When I was discovered as having a chronic illness, tons of tests were ordered for me. I realized this illness could become out of control financially very quickly.
As much as the doctor’s insisted I have certain tests, some twice, I questioned their testing and came to the conclusion that I was, in fact, paying to CYA of the doctors. My reply then was “I would rather be dead than medically bankrupt.” I meant it then and I feel even stronger about that today.
I sympathize with the person who would rather be dead than medically bankrupt. Bankruptcy is a kind of death in itself, and even if it is unavoidable, financial failure and inability to pay carries a sense of shame and impotency that millions of people struggle with afterwards in trying to regain their self esteem.
We live in a money dominated culture where having money is the highest good and not having it is often used as a measure of a person’s moral worth. The “death” of bankruptcy, in this regard, is truly soul killing. Many never recover. This is a huge cost for individuals and society, but, when you consider that medical costs account for 50% of all personal bankruptcies it becomes even more tragic and unnecessary. if we were a “civilized society” where medical care comes with our basic humanity and citizenship we would be a far healthier society both physically and mentally.
Depression and anxiety are rampant in the US and financial failure, and the fear of it, of job loss, of foreclosure, of sickness without insurance, of homelessness, and falling into poverty and dependence are major causes. We are a country of individuals and so we stand alone. Failure is treated like a contagious disease and we become afraid of each other lest we fall victim to it ourselves.
It is the corporate machinery and mentality of the medical industry that grinds so many millions into bankruptcy rather than the doctors, nurses and technicians who serve the terrible system of medicine that we have. And, It is not just CYA [cover your ass] for doctors that call for more and more expensive testing. Today, many doctors belong to groups which are owned by hospitals which put pressure on doctors to feed their patients into the hospital’s testing equipment and procedures to make them more cost-effective, i.e. profitable. Illness is big business. It is a market to be exploited like any other by the corporate structure. It’s what we do and do very well even if people get crushed in the process.
We need to fix this killing machine of corporate medicine and return the focus medicine to the art of healing. We can make an excellent start by making unnecessary the “soul killing” destruction inherent in the brutal statistic that 50% of our bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.