that they have no hope - that they will soon be dead. The nurses look at each visitor with obvious pity - or cold indifference. These are places where the dead have yet to be delivered their final sentence.

I will not continue the description of the hospital except to say that my brother's treatment while there was less than perfect. One nurse was downright rude - dare I say mean. So mean in fact that she was fired while we were there for her treatment of my brother. My mother, bless her heart was offered no comfort. She never left her baby's side - not once did they make a room available to her, nor did they offer her something as simple as a shower. I should say, that no offers were made by hospital staff - were it not for family and dear friends - this stay would have been made far worse. My brother was released four days later. No clear diagnosis was given, though the hospital assured us that they had done everything they could.

Mind you, that we had done all the leg work we could in order to get my brother set up on the dialysis he would need soon. He is still alive, and continues to go to dialysis for 4 hours to 5 hours a day, three days a week. Since the Mother's Day event he has gone into Cardiac Arrest and Respiratory Failure three separate times. Each time we took him to a hospital emergency room - each time he was sent home 24 hours later. Another time, not four weeks ago, he had to be taken in due to an inability to breath and being in excruciating full body pain (a side effect of dialysis we are told) and we were told when he was released the next day that there was nothing the hospital could do for him; the ER doctor told me herself that she could find nothing in his tests that "clearly" pointed to any one cause for his symptoms.

My brother has been placed on a host of prescriptions. The more expensive ones have been subsequently revoked - and trust me, they did work - but the doctors at the dialysis center claim he no longer needs them. He shows no physical improvements and they continue to remove him from his medicine.

My brother doesn't have insurance.

Even if something like that were possible to forget, it would now be impossible; I have on multiple occasions in multiple hospitals by multiple staff heard my brother referred to as "the indigent boy", or "the boy that doesn't have insurance" - once a nurse point blankly asked him "Are you the one without insurance?"

If a patient is guaranteed the "Patients Bill of Rights", why then - does this single point continue to be made?

A further example...

My mother will be 56 years old this year (on Christmas day) and she has just been released from the hospital after having what we believe to be her third heart attack. This attack occurred two days ago, she went into the hospital yesterday, and she has been released just this morning after receiving an inconclusive diagnosis from doctors at the highest rated cardio-care facility in our metropolitan region.

If you know anything at all about congenital heart failure, or heart disease, you know that heart-attacks are not something they typically release someone from the hospital that soon for. They almost never let someone leave until a diagnosis has been achieved. Especially if that person has a history of heart problems, AND if heart problems persist in their family.

Our family is very familiar with heart attacks, their symptoms, and their effects. My mother’s older brother died four days before Mothers Day. It was his second heart attack - he was 56. My paternal grandfather died in 1981 from his fourth heart attack - he was 52. My maternal grandmother has had at least one heart attack. My mother has had one confirmed heart attack (when she was 40) and we believe a second (exact same symptoms, though she had no insurance at the time, and coincidentally enough the results at that time came back as inconclusive).

The point I am making here is this - we are familiar with heart attacks and their effects. In fact, yesterday afternoon a hospital official told my mother - and I quote - "You have congenital heart failure, it will kill you if you don't get help. But if you say I told you this, I will deny it."

My mother no longer has insurance either.

In addition to her heart problems, she has a history of stroke - a small scale type of stroke know as a T.I.A. As you can probably guess, she also suffers from a long standing bout with clinical depression. My mother has had just about as hard of a life as you can imagine. She grew up as poor and backwoods as a person can in this day and age. Her father was murdered in '82, my father committed suicide in '83, her second husband was a grossly abusive prick, my baby brother has been sick his whole life, the brother just older than him was born 6 weeks premature and has had medical problems his whole life - so on and such forth. I won't even go into the epic levels of bull-shit I put her through as a teenager.

My problem is this. The doctors have on multiple occasions been made aware of our complete family history - and they (my mom and brother) continue to not receive the level of care they deserve. This is more than apparent to me, because like the rest of my family I am more than familiar with my own share of medical problems.

The level of treatment that I receive is grossly different than the level of treatment they receive. We have the same family history - I am, perhaps, in a shade better condition though I too have had heart problems - the biggest difference is that I have insurance and a reasonable amount of income.

The first thing I looked into was just taking care of them and paying for everything myself. This was just plain impractical. One, my baby brother's medical care runs about $250,000 US each year, which is a good difference more than I make. My mother requires about one fifth of that amount. The hospitals literally will not let me assume the financial responsibility - and due to their ages my insurance will not let me cover them. Neither of them, though they are physically incapable of work - qualify for disability. My mother receives NO aid from government agencies, and my brother has finally started receiving minimal Medicaid and Medicare assistance - but they only give him the bare minimum needed to keep him alive. Here is a fine example of the government's ignorance in this regard:

My brother has been told that all he needs is a kidney transplant and his world would change drastically for the better. Recently, one of our family members suffered a tragic accident and was doomed to die. This child's parents called my mother and told her that they wanted to donate their son's kidney to my brother. The hospital administration, the government agencies, and the insurance companies would not allow this to happen. They would not even allow them to perform the basic tests to determine compatibility! They told us that because my brother (at the time) wasn't on Medicare, he couldn't be on the donor list and because he wasn't on the donor list, they would perform the surgery. They told us that he would have to be placed on the donor list, and after the 60-70,000 other folks ahead of him had been serviced - he would most likely be attended to.

It takes 6-9 months to even be placed on this list. The average wait time is around 2 years. They would rather pay for him (and estimated USD $250k - $500k EACH YEAR) than work with his family to get him a kidney now.

Why, as Americans, have we allowed insurance companies to hold us hostage in this manner? Why have they been allowed to take control of our medical system? Why is it, that doctors are unable to perform their gifts on certain patients with less economic means?

Is this the country our forefathers imagined?

How can we stand by, and continue to allow what was once a dream of Equality and Republic be slowly transformed into, what has in effect become a Corporation?

Money and the Capitalist ideal are all well and good - but should we have allowed the greed and lust for more money to bring us to this? Is it REALLY that important?

Who makes these decisions? Why is my family being allowed to die - because they are POOR?

The precedent has been set that we each as American Citizens be treated equally - but that is not the case. One medical personnel even told me that our situation would be drastically different if we were illegal immigrants or of a more accepted minority. I don't know if that is true, but that is what I was told.

Why is it, that we are required to buy some types of insurance, and yet there is no regulation determining the prices charged.

Why is it that racial and sexual profiling, not to mention ageism and sexism encouraged and tolerated in the insurance industry?

Excuse me for debasing this, but - WHAT THE FUCK? Why does race even matter? Why?

Who are these people? Are their profit margins so slim that they are living hand to mouth? Who are the executive, the lobbyists, and the politicians that allow these transgressions to pass?

More importantly - where are the people that are responsible for their positions?

I know the plight of my family is not a singularity - I know that this happens daily. Why do we allow this - as Americans - to continue?

This all pains me so much, because I am as at much at fault as the rest of our society.

We as citizens owe it to each and every other citizen to educate ourselves and vote! We MUST do this; we MUST stop blaming others for our own failings. We must learn to start accepting our own responsibilities, and start taking action.

I have made this vow - no more will an election available to me go unnoticed. No more will I base my vote, my word, and my opinion on anything other than the research and facts that I myself am able to determine. I owe each of you - your mothers, your brothers - that much. That is my burden, and I embrace it.

We are not savages, we are not base animals - we are humans; we are Americans. And yes, while we may be Americans by pure chance, we each have the option to leave this country if we don't like it. If you take advantage of this country's luxuries - whether it is the right to vote, the right to bitch about whatever political party doesn't agree with you, or nothing more than the black top under the wheels of your vehicle on the way each day to whatever job, hobby, or passion you partake in - then you owe it to not only yourself but to the rest of us that do the same to educate yourself and take an active role in the laws, policies, and activities that shape this country and the vision of this country for future generations.

Stop being so fucking lazy, stop saying "one vote doesn't matter", stop crying and belly-aching and do something about it! Each action; no matter how small has ramifications that may be far reaching in some future way. When laws are vague, when options are not clear, those who make the decisions for us use precedent to guide their judgment. If we as a people continue to ignore and treat these processes with apathy - the precedents to allow the criminal and unjust to rake more money punish the poor, and ignore the plight of good citizens will only continue and grow worse.

This isn't about politics, religion, or race. This is about humanity and being an American. You know in your heart of hearts what is right - regardless of your own personal ethos or creed. The fact that you are allowed to keep and practice those personal creeds stands testament and paramount as witness to what I am saying is true.

Don't get your opinions from television talking heads, those driven by unclear agendas. Politics isn't supposed to be a popularity contest. We are not supposed to be victim to the faceless corporation. For all of our sakes, stop crying and whining unless you take action!

I have gone against my better judgment and placed this in a live and open arena - obviously to further my own agenda; but, you can guarantee I will be taking action from this point forward. Too long we have allowed the politically and socially elite to dictate to us our opinions and direct our decisions and lives. I for one will stand here and fight my battle the best and only way I can. Though I rail against these evident inequities, my battle will be best fought in the voting booth and at the cash register.

I urge each of you to consider my words, consider my stance and whether or not you agree with me - do something about it! Educate yourself, do your own research, do as you need - for YOUR OWN CAUSES - but do it! I know that there is rhetoric plenty of arguments to condemn me for taking this position - post them if you truly feel that way - I encourage it. Whatever the case we must each LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!

Ask yourself this - when you read these words:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

- Do you TRULY feel that we still live in that America?

This is NOT America as it was intended, this not America as we want it, take our country back. Not with guns, not with bumper stickers, but with Action and Education!

Wake up America, wake up and do something with your lives. The lives of my family, and quite likely the lives of your family, depend on it.

Until the end of liberty, I remain...

The Son of Simp