The student health insurance plan is covered through United Healthcare. I know that other healthcare providers in Los Angeles are really difficult for people outside of this insular university sphere, such as Kaiser. I used to think my plan was "good" -- I get a fellowship, and that pays for the Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan. Great. Fees to see a nurse practitioner -- none. Rates of accupuncture for post-accident therapy - $25 a session. Nice. Co-pay for Eye-visit - $10. Wow.
Shit. I shoulda read the fine print. Emergency Room visit, 15 other random lab tests, and a CT scan - hella co-pays. Now, many people have written about the "medical-industrial complex,"
The medical-industrial complex (MIC) refers to the health industry, which is composed of the multibillion-dollar congeries of enterprises including doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies, drug manufacturers, hospital supply and equipment companies, real estate and construction businesses, health systems consulting and accounting firms, and banks. As employed by the Ehrenreichs, the concept conveys the idea that an important (if not the primary) function of the health care system in the United States is business (that is, to make profits)
the perils of the privatization of health care insurance, and the overall lack of competency in the U.S. medical public health institution in understanding the ways that race, class, gender, sexuality and immigration play into health care access, services and navigability. Today was another opportunity to witness that garbage.
Something about, being charged an amount I currently cannot afford, explaining it on the phone to my mother, and listening to my father, made me cry. I was on the shuttle, and just sort of, broke down. She calmed me, told me not to worry, and we'd figure out a way. Fax the information to her. I'm such a kid still, I guess. She told me about when she had her first C-section, her first hospital trip in this country, and saw all the medical bills then, she too cried. She really worried and wondered how they were going to get it together. I guess she had really good insurance then, because she told me that she was able to get it covered.
That was the first time she told me a story like that. How isolated she must have felt. She told me they didn't even have a penny at that time to give to the medical industry - the hospital, the medicines, the ER, the surgery. Then, of course, she told me to pray and that it will all go away. I think for now, I'll still resort to organizing as a means of "praying," but walking down the extra street instead of immediately going to the next location did give me a sense of space from these worries. Just gotta keep sensibility in our day to day. Lesse what momma gots up her sleeves.
