She could not afford insurance but was not poor enough to get Medicaid for her breast cancer. A doctor cut off her breast but she was forced into massive debt for treatment.
Breast Cancer dreadful story
Near the end of our Politics Done Right show after hearing a rather sad story about our dreadful healthcare system, this savagery of our system towards a breast cancer patient hurt to the core. This and many other stories are just manifestations that dictate the need for Single-Payer Medicare for All.
The caller is from San Antonio. Texas is one of the states that did not accept the Medicaid Expansion to the Affordable Care Act. In other words, the taxpayers of this rich state are paying for something their citizens who cannot afford insurance cannot use. It’s an economic drag on the state. Worse, our Republican legislature is committing voluntary homicide on its citizens by denying them available services even if not the ideal solution.
The caller said that San Antonio has a local service to assist the poor in getting some medical care. What she explained though was barbaric. The doctor that removed her breast told her his services was just to cut it off. There was no treatment which is needed many times after a mastectomy.
The caller was forced to sign an agreement to go into debt to pay $18.000 for her radiation treatments. We do not have a healthcare system. We have a wealth transfer conveyor belt. We have an economy that facilitates this behavior as it commoditizes everything to capitalize on it. Even the cure for illness is made a product in which cost is whatever the market will bear. And what is that? Your total income, plus your total asset, plus whatever credit some bank is willing to offer you. We better wake up soon.