The time has come for me to move on. But I thought I'd write to say goodbye so no one would be worried about where I went. And I'd also thought I'd write to say thanks for listening to me.
I'm moving on next week. I am excited by new opportunities, but also sad to see my life as a political activist come to an end. I had previously sworn off political activism in early 2005, but then I developed inflammatory bowel disease (the term used for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis; mine has since been essentially cured by major surgery, though insurers still label me with the dreaded pre-existing condition) and landed in the hospital. What I saw there would spark a renewed involvement in the political process, and culminated in my involvement in the health care reform fight this year.
Those "privacy screens" they have are misnomered; you can hear everything the person next to you has to say. I'll never forget listening to an interpreter describing the problems with a 4 year old child of an immigrant who came here for work and opportunity. The boy had asthma. His parents were worried about how to pay for the hospital bill, and didn't bring him to the ER until he was blue. The ER doctor wrote a prescription for a breathing machine which would enable the child to sleep through the night--knowing full well that the family didn't have the $500 to spend on it.
I'll never forget standing in the hallway of a chemotherapy center in Baltimore. The oncologist was on his way to lunch but stopped at the elevator long enough to hear a patient cancel her chemotherapy appointment. The oncologist went back to see what was going on. There, in the hallway, they had a conversation about how the drug was no longer covered by her insurer because she had met her benefit maximum. The cancer patient was worried that her family would lose their home if she racked up medical bills. The oncologist personally saw to it that the woman got the medication she needed by telling the woman, "I will never stop treatment for the lack of ability to pay, and I won't sue you." Still, the woman had to feel like her life--and I firmly believe that life has an infinite value which cannot be expressed in monetary terms--wasn't viewed as valuable by our broken health care system.
And most of all, I'll never forget the lung cancer patient and her husband who I struck up a friendship with in the waiting room. She had a disease far worse than mine, but she always had a smile on her face. One day, I remember listening to her telling the staff at the oncology center that she didn't want to come back the next day for her treatment, which was going pretty well. It turns out an insurance denial had wrecked her family's budget, and deprived her of the one luxury she had left in life: a cab ride home after enduring 4 hours of poison being streamed into her veins via IV. The chemo center staff passed a hat around and raised enough money for the woman to be able to take the cab home.
These people aren't alone. A recent study by the Center for American Progress found that insurers may be artificially inflating their profits by issuing unjust denials:
"When it comes to claim denials, insurers may be putting profits ahead of patients’ best interests. Most major insurance companies have reassigned their medical directors—the doctors who approve or deny claims for medical reasons—to report to their business managers, whose main responsibility is to boost profits...
CAP also asked each of the nation’s seven largest for-profit health insurers—Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Coventry, Health Net, Humana, and UnitedHealth care—if for the purposes of this report they would disclose their overall rates of claims denials and breakdowns by reason for the denials. All of the companies declined or did not give any direct response to the request. Spokesmen for the companies in general said that the insurers pay the vast majority of claims, and that denials are fair, with most occurring for routine reasons such as a patient erroneously submitting the same claim twice or a physician sending a claim to the wrong company.
But the reports from California indicate why health insurance companies may be reluctant to disclose their claim denial rates. That data shows that three of the six largest health insurance companies in the state each denied 30 percent or more of all claims filed in the first six months of 2009. It also showed wide variations in denial rates among the companies."
After I got better, I decided that what I saw shouldn't happen to any other American. I decided to use up every contact, cash in every political chit, burn every bridge, and use every skill I had to be a small part of making sure that Americans who got sick in the future would only have to fight one thing--their illness.
And so I spent last year going from rural town to rural town in support of Democratic candidates. And so I spent this year, writing blog posts, columns and letters to the editor in local publications, attending town meetings where a loud-but-vocal minority screamed offensive rants, and traveling to Washington D.C. to lobby 57 Congressional Offices. There were bad days and good days.
But the best day of them all was yesterday. I read the House Affordable Health Care for America Act (pdf file). The first thing in the act is a temporary high risk pool--a kind of advanced public option for people who have been branded with the words "pre-existing condition" by insurers. From the moment the President signs health care reform legislation, the horror stories above won't happen. Those patients would be eligible for a new health care plan--a health care plan which is accountable to the people, and not Wall Street. And that health care plan would cap out of pocket expenditures and not place an arbitrary limit on the value of care a person can receive. (pp. 18-28).
But it didn't stop there. As soon as the President signs the health care reform bill, stringent restrictions will be placed on insurers. Insurance executives would no longer be able to artificially boost their profits by reducing the amount of money they spend on medical care because Nancy Pelosi included a provision which requires 85 cents of every dollar on medical costs (p. 29).
And in three short years, insurers would no longer be able to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. A consumer protection office would be established to protect patients from the legendary abuses of the insurance industry. And 36 million more Americans would have insurance; these newly insured Americans would also have the right to say no to big insurance--and their track record of failure for the American patient--by enrolling in a not-for-profit, government run plan. And in five short years, every American would have the right to say no to big health insurance by enrolling in the public option. (pp. 268-280).
The bill isn't everything we fought for. But it is, to paraphrase the Speaker, a solid foundation for a better health care system. People would no longer fall through the cracks. Insurers could no longer profit off of forcing the sick for the treatment they need. The situations I saw when I was sick will never happen again if this bill passes.
I can see that it was worth the days last Fall where the only meal was at 1 a.m. and consisted of a stale gas station hot dog and Cheetos. It was worth being screamed at by a small minority of town hall attendees. And it was worth the really uncomfortable situations that developed with people I know who have a vested interest in health care reform failing. And that was worth the time I spent here.
A bill will pass. It will be signed by the President. It will hold insurance companies accountable for their actions. It will give Americans the right to say no to the big insurance. And it will help patients. I, meanwhile, will move on with my life with a smile on my face always knowing that I was a small part of a movement that made a huge difference. Goodbye and thank you.
Update: I can't say it to each individual post because I have to pack, but thanks to everyone for their kind words. I will miss everyone here. And best wishes to all.