The Sacramento Bee puts a face on the uninsured with their special feature on the plight of Tony Andrade, 47, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer. His medical bills have swelled into the tens of thousands of dollars and the calls from bill collectors keep coming. Nearly four years ago, he lost his home when he could not keep up with the payments.
In many ways, Andrade, 47, is the Everyman of President Barack Obama's push for overhauling the country's health care system: working, but for low wages, without health benefits – in the company of 37 million employed Americans who are uninsured. When Andrade first noticed the drops of blood in his urine he made a choice familiar to the uninsured – he went to an ER that he knew by law would have to see him whether he could pay or not. Like many of California’s 7 million uninsured, Andrade earns too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, but too little to buy insurance on his own.
Andrade knows something is afoot in Washington, but feels disconnected from the political debate. He suspects any help it brings won't come soon enough to pull him out of this mess. Though he did qualify as medically indigent and was able to have the tumor removed through a county program, he soon discovered that the cancer had spread to surrounding tissue and that more surgery was needed. And then, another setback. The contract between Andrade's doctor and the county is under review, caught up in the county's budget woes. His surgery is on hold again.
Read the whole story. It's worth the time. It's a good reminder about why we need health care reform.
Comments