Healthcare Issues

Insurance companies really need have a reality check. No, this isn't one of those we need to have a more socialized system like France, or anti that tirades. It is just sad to see how the insurance companies have made it so that people who really do need medical care are sent home. These are men and woman who actually pay for good insurance. These are people who for whatever reason end up in situations that beyond their control. Instead of the hospitals helping them, they are discharged and told to "hope for the best." How is that in the best interest of the patient.

I always knew about situations like these existed. I was angered by the lack of services given to people who needed them. I was disgusted by the red tape and bureaucratic nightmares that happened everyday. Still, the injustice didn't set me on fire until it hit a little to close to home.

My father was admitted to Bay Park hospital in Northwest Ohio on the Saturday before Christmas. He has an arrhythmia and it sometimes causes his blood pressure to drop to dangerous levels. While he was at Bay Park, his cardiologist decided to send him to The Toledo Hospital for more extensive tests. (Toledo Hospital has a much more extensive cardiac unit) They ran a battery of tests on him Christmas Eve. They decided that the blockages in his heart did not warrant surgery, but they found something else. They were sure it was nothing, but they wanted to keep him for a few more tests and to do the ablation to fix the arrhythmia. The day after Christmas, my father was supposed to have a CAT scan and an ablation and then be released. Instead they discovered the calcium deposits on his pericardium had adhered to his heart. It was like my father's heart was in a glass jar. He was slated for surgery for that Friday, but then it was postponed. Someone had forgotten to take him off of one of his blood thinners. The surgery would not be for another week. They discharged my father Thursday night. He just had to return for his surgery. So my father has been sent home, without having his ablation to fix the arrhythmia AND he is taken off his blood thinners.

I return to Indiana the next day. I went out to spend time with my friends. It was admittedly a late night. It was just after 4:00 am when I received the frantic phone call from my sister. Dad's pressure had dropped again. This time they were Life Flighting him. Life Flight is our EMT helicopter service. They only Life flight you if they do not think you will make it to the hospital in time. Needless to say my dad was in bad shape. The EMTs insisted on taking him to St. Vincent's Hospital. St. Vincent's has a wonderful cardiac unit, but they are not on my parents' insurance plan. My mom tries to get the EMT to listen to her, but he says dad HAS to go to St. Vincent's.

When my mother talked to the doctor and the nurse in the ER, they both assured her that since dad was admitted in a life or death situation the hospital would surely keep him. She had no reason to worry, and she did not need to request to have him sent to Toledo Hospital. Apparently they were wrong. As soon as he was stabilized, he was released. They said that since there wasn't a "guarantee" it would happen again before his surgery that they were not going to keep him. Okay, so his pressure has dropped twice now within one week. They cannot do the ablation until after his surgery, and to add insult to injury he is not taking his blood thinners...and they sent him home. The doctors and nurses on the floor were in shock. They could not believe they were going to send a man in father's condition home. He almost died, and the next day they are just discharging him. This wasn't because the doctors wanted to discharge him. It was because of insurance issues. Now tell me, if the medical professionals want the patient to stay and the hospital forces the patient to be discharged, doesn't that sound like a little negligence to you? They would not even transfer him to Toledo Hospital.

Luckily, my father was okay. He did not have another situation between that time and his surgery. However, my stress it put on my mom and sister was crushing. They would stay up all night just making sure he was okay. Neither of them slept for days. How is that healthy. They were forced to put their well being on hold out of fear that my father would collapse again.

I wish I could say that this awful thing has only happened to my family, but that would be a lie. Everyday people with health insurance are refused care or prematurely discharged because of insurance issues. In many cases, they are not as lucky as my father. The worst case scenario does happen. People die and the hospital claims to be absolved because they were just following the insurance company protocols. I'm sorry but once again if the medical professionals can come up with 100% viable and legitimate reasons to continue the patient's care, that should be the priority.

I know poor us, we have insurance coverage. Boo Hoo. Yes I think that our healthcare system is messed up. I feel for people who legitimately have earned and deserve benefits, but for what ever reason do not have them. However, I don't have enough knowledge or understanding to comment on that. Until I do, I can only comment on the part of the crisis I know. You think that having health insurance will help you. You think it means to have access to adequate medical care, but that is not always the case.