On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, our daughter Megan texted us a picture of her foot. She was in Cocoa Beach with friends and had injured her foot while skim boarding. A risky sport. Not something I would try, but hey, Megan is a lot younger.
Given the pain she was experiencing and the swelling, she felt her foot was broken. I told her I would be in Orlando the next day and we would get her to a clinic. Sunday morning a friend drove her to a walk-in clinic where, for $299, they took X-rays and put her foot in a splint and advised her to see an orthopedic specialist as soon as possible. Up until last year, she had health insurance. It lapsed in January and she didn’t renew it because she figured trump would annihilate the Affordable Care Act that was enacted during the Obama administration.
By the time I arrived, Megan had sent the X rays to several friends in the medical field. The consensus? A cast for 4 weeks, a boot for another 4 weeks. Here’s where it gets synchronistic. Her roommate, Alex, sells metal plates, bolts and nuts, and joint replacements to orthopedic docs. His brother is a medical resident specializing in foot and ankle injuries. One of her friends is an ER doc. Another friend, Evan, is a physical therapist who showed the X-ray to a doc he works with.
We drove over to an emergency room and were told they didn’t do casts. She had to see an orthopedic. Since it was a long weekend, we had to wait until Tuesday, when we went to an orthopedic walk-in clinic. Big mistake. These clinics are in the surgery business. For $250, they took X rays and saw a PA – physician’s assistant – who was one of the rudest and most condescending individuals I’ve ever met.
Nope, this injury requires surgery, gotta have it done, otherwise she’s going to have arthritis in that foot at the age of 40. That’s it? we asked. Arthritis? Hey, she doesn’t have insurance. And suddenly, his attitude was like, Hey, you don’t question me. I’m the authority here. She needs surgery. He scheduled her for an appointment the next day with the orthopedic surgeon upstairs.
We left the place in a state of near shock. This kind of surgery costs between 30-40 grand without insurance.
The next day, we saw the orthopedic surgeon for another $250. I liked the man. He was forthright, honest. Usually, we treat this injury with surgery. But in the days before metal plate and nuts and bolts, he added, we treated it with a cast. What’s the worst case scenario if we opt for the cast? we asked.
Well, she won’t lose her leg or anything. Arthritis in the ankle later in life, maybe a loss of flexibility in that ankle, but maybe none of that. He recommended she return in a week, on June 7, after the swelling had gone down, for a cast. He added that the surgery is very expensive, but there are payment plans and we should talk to his clerk. So we did.
She said the surgical center was the most expensive part if Megan opted for surgery – they asked for everything up front. She promised to call Megan by Friday with a breakdown of costs.
No one called.
She’s going for the cast.
Megan is self-employed. Three part-time jobs. Dog walker (tough to do if your foot is broken), art teacher (have to teach with your broken foot resting on a knee scooter) and artist.
So far, this journey has cost nearly $800. By the time the cast is put on, we’re looking at $1000. For a broken fibia.
Why should anyone have to make choices like this based solely on economics? Bernie Sanders had it right – single payer health care, Medicare for all. It should be a right, not a privilege reserved for the wealthy who can afford the 30 or 40 grand for the surgery. Why are we the only country in the industrialized world without universal health care?
