Health Insurance

I was just reading an article in a magazine about workers' benefits, and one sentence began, "In 1945, when President Truman first proposed national health insurance ....**" - If this is true, than the idea of national health insurance has been kicking around for at least 61 years, and there are still a shameful number of people in this country who cannot afford to go to a doctor. Case in point:

In 1992, I broke my shoulder (or, more accurately, someone broke it for me). Trip to the emergency room, x-rays, trip to the bone doctor and more x-rays ensued. The bone doctor wanted to operate and set the shoulder with pins. He estimated that the surgery would cost $5,000.00. At that point in my life, I could no more afford a $5,000.00 surgery than I could finance a trip to the moon. So I went home with my arm in a sling. Even so, the bills from the emergency room, etc. totaled more than $800.00 (keep in mind, this was 1992). I had to borrow money from my parents (oh, the shame) to pay these bills off. Thanks Mom and Dad!

So my shoulder today, while not painful, has this weird little dip in the top. And for whatever reason (the way the bones set themselves?), that arm is now a little longer than the other one.

I now have health insurance through my employer. But do I believe in national health insurance for everyone? You betcha.

** The New Yorker, "The Risk Pool", August 28, 2006