IS HEALTH CARE MORE ACCESSIBLE SINCE PASSAGE OF THE ACA?
by juthale, blogging at JustinRambles, ©2014
(Nov. 12, 2014) — This post is not about Drew or about his cancer. Drew is doing great, by the way, and I’m working on that long-overdue post, but this isn’t it. Since you all come here for updates on Drew a preface about this post seems appropriate and here it is:
I am unashamedly apolitical. I have just enough life experience to have learned no political party truly shares my values or worldview, and am just cynical enough to believe most politicians are ultimately swayed by and beholden to the same influences, regardless of their party affiliation. As a result, I mostly navigate my way well clear of politics, seeing it as an entanglement of this world I choose to avoid. This being the case, the last thing I wish to do is use this blog as a political pulpit to promote or pummel any political perspectives. This is particularly true when I consider the very difficult circumstances within our family that gave birth to this blog and the way God has graciously permitted myself and many others to be blessed through those circumstances. As a result, I have many misgivings about writing on a topic which has sadly become political fodder in America. However, this post is about the costs associated with Drew’s cancer treatment and how it was paid for – a subject which many Americans are likely to view through lenses tinted by party politics.
Elsewhere, an amazing number of you read this blog from outside of the US (see who’s reading justinrambles – countries in pink below). I certainly don’t know who many or even most of you are, but I’m really grateful for your interest, care and prayers for Drew!
For those of you outside the US looking in, the cost of healthcare here and how it gets paid for will likely baffle you. Not only is medical care in America exorbitantly expensive (see a 2012 comparison of medical costs for common products and services in different countries below), but the cost of healthcare in the US is entirely the responsibility of the individual receiving care. These realities make having some type of medical insurance a necessity for every American.
Because of the extremely high cost of healthcare in the US, having sufficient medical insurance is essential for reasons of both physical and financial health. According to the US Census Bureau, 86% of Americans have medical insurance to cover or offset the cost of their healthcare. This means around 42 million Americans have no medical insurance whatsoever. When I consider the medical experiences of my own family, I cringe to think of how medically and financially compromised these uninsured people are. America has some of the best medical technologies and expertise found anywhere in the world, yet the cost of healthcare here combined with the fact tens of millions of Americans have no realistic financial means to access this care leads me to the conclusion something is very broken. This is the backdrop of my post, which relates one family’s experiences and one man’s views on the cost of healthcare in America.
Read the rest here.