My son spent the first two weeks of his life in Neonatal Intensive Care.
Moments after being born a month early, he was laboring to breathe, desperate for air. He was dying.
He nearly didn't survive his first 24 hours.
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Moments after being born a month early, he was laboring to breathe, desperate for air. He was dying.
He nearly didn't survive his first 24 hours.
1/
His life was saved by 27 doctors and nurses.
During those agonizing days, my entire world revolved around only his survival. Life stopped. I lived at the hosp. I learned every machine. I got to know every caregiver.I barely slept or ate.
His health was all that mattered.
2/
During those agonizing days, my entire world revolved around only his survival. Life stopped. I lived at the hosp. I learned every machine. I got to know every caregiver.I barely slept or ate.
His health was all that mattered.
2/
The day he came home from the hospital was the happiest day of my life.
To this day, more than 10 yrs later, I still trace my fingers over the two near-invisible scars on his chest from where doctors ran tubes to vent pressure from a torn and collapsed lung.
It changes you.
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To this day, more than 10 yrs later, I still trace my fingers over the two near-invisible scars on his chest from where doctors ran tubes to vent pressure from a torn and collapsed lung.
It changes you.
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A week after he came home, the bill arrived.
His two weeks of care cost over $170,000.
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His two weeks of care cost over $170,000.
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Well, not exactly...
Had I not been insured, the bill would have been over $170,000.
Thanks to their negotiated rates, my insurance co. paid only $15,000 to settle the entire bill.
It cost a insurer 9% of what it would have cost an uninsured person.
5/
Had I not been insured, the bill would have been over $170,000.
Thanks to their negotiated rates, my insurance co. paid only $15,000 to settle the entire bill.
It cost a insurer 9% of what it would have cost an uninsured person.
5/
In one of the world's richest countries, it shouldn't cost a person too poor to afford insurance ten times more to save their own child's life than it would cost a corporation.
The penalty for poverty shouldn't be death or deeper poverty.
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The penalty for poverty shouldn't be death or deeper poverty.
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A parent shouldn't have to stand beside their newborn's bedside worrying about whether their baby will survive while also worrying about how their family will survive the bills.
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Yet, right at this very minute, there are parents just like me who are nervously walking hospital halls desperate for their children to survive while terrified of the crushing bills that await.
In two weeks, I'm voting for the party that actually gets that and cares.
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In two weeks, I'm voting for the party that actually gets that and cares.
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Americans shouldn't have to choose between death and bankruptcy.
One party has voted to improve healthcare coverage; to protect children and their parents; and to make access to affordable healthcare a right rather than a privilege.
That party is Democrats.
9/
One party has voted to improve healthcare coverage; to protect children and their parents; and to make access to affordable healthcare a right rather than a privilege.
That party is Democrats.
9/
My son is my miracle. He's my life.
I've had the immeasurable good fortune to have had my son's life saved by access to quality healthcare.
In two wks, I'll be voting to see that every future parent just like me gets to someday be as fortunate.
I'll be voting for Democrats.
I've had the immeasurable good fortune to have had my son's life saved by access to quality healthcare.
In two wks, I'll be voting to see that every future parent just like me gets to someday be as fortunate.
I'll be voting for Democrats.
