This iReport is part of an assignment:
Bitter pill: The cost of health care in the U.S.
Hospitals for profit on the backs on sick people
I was misdiagnosed for 10 years. While I went through the 3 stages of kidney disease, I had doctors telling me there was nothing wrong with me. When I finally got to the ER, I was in full kidney failure. Kidneys 50% INTACT, functioning at 7%. The last diagnoses I had just before the failure was for premenopause. I was 39 years old! A simple blood test would have detected the disease.
I had a double kidney transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. It took two years for them to admit they had damaged a nerve. In the meantime, they sent me to physical therapy and ran all kinds of tests. I was scheduled for hernia surgery when the arrogant surgeon informed me it was not a hernia and whoever told me that was wrong! So Medicare and Medicaid paid for testing and treatment for unnecessary treatment, medication and MY travel cost and expenses.
I moved to Columbus and got sick with yet another urinary tract infection. The doctors hospital in Columbus Ohio put me on the wrong antibiotics which made my condition worse, yet they sent me home because my insurance didn't cover the costs. 2 days later I had to go to the hospital because I was worse. I went to Ohio State University Hospital. They, thinking I had medicare and Medicaid (because someone didn't close my medicare and Medicaid case correctly) ran all the tests they could to determine if anything else was wrong with me. They found a scar on my lower left lung! The doctor said it was critical to get a biopsy and they would not release me until the procedure was done. They really laid a scare on me to keep me there ad get me to do the test and I would have to stay 2 more days because of scheduling. The end result, test was inconclusive and further testing would be needed. The bill for the procedure was 16k. My portion out of pocket was $7500. It has taken me 5 years to pay the bill down (it is in collections now). That was my medical budget, which disabled me to go to the doctor for any further medical issues. I was in the middle class income group, I am now low income. My credit is shot and I can't afford to go to the doctor for current issues or preventative health care.
The dental business isn't much better.
I watched the Cleveland Clinic grow from a small local hospital to a world class hospital that is expanding exponentially. I'm pretty sure my kidney failure and procedures thereafter paid for the hospital the cleveland clinic built in Dubai.
Health care is big business in a capitalistic society. They profit on the backs of poor people, in the meantime our elected officials get the best and free health care. Those of us that need it to keep earning, to keep big business' profits at the levels they are in danger of being killed by a health care system that is supposed to be in business to help people not make money.
Who is going to give me my health back when a health care system looks at me by the medical coverage? I knew I was sick, I went to the doctors and they failed me.
I had a double kidney transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. It took two years for them to admit they had damaged a nerve. In the meantime, they sent me to physical therapy and ran all kinds of tests. I was scheduled for hernia surgery when the arrogant surgeon informed me it was not a hernia and whoever told me that was wrong! So Medicare and Medicaid paid for testing and treatment for unnecessary treatment, medication and MY travel cost and expenses.
I moved to Columbus and got sick with yet another urinary tract infection. The doctors hospital in Columbus Ohio put me on the wrong antibiotics which made my condition worse, yet they sent me home because my insurance didn't cover the costs. 2 days later I had to go to the hospital because I was worse. I went to Ohio State University Hospital. They, thinking I had medicare and Medicaid (because someone didn't close my medicare and Medicaid case correctly) ran all the tests they could to determine if anything else was wrong with me. They found a scar on my lower left lung! The doctor said it was critical to get a biopsy and they would not release me until the procedure was done. They really laid a scare on me to keep me there ad get me to do the test and I would have to stay 2 more days because of scheduling. The end result, test was inconclusive and further testing would be needed. The bill for the procedure was 16k. My portion out of pocket was $7500. It has taken me 5 years to pay the bill down (it is in collections now). That was my medical budget, which disabled me to go to the doctor for any further medical issues. I was in the middle class income group, I am now low income. My credit is shot and I can't afford to go to the doctor for current issues or preventative health care.
The dental business isn't much better.
I watched the Cleveland Clinic grow from a small local hospital to a world class hospital that is expanding exponentially. I'm pretty sure my kidney failure and procedures thereafter paid for the hospital the cleveland clinic built in Dubai.
Health care is big business in a capitalistic society. They profit on the backs of poor people, in the meantime our elected officials get the best and free health care. Those of us that need it to keep earning, to keep big business' profits at the levels they are in danger of being killed by a health care system that is supposed to be in business to help people not make money.
Who is going to give me my health back when a health care system looks at me by the medical coverage? I knew I was sick, I went to the doctors and they failed me.
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