Review: "Even Insured Often Face Crushing Medical Debt, Study Finds" – The New York Times
This article, written by Margot Sanger-Katz and posted on The New York Times website, shares an unfortunately common story: person gets an illness they likely had no control over getting, and because they weren't rich enough or lucky enough, eventually loses everything.
Even people with health insurance are subject to rule changes and unreasonable expectations that insurance companies create, and then change, at their whim. This motif repeats itself again and again, across America, every day.
The article goes on to state that they were able to explore "the effects of medical bills on people's daily lives well beyond the medical system. We found that medical bills don't just keep people from filling prescriptions and scheduling doctors' visits. They can also prompt deep financial and personal sacrifices, affecting their housing, employment, credit and daily lives."
This is simply unacceptable. I would now go so far as to say we are creating – or I could say acquiescing to – our own general demise. We have to cast off this system and build one that works for us.
I firmly believe that the P.S.Y.C.H. plan is the way to move forward with meaningful change and empower individual rights and responsibilities while providing for general social welfare. It's a win-win. We've codified poverty, income inequality, and health disparity by sticking to a system that doesn't work. What would happen if we changed health today?