Things That Are Wrong With My Country
Things That Are Wrong With My Country
And How They've Effected Me Today:
1. Health Insurance: As you know, I was in a rather terrible bicycle accident in March. Both myself and my bike have made a full recovery (well, more me than the bike) but the ensuing battle with insurance companies have been practically worse than the accident itself. I have called the HMO customer service number multiple times, each time hearing different information. However... I think I've finally gotten things worked out with MY insurance. By which I mean: today I received an "explanation of benefits" which tallied each cost charged by the hospital, what the insurance covered and what I'm responsible for at the end of the day. Now, beurocracy aside, here's where I get to what's wrong with my country. Here are just some of the individual charges:
$5,871.00 - Room and Board (my responsibility: $250.00)
$11,279.00 - Room and Board (my responsibility: $250.00)
$893.00 - Therapy (aka the 5 minute interview I had with a neurologist during which i told him I was fine. then he, in turn, told me I was fine.)
$14,178.00 - Radiology service
$9,812.00 - Emergency Room Service
Now, I knew that these charges were crazy, but the estimate I had been able to tally up on my own put the total at around $12,000.000.... But the actual total as told by my insurance company ended up being: $48,667.00. !!! And my responsibility? $600.00. (Which I will most likely get covered by the insurance agency of the woman who hit me.) If I hadn't had health insurance at the time of my accident, my total debt would have reached a RIDICULOUS amount. (How is it that our country is based on fake money? The amount of debt that even citizens with good credit have is absurd and nonsensical.) The six hundred bucks, along with the physical and emotional injuries, crippled me... but forty-nine thousand would have broken me. So, that's the first thing that's wrong with the country: we have to fix health insurance. People who get hurt shouldn't have to be worried about paying for their means to get better. Simple as that.
2. Hate Crimes and Discriminatory Police Policy: In case you hadn't heard (I have the worst luck ever. No, but seriously,) I was mugged just over a week ago. It wasn't a big deal; it happened about a block and a half away from where I live. A teenage kid pushed me up against a fence and took my bag and my cell phone. Not knowing what else to do, I called the police. There were 2 police cars at my house within 10 minutes... and I spent the rest of the evening being driven around south philly as the cops pulled over random black guys on bikes and asked me if they were the ones who mugged me. (GAH! There was a racial situation I was NOT comfortable with.) Since the incident, I have received pamphlets informing me of the resources available to South Philly residents who have been victims of violent crime, and I've also had follow-up calls from detectives and cops.
I had mixed feelings about the incident from the get-go, but another recent incident pushed me over the edge. Last weekend, my roommate was assaulted on the street because he was holding hands with another man. A 15 year old kid punched him in the face. When Chrissy called the police and informed them that the crime was because he was gay the police told her that they would "look into it" and then, as far as we are aware, they ignored the call. (I was more infuriated than the rest of them when I found out!) Where are his pamphlets? Where are his resources? Where is his call from the Detective asking him to id his assailant?
These things and more make me wish I was going to law school instead of trying to get into an art grad program. How do we fix this country?
And How They've Effected Me Today:
1. Health Insurance: As you know, I was in a rather terrible bicycle accident in March. Both myself and my bike have made a full recovery (well, more me than the bike) but the ensuing battle with insurance companies have been practically worse than the accident itself. I have called the HMO customer service number multiple times, each time hearing different information. However... I think I've finally gotten things worked out with MY insurance. By which I mean: today I received an "explanation of benefits" which tallied each cost charged by the hospital, what the insurance covered and what I'm responsible for at the end of the day. Now, beurocracy aside, here's where I get to what's wrong with my country. Here are just some of the individual charges:
$5,871.00 - Room and Board (my responsibility: $250.00)
$11,279.00 - Room and Board (my responsibility: $250.00)
$893.00 - Therapy (aka the 5 minute interview I had with a neurologist during which i told him I was fine. then he, in turn, told me I was fine.)
$14,178.00 - Radiology service
$9,812.00 - Emergency Room Service
Now, I knew that these charges were crazy, but the estimate I had been able to tally up on my own put the total at around $12,000.000.... But the actual total as told by my insurance company ended up being: $48,667.00. !!! And my responsibility? $600.00. (Which I will most likely get covered by the insurance agency of the woman who hit me.) If I hadn't had health insurance at the time of my accident, my total debt would have reached a RIDICULOUS amount. (How is it that our country is based on fake money? The amount of debt that even citizens with good credit have is absurd and nonsensical.) The six hundred bucks, along with the physical and emotional injuries, crippled me... but forty-nine thousand would have broken me. So, that's the first thing that's wrong with the country: we have to fix health insurance. People who get hurt shouldn't have to be worried about paying for their means to get better. Simple as that.
2. Hate Crimes and Discriminatory Police Policy: In case you hadn't heard (I have the worst luck ever. No, but seriously,) I was mugged just over a week ago. It wasn't a big deal; it happened about a block and a half away from where I live. A teenage kid pushed me up against a fence and took my bag and my cell phone. Not knowing what else to do, I called the police. There were 2 police cars at my house within 10 minutes... and I spent the rest of the evening being driven around south philly as the cops pulled over random black guys on bikes and asked me if they were the ones who mugged me. (GAH! There was a racial situation I was NOT comfortable with.) Since the incident, I have received pamphlets informing me of the resources available to South Philly residents who have been victims of violent crime, and I've also had follow-up calls from detectives and cops.
I had mixed feelings about the incident from the get-go, but another recent incident pushed me over the edge. Last weekend, my roommate was assaulted on the street because he was holding hands with another man. A 15 year old kid punched him in the face. When Chrissy called the police and informed them that the crime was because he was gay the police told her that they would "look into it" and then, as far as we are aware, they ignored the call. (I was more infuriated than the rest of them when I found out!) Where are his pamphlets? Where are his resources? Where is his call from the Detective asking him to id his assailant?
These things and more make me wish I was going to law school instead of trying to get into an art grad program. How do we fix this country?