My grandfather went broke because of medical bills just before he died

[GliderGuider]

(FYI, I'm GliderGuider's partner using his DU login.)

Granddad was a veteran of WWII. When he was in Europe he caught pneumonia and they put him back into battle before he was fully recovered.
He returned home, continued in the family plumbing business, and began his own family. Yup, he was a plumber in the days when people in the North were installing their first indoor baths and toilets. $$Ka-Ching!$$

By the time Mum was in high school, he had his own army of men working for him and a fleet of trucks. Good thing, too, because he had to slow down. He had a lot of trouble breathing with scarred lungs and emphysema. Shortly thereafter, the doctors told him he only had 6 months left to live.

He fought with Veterans Affairs for survivor benefits for his wife and 5 kids. They argued that they weren't responsible. The tough ol' bugger wouldn't give in, though. In the meantime, medical bills sucked everything away. My uncles were still children and could not take over the 3-generation business. They lost everything but the house.
It took my grandfather five years but he finally got the VA to concede that he was dying prematurely due to injuries he sustained while serving in the military. Two weeks later, he was dead.

One year after that, thanks to TC Douglas, Canada got a national system of single-payer, universal health care.

Know what? I have to remind people what the bad ol' days were like. They have no memory of people losing everything they worked for because of sickness.

It is my wish that you can one day leave these days in the history books, too.
But not to forget! It is also my wish that SiCKO is a smash hit in Canada.

[OzarkDem]

1. Its wrong in every way

In our state, bankruptcies are up over 57% from the previous year and most of those are due to medical bills. Its not just shameful, its bad for the health and the economy of our society.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Your story should be shared with Michael Moore

[e-mail]

[Warpy]

3. Medicare was to protect inheritances

as much as anything else, because unless Grandma or Grandpa was willing to crawl off and die quietly, the surviving spouse was left absolutely destitute and the heirs were SOL, too.

Medical care for catastrophic illness causing financial ruin is nothing new. It's just new for working adults with insurance, and it's high fucking time they woke up and raised hell.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. So did my uncle.

However he knew how destitute he was and charged everything from the doctors to the meds on his credit card, knowing his estate had no assets.

Hard to say who got the last laugh.

[catmandu57]

5. It would seem that if one wanted to leave anything

to their families these days that they have to die fast, run out of life before you run out of money.