It”s easy these days to get confused by all the rhetoric on both sides by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Rather than just add to the rhetoric I think it might be helpful to offer a real-world example that just happened to me. In late, August I fell from high on a ladder while working on my house. I”ve done this work many times before and have never in my life suffered an accident like this, nor do I have a history of being accident prone.
I was knocked unconscious by the fall and suffered three broken ribs and a broken collarbone. In addition, at least one of the broken ribs punctured my lung. After reviving from being unconscious I called 9-1-1 and was transported by ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where they did some CAT scans to determine the damage. It was pretty obvious before this that something was seriously wrong because I was in more pain than I”ve ever before experienced in my life.
Later that evening, I was transported by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital because of the danger of a collapsing lung from the puncture. Initially after the accident, I was having trouble catching my breath. I was at Santa Rosa memorial ICU for approximately two days and the trauma unit for one day. Happily, the punctured lung eventually sealed itself and they never had to insert a tube to drain my chest cavity. The doctor told me that my right lung had descended about 10 percent lower in my body cavity than it was initially. Gravity is a powerful force. I have only good things to say about the level of care I received there and still have warm feelings for all the nurses and staff that took care of me. I will never forget them.
I have happily almost completely recovered from the accident and don”t anticipate any lasting effects, except for trepidation when I”m on a ladder now. Many people will say that people should not be forced into buying medical insurance if they are not already covered and that it is a terrible deal for society. To me these people have been sold a bill of goods. The bill for my three day hospital stay was approximately $70,000. If you think this is too high, then you weren”t in the position I was and did not see the level of care I was getting.
Next time you disparage Obamacare, use your imagination instead of your venom, and picture yourself and millions of others in this country that might be only moments away from an accident or who might have a preexisting condition that could devastate them both physically and financially.
Eric Habegger
Lakeport
