I can tell you firsthand: the uninsured do NOT get equal treatment.

[Pab Sungenis]

I've made the mistake of listening to callers on C-SPAN as the health care votes are going on. At one point, a nurse said that the uninsured receive the exact same care as the insured.

In 2007, on my 38th birthday to be precise, I was hospitalized for a recurrence of Diverticulitis. I had been insured up until 6 months before the incident, when my group policy lapsed after I was forced to close my business and unable to afford individual insurance due to that pre-existing condition.

During the early stages of my treatment, the attending physician was very helpful and conscientious. We discussed all possible courses of action. That was the first five days of my recuperation. On that fifth day, realizing that the funds I had set aside in, essentially, a MSA were not going to be sufficient to cover the final bill (I had $20K set aside, twice what my bill in 2004 had been) I applied for Medicaid through the state.

The next morning? That same doctor who had been working on a treatment regimen with me ordered me up and out of bed. She wanted me to walk around as much as possible not because I needed to work my legs but because she intended to discharge me the next day. Fortunately, my surgeon intervened and I got a couple extra days.

A week after I was discharged, when my antibiotics ran out, I came down with a 102 degree fever. I rushed back to the emergency room. They pumped me full of antibiotics, antipyretics, and painkillers. I didn't know at the time, but was told once emergency surgery had been scheduled, that my bowel had ruptured at the point where my initial surgery had taken place. If Bryan had taken another 10 minutes in getting me to the hospital, I would probably have died because they would not have been able to fight off the infection.

If the one Doctor had not decided to rush me out of the hospital as fast as possible once it became apparent that there was a chance the hospital would not have been paid, I probably would not have had my bowel rupture. I would not have had to rush back just in the nick of time. I would not have had to walk around with a colostomy bag for nine months. I would not have recurrent pain down my left leg due to nerve damage caused by the rupture. And my hospital bill would not have rocketed past the quarter-million-dollar mark.

So don't let anybody ever tell you that the uninsured got the same level of care as the insured. I'm living proof that they didn't. Maybe now, however, there is a chance that they will.

[kestrel91316]

1. They don't. For starters, they get charged 3-5x what the insured/insurers

are charged for the same service. And they invariably have to pay in advance for virtually everything, instead of being billed and making payments.

[fadedrose]

2. I heard that goofy nurse...she's full of sxxt...forget about her...nt

[girl gone mad]

3. Unfortunately, this bill still allows for significant discrimination..

with tiered levels of care. Your experience will probably be comparable with how those on a bronze plan with no savings will be treated, if they can even afford the co-pays.