Life in Limbo

That image really speaks for itself, but it's a film poster for a movie that came out in 1999 and I thought it was oddly appropriate. It stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and David Strathairn. I might just have to check it out.)

I have, as of today, March 1, 2010, joined the hordes of uninsured, unemployed Americans. I went skiing over the weekend (a post of funness for another time) and managed to wonk-out my right knee. The only concern I had at the time was whether or not it was serious enough to need medical attention. Not for my health, but because of my current mess of a life. On Friday, I managed to squeeze in my last medical appointments in a semi-reckless, no-follow-up-care kind of way.

I realize the so-called healthcare "debate" is raging violently in D.C. right now, and I know there are many people who feel that socialized healthcare is the debil. I know there are those running scared about the personal cost of relinquishing the control the insurance companies have over our welfare. Well, let me say this once and for all to those who have medical coverage, but squeal and run screaming "socialism!" and cover their ears when people talk of state-run healthcare: SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Until everyone can rest well at night knowing that they, their spouses, their parents, neighbors, and children have access to reasonable healthcare at all times, this country will remain in the shitter. Let's be honest, the morons screaming about communism and socialized medicine and fucking DEATH PANELS are either wealthy enough or secure enough not to worry about whether they will pay for food or rent or medicine this month. They won't worry that their child won't get proper attention when ill or injured. They won't ever stare down the gullet of never-ending medical bills on a minimum-wage salary.

And let's be honest, Medicare, Medicaid... they're already socialized. Unless you're among the many misinformed individuals out there who seem to think that these programs come from some magical never-never land, our healthcare is already largely socialized. I am no expert here, but as one of the few post-industrial nations out there without some form of government-run healthcare, I can see that there's more than just a little wrong in the United Sates.

I love my nation. I'm a patriot, but never confuse that with nationalism. I hate watching the healthcare "debate" devolve into sniping and steonwalling by Republican'ts who are bitter they lost the election paired with the covering diplomacy of Democrats. Nothing is getting done. And almost 46 million of us are still uninsured.

Allow me to regale you with an anecdote. While I was in school in London, I managed to break both bones in my right ankle in a fine display of clumsiness and grace while running for the tube. Not my shiningest moment, but it is what it is. When I got to the A&E (that's the ER for us Yanks), I was treated and hospitalized. I ended up with eight pins and a plate in my ankle. Yay for modern medicine! Incidentally, the hospital was a teaching hospital attached to the university I was studying at. The entire story is hysterical, but I will save it for another day.

What's more is, as my friend Alice who kindly accompanied me to the hospital that night will attest, while on relative ineffective pain killers in the exam room in the A&E, I told every person who came into the room that they shouldn't worry because I had insurance. Never you mind that my ankle had to be reset and was so swollen that I had to lay in the hospital bed for five days before surgery. I was concerned immediately with begin able to prove that I could pay for my treatment. The pain in my leg? Merely a nuisance compared with my fear that I might not receive as thorough treatment as I needed. I was in a constant state of panic about this until the next morning. A lovely case-manager, a bespectacled, slightly egg-shaped man in a maroon blazer, came to my bed. He asked why I was in the United Kingdom. I told him I was a student at the school and mentioned I had insurance. He asked for my student ID. I gave it to him, and mentioned I had insurance. He wrote down information from my ID. I mentioned again that I had insurance. He looked over his glasses at me and smiled. He said everything was covered because I was a full-time student for the year. I was relived and suspicious at the same time. Talk about a what the fuck moment. I have always been a proponent of socialized medicine to some degree, but my own experience solidified my stance.

Yes, this is an anecdote. Not everyone has a pleasant medical experience in foreign countries. Yes, the combined income tax and National Insurance rate for UK citizens making over £37,400 a year hovers around 40%. Yes, Americans balk at this number. Yes, that can't be a whole lot of fun.

But what is the cost of healthcare for those who are uninsured? Astronomical, especially when you consider that most of those who are uninsured are, like me, not exactly rolling in dough.

I've been actively searching for jobs. I applied to a few earlier today. There aren't many out there to be had. I did get a suggestion from Monster.com that I apply to be an Orkin exterminator, but considering my fear of chemicals and dislike of creepy crawlies, I decided that I needed to keep looking.

The problem is that many see government-provided healthcare as a way to pander to the lowest common denominator in the Unites States - the happily unemployed, social loafers living off welfare and unemployment and whatever else. Regardless of what systems of protection or support we have, there will always be individuals who fit this description. (This is not, in any way, an argument against these systems.) It worries me deeply, however, that so many Americans seem not only unconcerned that their fellow citizens can languish in medical hell, but determined to make them stay there. And worse yet, I see these individuals as the self-same who would deny a young woman her reproductive freedoms (read: abortion) because every life is sacred... except hers. Yep, wrap the ol' noggin' around that one. Carry on.

At what point did we become a laissez-faire nation? Not in terms of government systems, but in terms of genuinely caring about our fellow citizens because they're human and in need? The gap between the Haves and the Have Nots is gaping and only growing bigger.

I don't mean to rant. But I will be honest with whoever reads this:

I'm unemployed. I'm uninsured. And I'm scared.