We Deserve CARE In Healthcare
The "Hospitals Abroad" Edition
I sprained my ankle in May. At the thirty minute urgent care visit they gave me a flimsy brace that fit in my pocket, they didn’t give me crutches and then failed to provide quality aftercare instructions.
Total: $3000.
I haven’t been able to afford an orthopedic doctor visit or physical therapy.
As a result, from my toes to my hip has been numb for the past several months. When your foot falls asleep? That’s how it feels. Only, it never wakes up. I’m fairly certain I need an MRI to check for a torn ligament but lmao no, because:
I am an uninsured poor who lives in ‘merica
The last time I was at an Ohio hospital (to deliver food as an Uber eats driver) I ran across a nurse with a “blue lives matter” patch sewn on the arm of their uniform
The layers of violence I experienced in that moment…
Lemme put on this THC lotion, drink a cuppa nettle tea and stay my butt at home.
Anyway, as I limped to my computer earlier to start my day, this was the first post I read:
Treated as if you deserved…kindness?
My medically and racially traumatized nervous system can’t comprehend that.
The author ends with the acknowledgment that yes, Cuba has issues. However, that ain’t the point. Her point was that the quality of “care” we receive in this country (if we can even afford it) is completely fucked.
To be clear, I’m hyper aware that anti-Blackness is global. And I’d still rather visit a hospital abroad than trust my care to a provider who openly refuses to value my life.
This is one of the numerous reasons I’m working relentlessly to escape to Mexico.
But I live in chronic poverty which makes everything even 10x harder.
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I’m in need of deep emotional and physical care that I’ll never find here.
Wooooooooooooow. The difference is staggering.
Well, yes - it's the same in Colombia. I lived there for four years. I was able to travel in South America relatively inexpensively and was on vacation in Chile. The bus I was on hit the bus in front of it and I ended up with two broken ribs. I was brought to the ER by my tour guide, afraid that I was going to be in for thousands of dollars. My Colombian insurance company said, "pay out of pocket there, then send us the bill and we'll reimburse you." Being American, I was like, "yeah, right!" But I had not choice. Interestingly, the entire ER bill OUT OF POCKET for an MRI, X-RAY, and Emergency room doctors was ONLY $500. In the states this would have been $20,000. Long story short, I sent the invoice and my insurance reimbursed me. Another time, had to have foot surgery. Didn't pay a THING. And my insurance only cost $30/American per month. The poor in Colombia get FREE health care, because they just CAN'T pay, and I don't mind that my $30/month goes to help them. (But imagine - that's ALL IT COSTS.) Yes, our system is fucked.