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Last night, I was biking home and got hit by a car that was going very fast. I flew off my bike and landed on my back, and thought I might be seriously injured for a short but terrifying stretch of time. But I didn't call an ambulance, because I was worried about the cost.
I probably should've called. I laid in the street moaning in pain for a bit. But the guy who hit me had stopped and helped me on my feet, and I realized I could stand up. So the first thing I did on my feet was weigh how injured I might be with how much an ambulance would cost.
I'm lucky. It could've easily been so much worse. The guy who hit me was very apologetic, acknowledged immediately that it was his fault, that he wasn't looking as he made a turn through a green light, agreed to pay for whatever, called me today to check up on me.
My back is sore, but it seems okay. I have a doctor's appt Monday. I just wish we had a healthcare system that allowed me to get the care I needed moments after being hit by a car rather than forcing me in that moment to weigh whether that care's cost was actually worth it.
Our for-profit health system forces people to make decisions like this, often during the worst moments of their lives, all the time. Last year a Boston woman had her leg mangled on a train but refused an ambulance, saying, "I can't afford that." upi.com/Top_News/US/20…
We don't have to live this way. We could have Medicare for All, under which nobody would have to forego calling an ambulance if they thought they were severely injured. We don't have that system because a small number of capitalists get very rich off of our for-profit system.
Getting hit last night was a scary reminder of why we so desperately need the Medicare for All system that Bernie has been campaigning on—and why we can't accept the watered-down versions that his competitors are touting and questionably committed to. People's lives are at stake.
