I recently experienced a rude awakening as a result of a hit-and-run accident. My boyfriend, Zach Baker, was skateboarding to the store Feb. 28, eastbound on Emmett Street. He was riding with traffic, as the city he is originally from – Harrisburg, Pa. – does not allow skateboarding on the sidewalk.
A car, which was also headed eastbound, hit him, and he fell to the pavement, suffering a broken arm.
The woman who ran into him barely stopped before she sped off with seemingly no concern for the person she had struck down.
Before this accident, I was leery of universal health care due to the high cost of taxation it would demand.
After seeing how the perfect storm of unfortunate events can, in theory, happen to anyone, the U.S. might do well looking to many industrialized nations’ health care systems. Such countries include Australia, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Zach lived and worked in Paris until December of last year.
France has government-run health care, which means anyone can seek and obtain care in any hospital for any reason.
This right is extended to visitors and immigrants. Patients are responsible for paying prescription costs, but the government has a cap of 25 Euro or ($36 U.S.) on all medications.
Health care has a very different nature here in Michigan, where Zack has been for the last four months struggling to find employment. The health care he sought has been despicable in comparison to his previous residence.
Saint Joseph Mercy – Ann Arbor gave Zach X-rays, a splint wrapped in bandages and a sling for temporary purposes. The doctor explained the kind of fracture he had needed immediate attention from an orthopedic specialist, as it could require surgery. The injury at least needed a proper cast, or he would lose mobility in his arm.
He also received a brochure with three phone numbers meant to address billing and payment questions he might have had. With seven days to spare, he tried all three numbers, hoping to be referred to a specialist who, by law, is required to give him a free one-time consultation, according to a nurse at St. Joe’s.
The social worker he finally contacted said she needed a police report in order for him to receive any help.
After this useless report was filed, containing no description of the suspect or license plate number, the Ypsilanti Police Department informed him the report would not be ready for another week.
At this point, the crucial week period had almost passed for him to receive any surgery he might have
needed – it would be about seven more days before he could produce the paperwork for the social worker.
We decided to return to the emergency room, because time was running out. They gave him a number of referral to an orthopedic specialist and sent us on our way.
This number was another dead end, as the secretary of this doctor informed us he will not see a patient who does not have health insurance. Payment plans are available, but $150 was needed up front.
Neither drug abuse nor disability can be blamed for Zach’s current misfortune, so why is the health care industry treating him like a dreg to society?
It has been a month since the accident, and Zach is still not in a proper cast. He is left with about $800 in medical bills he cannot afford to pay as a result of his now worn-out splint given to him in the ER. I do not have the money to help him with his medical bills, and neither does his family in Pennsylvania.
I have always received excellent health care in Michigan, as I have excellent insurance.
The health care system here is a totally different place to find yourself trapped without insurance or the money to pay the bills. I would not wish the medical treatment my boyfriend received on my worst enemy.
Everyone deserves quality treatment to an injury suffered from an accident. I charge Eastern Michigan University students to seriously think about where our values lay regarding the well-being of others in our community and the greater society.
As our economy takes on an increasingly volatile state, your loved ones could also find themselves slipping through our makeshift safety nets designed to help the less fortunate.
