When I got Covid, I was making decent money doing regional craft beer sales and running a mixed fermentation barrel program. I paid off all consumer debt (not that I had that much to begin with) and was throwing my monthly commissions into savings. When I was forced to go on disability, I had 6-8 months worth of expenses saved up. I have always been fiscally cautious. I worked my way through undergrad, sometimes as much as 52 hours a week (with a 22 credit load that I had to stay on the Dean’s List to even attempt) and graduated debt-free. I own my van and motorcycle outright, have lived in the same modest apartment for the last 7 years (and only for 2 months without at least one roommate) and have always lived well within my means. I’ve never even owned a vehicle with powered windows or locks.
When I got sick, I stopped eating out and curbed spending to a level of austerity. No avocado toast or lattes for me.
None of it mattered. It usually doesn’t. I am broke now.
As soon as it was legal for them to do so, my employer began charging me over $500 a month for my insurance, the insurance that requires a $35-300 copay for any interaction with anyone employed in the medical field. I had 5 medical appointments this week.
Disability payments got delayed, and although I call and navigate the automated menu daily, I am always disconnected because there are too many people trying to get through. I have submitted everything online and sent emails and messages through their portal, and I have been assured that I will be contacted in 4-8 business days, but that hasn’t happened either. I have written and mailed a letter and will be going to the Social Security office in person this week. I am considering smoke signals and carrier pigeons.
My apartment is near the only real bike path in this city, which stopped becoming a selling point when the already-severe homelessness crisis was exacerbated by the pandemic and the homeless population swelled. In the last 6 months, my partner’s car has been burglarized at least 3 times, my van windows have been smashed in twice, (van was also burglarized) I have had $2000-2500 worth of catalytic converters stolen, the van itself was stolen, and my motorcycle was totaled when my neighbors and I interrupted the two guys stealing it. I have had to absorb $6000 in vehicular damages, and had to spend an obscene amount of time and effort getting the repairs done, as there is a literal shortage of auto glass and catalytic converters due to the high demand for replacements in my area.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors is currently being sued for withholding 1.2 million in federal Covid-19 aid to a coalition of local nonprofits, because one of them, the Dolores Huerta Foundation (yes, that Dolores Huerta) supported an initiative to defund the police in the county with the highest per capita rate of people killed at the hands of police.
I am now at the point where I am looking to discontinue my last 4 pulmonary therapy sessions (doctors and researchers recommend 24-36 sessions, but my insurance only approved 9).
66.5% of bankruptcies in America are due solely to medical debt. The rate of bankruptcy for college-educated individuals has doubled since 2011. An additional fact offers some context; 13% of bankruptcies in 1980 were businesses, as opposed to 3% last year. I have access to resources and support that the majority do not, but even that doesn’t mean I am in the clear.
Next week, I intend to explore the medical consequences of privatized medicine for patients, and the professional consequences for medical workers, but this week, I wanted to highlight specifically the economic realities that the sick and the disabled have to live with under for-profit healthcare in America.
The medical system in the USA is purpose-built, not for patient outcomes, not for doctors or nurses, but for shareholders, large property and business owners, executives, pharmaceutical sales reps, and middle managers/medical administrators. As a result, our country spends far more per patient than any other developed country does, and this is what we have to show for it.
(Follow my thoughts and experiences regarding Long COVID recovery in my SubStack email newsletter: https://substack.com/profile/58917637-sean-vansickel?utm_source=user-menu)
