In light of the news about Bernie Sanders supporters harassing @Culinary226, I’d like to share a personal story about how union healthcare saved my dad’s life and why I won’t support a plan that doesn’t give people—especially union workers—the option to keep their plan. 1/
When I was a kid, my dad—a lifelong union worker—had a debilitating stroke. He was taken to the nearest hospital, which was a very small country hospital. He was stabilized in the ICU but not doing great. My mom wanted to have him transferred to a larger regional hospital. 2/
She was able to call my dad’s union healthcare claims rep because even though the insurance company was private, the union had a claims team in house to administer the plan. People who were on the members’ side. That was critical for us. 3/
The union rep handled all the negotiations with the insurance company over coverage, the hospital administrative red tape, everything so my dad could be transferred. And my poor mom, with two young kids and a husband in the hospital, did not have to fight over it. 4/
Shortly after my dad was transferred, he had a subsequent stroke and developed a DVT requiring urgent surgery. Has he not been transferred to that facility with the type of surgeon he needed in time, he would have died. 5/
My dad was hospitalized for months but recovering poorly and his prognosis for ever being able to walk again was poor. He was increasingly depressed. When the doctors determined he was stable enough for release, they wanted to put him in a nursing home. 6/
My dad’s therapist felt he would not fully recover in a nursing home and suggested in-home daily therapy from a team of four therapists. Of course, that was prohibitively expensive. The union rep moved heaven and earth and got it covered. 7/
After months of that in-home therapy, my dad was eventually able to walk again. He danced at my wedding. He died years later doing what he loved most—riding his bike. But that union rep—bless her—gave him his life and quality of life for a lot of years. 8/
One of the reasons most union workers do NOT want to give up their healthcare for single payer is they have built-in advocacy through their union reps—which have bargaining power with insurance companies. With single payer, it’s just you vs. the government. There’s no advocate 9/
So what happens if the government does not want to cover an expensive procedure, or a hospital transfer, or experimental cancer treatment? You have no one to help you. You have no negotiating power. You don’t even have the option of switching insurance companies. 10/
And what happens if single payer passed and the GOP—inevitably—returns to power? Do you trust the GOP to control everything aspect of your healthcare? Do you not think that they will immediately cut women’s health services, LGBTQ and trans health services, etc? 11/
Just because you trust the government to control your healthcare today does not mean you can trust government tomorrow because it might be in very different hands. This is not to say we can’t have universal healthcare. I believe in Medicare for all who want it/public option. 12/
But when you’re asking union workers to give up good healthcare with built-in advocacy/buying power in the market to gamble on single payer—you’re asking A LOT. Union members want everyone to have healthcare but it’s a false choice to say they need to give up their care. 13/
Healthcare is not—as Bernie Sanders would have you believe—a zero sum game. Most Americans are covered by their employers and are happy with their plans. The goal is to cover everyone else. We can achieve that with less drastic means than single payer. 14/14
