'Finest health-care system in the world' a recipe for financial ruin

To the Editor:

My husband went to urgent care two weeks ago last Saturday. He was having trouble breathing (he has COPD that he was already being treated for), but he didn't let on to me how serious his condition was. I could tell on the way in the car this was not going to turn out well. He was taken by squad from Holzer Clinic to O'Bleness emergency. After O'Bleness worked on him for nearly five hours, he was med-flighted to the ICU at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, where he had a heart cath and a stent put in. Before that day, a heart problem was not suspected. Yet that day a change in his EKG detected a problem. Turns out he had a left artery leaving his heart that was 95 percent blocked.

I just witnessed some of the finest health care the world has to offer. The question now becomes how will we pay for it? We each have our own health-insurance coverage. His has a $5,000 deductible (and he contributes nearly $90 a week toward the premium), while mine has a $2,500 deductible. So we are already on the hook for close to $5,000, not counting the paltry amount we have already paid toward the deductible, plus 20 percent of covered charges after that, depending on what his actual coverage is, for a total bill of how much?

Ever read one of those insurance booklets? Good luck. It will be interesting to see what's covered. It also means I'd be best not get sick and will have to continue to suffer with my back problem and sciatica for quite a while longer. The car also has something wrong with it; more expense. Thank God it got me back and forth four hours a day for a week, 82 miles each way, in crappy weather.

Unfortunately, since Congress has dragged its feet on getting any kind of health reform passed, and it should be health-insurance reform, not health-care reform, it's too late for us.

I'm just hoping we can survive this financially. Squad run, five hours in the ER, helicopter to Riverside, three and a half days in ICU, three and a half days in the heart unit, plus ongoing medical equipment and prescriptions. And we don't know yet when, or if, he can return to work. Then there's the potential of loss of income, and loss of medical insurance such as it is.

What price do you put on a life? For me, his life is priceless. (I'm sure more so to him.) So we may die bankrupt, but at least I know we did everything possible to save him. We did the moral and right thing.

I just wish to God Congress would.

Debbie Williams
Monserat Ridge Road
Millfield