Health care reform and nationalization of health care in the United States is a hot topic of late. Ted has written a bit on his blog to make his opinions known, and has done a good job of it. My thoughts don’t extend to solutions but I can use some of my experiences to illustrate how our current system is broken.

It is a hot-button issue as can be expected because of the enormous cost a notional program could cost and the overwhelming importance of good health care. What I find upsetting is hearing someone tell me that everything is fine as they stand. Those people have most likely never had personal experience with a catastrophic medical problem. Although I was gainfully employed for the majority of my life, had health insurance and access to modern medicine, if my parents, in-laws and employer had not helped pay my medical bills my wife and I would be flat broke or worse buried under a mountain of debt.

Back in 1999 I became seriously ill. I was my own best advocate and eventually got the treatment I needed to make an almost complete recovery. Less than two years, serious problems again arose. This time the testing, diagnosis and treatment was not successful. My condition deteriorated to the point of near total disability and I was given the bad news that my illness was terminal. I was advised that I was unlikely to survive another year, possibly as little as six months.

The multiple physicians who made that diagnosis and confirmed it were wrong, as you can surmise based on the mere fact that I am writing this six years after my expiration date. Don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining about the mistake, but to think it has no lasting effects is folly. Although I had health insurance through my employer and had very few issues with denial of claims or treatment, the portion of the bills for which I was responsible still amounted to over $250,000.  Obviously, by the age of thirty I had not quite squirreled away that kind of cash, so I was fortunate that my family, my employer and even my friends helped me pay them off. With that assistance, even with insurance, my wife and I would have been overwhelmed. Without insurance, I estimate my testing and treatment for five years approached $750,000.

One of the resulting problems with a medical catastrophe is that no private insurance carrier will consider giving me health insurance. I am “un-insurable” by their standards, regardless of what I am willing or able to pay. That leaves me stuck with what passes for the alternative, Medicare. It costs a bundle but is better than nothing I guess. My prescription drug costs annually, even with a Medicare Part D supplemental plan, is greater than my annual salary from my last year working full time at the zoo. No kidding.

Consider, please, that while I have some serious lingering problems from a series of medical mistakes I am in pretty good shape with regards to medical costs. I take a lot of medication, but I don’t require a lot of close monitoring or in-patient care, so my costs could certainly be higher than they are. And I did not do anything wrong at ant point, aside from not wearing enough DEET. Regardless, I still pay for the mistakes every month. With our current system nobody but me has any incentive to lower my costs.

So, in my opinion there has to be a better way, and I am open to exploring them all.