Archive for the ‘Social issues’ Category

WASHINGTON, DC – Heather Abbott had the lower half of one leg amputated after bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon last week.

It might seem difficult to conceive that anything could be more horrific than the events of that day. But her medical bills may prove otherwise. Like so many others injured April 15, the cost of Abbott’s medical treatment could be potentially astronomical.

The idea that an individual or family should be spared indebtedness for medical treatment doesn’t exist in America. Here, health care is a business – and a profitable one at that.

More than 250 people were injured in that marathon, many had to have limbs amputated. The cost of amputating a leg? Upwards of $20,000. Prosthetic limbs? Around $50,000. You run up a tab the moment you lie down in a hospital bed in America. Rehabilitation and physiotherapy? Can run in the tens or even more than a hundred thousand dollars. Boston victims could likely face lost wages resulting from necessarily taking time off or having to switch jobs altogether.

Heather Abbott told reporters she isn’t sure how much her bill is going to be. She is most likely still coming to terms with the fact she’s lost a part of her body. And, like many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, her friends have established a fund to help raise money to go toward her bill.

Another fund – Boston One – is raising money for victims’ bills, though the amount for each victim and how it will be divvied up has yet to be determined.

For Abbott and other amputees, she won’t face a one-time cost. Her bills will be ongoing as she will require years of therapy and need to change prosthetics over time.

Even those with insurance aren’t in the clear. They are often required to pay their bills up front, to be paid out by insurers later. And sadly, many Boston victims will soon discover their coverage is bare-bones. Americans in need of medical attention are well advised to have an extra few hundred thousand in the bank.

Amputees in Boston are being visited by American war veterans who are relaying their stories of recovering from their injuries, learning to walk, run, even dance again. They are trying to be positive.

Unlike the war veterans – whose grievances against their government are well documented and poignant – Boston victims don’t have any guarantee of financial assistance, even if their bills add up to hundreds of thousands, which experts believe they will.

Americans cling aggressively, unquestioningly to the idea that theirs is the home of the brave, the land of the free.

If Boston showed there are indeed brave souls here, it also made clear the implications of this health-care system not being free. Its victims will be shackled indeterminately by debt.