Many such business owners and politicians decry how the Affordable Health Care Act will hurt business. However, “survival” has other connotations for those waiting for an organ transplant, or those fortunate enough to have received one. They know more than I do, and more than most business owners and politicians, about fighting to survive.
And so I have invited one such transplant recipient, David Gerber, who also happens to be a hospice chaplain as I am, to speak to this issue. He makes all the points I want to, but it's his experience as a transplant recipient which I don't have, which is most convincing.
In his work with hospice, David recently watched two people die with liver failure: “When I visited with them, it was like watching a re-run on TV. The jaundice, the weakness, the ascites and resulting grossly bloated abdomen, the wasting, and the pain. I asked in both cases why neither had been considered for transplant.”
In one case, the reason given was this: Not with his insurance, no way he could have afforded it. In the second case, the rationale was even more straightforward: No medical insurance at all. For David, that ended the discussion, but for the patient, that meant the end of life.
And so David finds himself wondering: “Why I am lucky enough to be here, when others are not?” His musings are the value-based, ethical thought process of a chaplain grateful for his donor and the grace of God. “Could it be, however, not so deep? Am I thinking too hard?” he muses. “Could it be only that I had the right kind of insurance?”
Speaking of the right kind of insurance, David shares that he lost his job because his illness required a liver transplant. A lost job means lost insurance. And so he continues to wonder: “If it wasn’t for the fact that my wife was able to shift my coverage to her, I guess I would have faced the same fate of the people I knew under our hospice care. Even with being able to move to Sandra’s insurance, a couple of years ago, without early implementation of some of the provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act, I could have been denied coverage because of my pre-existing condition. Fortunately, I was protected.”
Some businessmen and politicians, those who would repeal Affordable Health Care Act, would begrudge him even this protection.
David disagrees: “Then, after my transplant and I became more healthy, Sandra’s job disappeared. Without that same provision in this act that allegedly threatens the very survival of political careers and small businesses, there would be no way that I could afford just the monthly medicine costs, much less the monthly lab tests, and follow-up doctor visits. I don’t know that I would have survived.”
But Sandra did find a new job, and they are BOTH covered and can live “happily ever after,” as they say. David adds a touch of irony: “In doing so, we are supporting the economy. We bought a house; we both are working now, paying our taxes, and visiting these small businesses that are so fearful. I am indeed biased, but is my getting coverage really hurting our economy?”
Speaking of pre-existing conditions and the economy, let’s not forget the next generation of our children and grandchildren. And so David makes another strong case for the Affordable Health Care Act, by citing his experience with Children’s Miracle Network. “Wonderful stories are featured about neonates, the size of small puppies, being coaxed along to life. We see the wonders of medical science and technology that allows children with sick hearts, having them fixed or even getting new hearts, to live reasonably normal lives.”
David can tell us many stories about these kids turned adults living productive lives, contributing variously to our respective communities. All great and true stories. However, he cuts in with another thought: “Oh, but wait. In saving these kids’ lives, we really didn’t think about their future, did we? Now these kids are becoming adults. Some are developmentally delayed. Some are ready to go to work. We have new clinics for teenagers with cystic fibrosis transitioning into adulthood. We have clinics for adults with congenital heart defects. If we support a system that saves money by enabling insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, where would these young adults be? Where would our future be then? Do you really want to deny them the health care they need to maintain their lives?”
If the answer to any of David’s paragraph-ending questions is “Yes”, then every transplant donor and every living transplant recipient, plus every child graced by amazing medical interventions over the past 30 years, are the ones who could rightly say, “That’s a slap in the face to us.”
David goes on to conclude: “Every time someone has an accident, gets diagnosed with a disease, faces the challenges of this economy with the impossible mountain of bills that uninsured health care means, they are being told by business concerns and politicians: ‘Your problem, not mine.’”
To all you small business owners, David would say: “Survival is what it’s all about then, isn’t it?” I might add: Small businesses, or the David Gerbers of the world—whose survival is really at stake? The choice is ours.
Dave Gerber is President of Wellspring Transplant Support Center, Inc. and the Chaplain for Avalon Hospice in Nashville, TN.