My mea culpa . . . sort of.

[Vinca]

I have been one of DU's most ardent critics of the health reform bill. I've rarely let an opportunity slip by since the signing ceremony to comment on it in a negative fashion. Since I was in need of medical care, I looked forward to the pre-existing condition pool becoming operational. On day one - was it as long ago as last August? - I inquired about the federal,state-sponsored pool in my state and, it turns out, I was given the wrong information. Earlier this year I learned it was not as expensive as the number given on day one. In January, another medical condition suddenly appeared and I feared I would need surgery on a foot. I knew I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket, wasn't poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, so just for the heck of it I went to the government health care website. The whole page was completely different and directed me to an entirely different place. To cut to the chase, I found that if I took my social security early I could afford to pay the premium, IF I could qualify. Amazingly, a note from my doctor got me in. (My husband, sadly, is still on the outside looking in.) The foot problem turned out to be something neurological that was easily treated, but my neurologist was alarmed at the condition of my hip - the original medical condition - that she saw while viewing spinal x-rays. About 3 weeks later I saw an orthopedic surgeon who gave me this diagnosis on the hip: "It's shot." So last Friday I underwent a hip replacement and I arrived home Monday to begin my recovery. Although I'm on the hook for $5,000 and change, I would never have been able to have this procedure without the bill signed by President Obama and I would have been in a wheelchair within months. I'm not entirely sorry I've been such a pain in the ass about the whole "reform," but I hope we can move forward and improve on it. In the meantime, it has done some good. It has improved my life and, for that, I am grateful beyond belief. The experience has been bittersweet, though, because I care deeply about my fellow human beings and I wonder about the other people with deteriorated hips who can barely walk and cannot drum up the premium for the pre-existing condition pool. I will temper what I say in the future, but I will continue to beat the drum for a program that includes ALL Americans and never excludes anyone.

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. I'm so glad you got treatment

I agree with you that the program needs improvement, but it's a start.

[Sherman A1]

2. I don't believe that criticism of the HCR is a bad thing

it is far from being anything close to a perfect or even a good solution. I don't believe that your Mea Culpa is required, that parts of it were perhaps beneficial to you is good, but it is so very lacking in so many areas.

[zbdent]

5. That's why I wrote a LTTE (and it did get printed) saying that whatever the Repugniconvicts put

forth in "place" of the Health Care Reform bill had to be PERFECT, and it could withstand the attacks, scrutiny, and babblings of even the most unreasonable people (palin & company included) before the one in place would be removed ...

[Bodhi BloodWave]

3. Recommended

I'm happy to hear that things turned out so well for you and do keep beating on that drum since it is important to keep pushing ever onward :)

Also my hat is off to you for your mea culpa since it seems to be rarer and rarer these days for people to admit that they might have been wrong on some things.

[Richardo]

4. I'm glad that you are seeing some benefit....

Hope your recovery goes well, and that your husband can get in to participate as well.

The HCB is not everything I was hoping for either, but I'm glad to see people are benefitting under it. :hug:

[Evolve_Already]

6. *HIP HIP*

Hooray!

Hope you are 100% soon.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. The correct DU line...

...was to have rejected the half a loaf solution, and gimp around, or roll around, until all of us have single payer.

Your reluctance to martyr yourself for the Revolution has been noted.

[truckin]

8. I've been very critical of the bill as well but it is good to hear

that it has some good features that help people. Thanks for sharing your story.

[karynnj]

9. Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery

It is very good to hear that in your case the pool worked as intended, though clearly it still was not financially easy.

I hope that your comment at the end, that others in the same plight would be able to get help. It is likely at the "edges" where there the toughest situations are. In this case, those just slightly above the threshold for Medicaid. (I forget when the subsidies above Medicaid kick in, but if they haven't that might help those caught between being able to scrounge up the premium and those on Medicaid.

[frazzled]

10. I'm glad for you ... but regarding one thing

about "the other people with deteriorated hips who can barely walk and cannot drum up the premium for the pre-existing condition pool." As you know, in two more years there will be no "pre-existing condition pool." Because there will be no pre-existing conditions. Those people will be eligible for regular insurance on the exchanges. And if they are too poor to afford the premiums they will be getting subsidies. For the first time ... ever.

So while we all lament the fact that this specific group will have to wait two years, which may be too late for some of them, for all the others who will develop such a condition, they will never have to worry again. That is amazing news. Without this bill, no one would ever have access to health insurance.

There is no question that this bill was a huge advancement over the status quo, which was intolerable.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. The law needs to be improved upon (I agree)

I also believe it was probably the best we could've gotten under the circumstances. Considering that the Republicans' only response to President Obama as he was trying desperately to get them on board with the reform effort was to "start over with a blank sheet of paper" and that the Republicans have no real plan to replace ACA with if they ever manage to successfully repeal and/or defund ACA, I think that we should at least be somewhat thankful that we got what we got. I also think that President Obama deserves at least a little bit of credit for refusing to scrap his plan for comprehensive reform and going with a drastically scaled back package as Rahm had apparently suggested following Scott Brown's upset victory in November 2009.

[FrenchieCat]

12. I'm very happy that you could be helped in a positive way......

as that is a very good thing, and I wish you a speedy recovery, as I know that
being without good health is one of the most devastating state to be in...

But I must also say that I find it very unfortunate that you were only able to appreciate what difference this bill make in people's lives only after it personally helped you.

As self employed persons (me and my hubby) we pay quite a lot for minimal coverage...
but still, I had read the bill, and understood what it could do for those who couldn't
even get the coverage that we pay for. There are approx 30 million Americans,
who will now be able to afford treatments that they had not been able to receive,
because they simply couldn't afford it. That should have been seen as huge, but instead,
folks were calling it a failure, when it really wasn't, because anything can be improved,
while nothing cannot.

The point is that if folks would have worked harder to understand what that bill does do,
instead of what that bill didn't do, folks would have possibly approached their criticism
of this President in a different, more rational manner, and perhaps the "disappointed" would have still gone to the polls in 2010,
instead of sulking because the exact perfect health bill didn't manifest itself,
and the President didn't pound on the lectern day after day making threats or yelling real loud to try to get it perfect for all
....which I don't think would have worked anyways.

Throwing away the good for the perfect and getting neither should have never been an actual option.....but some thought that this was exactly the only path as you have stated so often,
and many still do.

Instead, I hope that more people will educate themselves (and not necessarily by personal experience),
instead of pretending that they already know or that they have the perfect solution on how to get the impossible done,
when they really don't.

That's part of the problem in my opinion; that folks really think they know what to do better,
know exactly how to get it done, and believe that the only reason things aren't exactly how
they want it, it is because this President didn't want what would have been better.

I personally think that Obama is very much into the art of the possible,
and cannot afford to be as idealistic as some of us many times are.
He's done good, but no, he hasn't done "perfect" as of yet.

Again, I'm glad your health is on the mend. That's always good news....
and your humble mea culpa is needed to perhaps help others see more clearly.
I thank you for that...well sort of.

[Vinca]

14. I'm in no mood to argue, but I resent your implication that I never

realized people were being helped until I was personally affected. That has never been my issue. I'm bothered that I just won the health care lottery while another woman, who might be in the same situation but not eligible to collect early Social Security or have other means to purchase the coverage, is going to suffer a great deal until 2014 rolls around. And, in 2014, there will be people who will not be able to afford coverage with the subsidy. I have no intention of remaining quiet about those parts of the bill. Single-payer should be our assumed final outcome. We should never be satisfied with bowing to the corporate insurance overlords to stay alive and that stance should never waiver based upon who is in the White House.

[GeorgeGist]

16. You were fortunate ...

to find a loophole.

[Vinca]

32. It's actually not a loophole. There are 2 conditions for coverage

that haven't gotten any mention. I just stumbled upon them when researching the insurance to see if I might qualify. One is a need for surgery and the other is a need for continuing treatment such as physical therapy. Since my doctor had previously recommended physical therapy to treat my arthritis, she wrote a statement to that effect for me.

[karynnj]

28. As we all know that single payer could not have passed, which is true

when Bernie Sanders speaks of there only being 10 Senators who would vote for it. (Dodd and possibly, Feingold likely two of them - so it may now be 8 or 9. So, the people in the Congress wanting to help people like you HAD to design the best plan that could pass. They also put in a provision that will let states like Vermont make their plan a single payer one in 2017. (Wyden?Brown that will likely fail would make it 2014. Why likely fail - Heritage is 100% against it and it needs to pass the House.)

You also said the amount was lower than you expected. Is it possible that when the subsidies click in for those above Medicaid level but still needing help, that other woman would have the subsidy to help pay for the high cost pool insurance?

[madamesilverspurs]

13. Glad you're on the mend!

In the last couple of years I've been asked to speak at a number of events regarding my reasons for supporting, first, the idea of health care reform. My talk always begins thusly: "I'm speaking out today because this country doesn't need more people like me. We're far too expensive." Without going into great and lengthy detail, an ounce of prevention does make more sense than several tons of cure.

Also part of my story is the embarrassing admission that, until my own life took some very painful turns, I had a much more cynical view of those who need help; worse, that cynicism extended to those who proclaimed any need for reforms. It still makes me cringe when I remember the person I was then. And I am desperately thankful that I didn't completely lose the ability to take in better information, to learn from it, to change.

In that, I've also spoken about the need to support the new law, recognizing that it is a beginning, there is still need for many major improvements. But the door is, at long last, finally opening. And I will continue to push it ever wider. In that effort, every shoulder is welcome.


-

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. As fine a response as I've ever read on the topic.....

:applause:

[AtomicKitten]

17. Very happy for your good outcome. Total hip arthroplasty is pricey without coverage.

I hope your recovery is uneventful.

[eilen]

18. Really glad everything worked out!

But you are right, there are some people who don't have the ability to access this. One elderly man at my hospital did not have Medicare B. He needed the same surgery as you but did not have the 20% difference in the cost. The suggestion was made to he and his wife to mortgage their house. No lie. I was horrified. I don't know if he ended up doing the surgery and taking out the loan but I do know that there are many that end up not and just suffering in pain in a wheelchair or bed because they want to make sure their spouses are secure and housed.

[toddwv]

19. Sorry to hear that you've had these problems.

Glad to hear that you got the care that you needed.

Here's to a speedy recovery!

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[elleng]

21. Thanks

[SpartanDem]

22. K&R

I'm glad you're feeling better. I think stories will be more common as the more people get helped by the bill and the stronger provions kick in, in the coming years.

[Kdillard]

23. I am very glad that you were able to be helped and I wish you an uneventful

recovery.

[bigwillq]

24. So happy you're on the mend!

:hi:

K and R

Good post.

[napoleon_in_rags]

25. The general shape of the reform is good.

I understand the gripe about forcing people to pay corporations rather than the government after all the fraud we've seen, but a lot of the ideas are sound. If you don't have health insurance, you'd be better off in the dark ages; because at least there you KNOW you're screwed if you get injured, you're not walking around with the illusion you can go to the hospital. Everybody really needs it, and that needs to get paid for somehow.

[eridani]

26. 12,000 out of 6 million can pay the premiums for the high risk pool

Glad you are lucky enough to be one of them.

[Vinca]

27. It was only because I took my social security early and sacrificed

what I might have gotten if I'd waited until I was 66. I figured I'd rather be ambulatory and lose some money than 66 and in a wheelchair.

[karynnj]

29. For future reference, where does the 6 million estimate come from?

As you have two precise numbers, it is clear you have a source. I really would like a link - just to be able to intelligently understand how it is working.

[eridani]

30. References

2nd reference requires a subscription

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/12/27/gvsa1227.htm

As of Nov. 1, only 8,011 people were enrolled in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, numbers from the Dept. of Health and Human Services show.

People who have been denied coverage by private insurers because of a preexisting condition and who have been uninsured for at least six months are eligible to participate in PCIP. The idea is to give patients who have no access to private coverage because of their condition a way to get insurance while they wait for the state-based health insurance exchanges to launch in 2014.

Almost 6 million Americans are potentially eligible for the program, which runs through 2013.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20110210/NEWS/302109946/1010&rssfeed=rss01

National enrollment in a pre-existing condition health plan created by last year's healthcare reform law has increased by 50% in the past three months to more than 12,000 Americans, HHS said Thursday.

[karynnj]

31. Thank you so much

[hulka38]

33. Your view of the health care reform policy

has changed radically from critic to advocate because you yourself benefitted from it. No critics doubted that some people would benefit from it. It does not, however, change the fact that Obama and the Dem leadership punted on first down.

[eridani]

34. If 100 people are drowning, it's a nice piece of luck to be ther one who gets picked up--

--by a lifeboat. Don't expect the other 99 to paddle around and cheer, though.

[Vinca]

35. To be clear, I am not an advocate for the bill. I am a lottery winner.

I am still mad as a hatter Obama didn't put single-payer on the table. Even madder he gave away the public option before anyone asked for it. I still have skin in the game. My husband does not have access.