Why Universal Healthcare is Important

With so much going on this week with the RNC and all the bullshit that is being spewed out, I want people to know why I think we need Universal Health care. Last year, I woke up one morning and I couldn't feel the left side of my body. At first, I thought that it was a pinched nerve or something wrong that a chiropractor could fix. When I found out that the chiropractor could do nothing for me, and that I need to see a neurologist, that's when I got scared. I had insurance. I paid for it myself, not through a company or from my mommy and daddy. So, I figured everything would, at least on that front, be okay. After seeing the Neurologist and getting multiple MRI's, the doctor called me back into his office and told me that I needed to have a Spinal Tap done. So, weary and scared, I got the spinal tap done. Afterwards, you are supposed to rest and take it easy. Apparently, something like 20%of people get what's known as a "spinal headache" after having a spinal tap. 3 days after the spinal tap, I was in such bad pain that I had to be rushed to the emergency room. They did what is known as a "blood patch" which is when they take blood from your arm and simultaneously put the blood back into the puncture spot where the spinal tap was done to clot. After receiving some pretty intense pain relievers, I was released and sent back home. After all this, I had to have several trips back to the doctor's office to get blood work done and a neurological eye test to make sure that the lost sensation did not affect my eyesight. Finally after the results were in on the spinal fluid, I found out that I had MS. Like I said earlier, I had insurance. But, shortly after the diagnosis, I received countless amounts of medical bills from doctors, emergency rooms, and Hoag Hospital where I got my MRI and spinal tap done. I owed $3,000 just in medical bills excluding what my doctors office bills cost each and every time I went in and not including all the prescriptions that I paid for. I don't think anybody should have to worry about going to the doctor to feel better because its too expensive. Your health should be your number one priority in life and having to worry about paying the bills after such a hard experience was stressful and did not help my recovery. So, when people talk about not wanting to have universal health care because the quality would diminish, I call bullshit. We have plenty of Canadians that come down here to Seattle all the time, and I have heard stories good or bad about their universal health care. But, nothing compares to having decide between paying the bills or feeling better. Everybody that I have talked to that lives in different countries cannot imagine what it would be like to have to worry like many Americans do in this country. Many people my age still have the luxury of having their parents to pay for their medical bills, but I hope that they realize that most other people do not have that luxury and that their unwillingness to help their fellow man/woman is the reason why this country is not living up to its fullest potential. To me, it all comes down to money. It saddens me that most people that are living at the upper echelon in life feel like they have no reason to help others. It is every body's responsibility as a human being to help others.