We Need HR676!

A few weeks ago my 20 year old son fell while rock climbing. He fractured his L1 vertebra. It emploded into his spinal cord and could very well have paralyzed him for life. Thank God he can still walk! He was carried down the mountain by his friend and two campers that were nearby. A few days after the accident he underwent surgery to decompress his spine. The surgeon went thru his left side to get to the spine. This way they avoid going thru all the nerves that exit the spinal column. They took out the fractured vertebra piece by piece and replaced it with some wicked looking hardware. It took 5 hours to do this! He came out of surgery very scared, saying he couldn't breath. He was so anxious that they brought me in there to calm him down. He was in so much pain. He had a great big chest-tube in as a drain. He drained a lot of blood those first few days.

He was so anxious about the bill he wanted to go home a day or two after surgery just to save money. Since he was not in school, we didn't think my insurance would cover him. He kept worrying about the bill. The stress and pain made him angry and rude. He was rude to the surgeon for not taking out the tube so he could go home. He is not normally a rude person. I think that the stress was just too much for a 20 yr old to handle. He knew that all this was going to cost an arm and a leg. He felt that it would take the rest of his life to pay it off. When you are that stressed you don't think logically. The depression sets in and your mind tells you that your life is ruined. I called my insurance company and found out that he hadn't been removed. I thought that it was automatically done when they did not register for school. So there is a chance he may be covered. It would be a life-saver because he doesn't qualify for medicaid. So far the only bill he has received is the surgeon's. It is $17,000!!!!! I know he is a fabulous surgeon, but there is no way he could ever justify $17,000 to me. Can you imagine what the hospital bill is going to be? Not to mention the trauma doctor and the radiologist that will be billed separately from the hospital. He was in the hospital for 8 days and I estimate the cost to be over $50,000. Oh yea, I forgot about physical therapy that he will start soon. So add another couple thousand dollars to the that figure.

Can you imagine being a 20 year old faced with that kind of bill? I can't. This kind of senerio happens every day to people across the country. This has reaffirmed my support for HR676. The worry of the bill would not have come into play with my son. He would not have insisted on being released before he was ready. He could have concentrated on getting well instead of being scared of the bill.

Please, call or write your congressmen, senators and President elect Obama! This country needs this bill! If you are unfamiliar with HR676, google it! It is not the same as Canada's or England's health care system. This one I believe will work for this country. The system we have doesn't!

Susan