As good a day as any…
Thursday, August 28 2008
This today, from several sources (first Ezra Klein):
Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain’s health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)
So, of course, I just had to start blogging for realz.
Don’t get me wrong: Klein and Drum had more or less the right reaction. Goodman is off his meds, but Klein and Drum both focus on the problems this creates as policy. Meanwhile anyone who’s had significant experience with ER care sees a whole different range of problems in Goodman’s plan. Even if the payment weren’t an issue (it is, hugely), this is a stupid plan for a whole raft of reasons.
This is why I am convinced the blogosphere needs me. There are a lot of health care blogs by wonks, a lot of blogs by doctors, a lot of blogs by patients recounting their symptoms – these are claimed turf already. What I have looked for, but not found, is a blog about health care that evinces any familiarity with the system from the user’s perspective.
And of course, this is a good time to do it – perhaps even a bit late. Health care is a big issue this election cycle, with both major candidates offering plans. One plan is acceptable, the other terrible. Actually, today is doubly appropriate for me: I just learned my employer is bumping me down to a no-frills health insurance plan that covers maybe 1/10th of my annual medical expenses (on which more later).
These issues are real for me in a way they’re maybe not for the aforementioned bloggers, so I have a deep, visceral reaction to idiots like Goodman. I’ve been in the ER many, many times. I’ve sat in the waiting room with winos and worried parents, infomercials going full blast and bright lights boring holes in my skull. I’ve lain in my bed in the hallway, put there because the rooms were all full, and watched the injured and dying come and go. More to the point, I’ve resisted going back because I can’t afford the co-pay. Anyone who suggests that ER = health care has either never been to the ER or is simply disingenuous. Either way, it’s the kind of proposal you just can’t take seriously if you’ve ever been really sick.
I have, and I’m here to talk about it.
