UncleBuck
Well-Known Member
My son, Isaac was born without a complete esophagus, a birth defect called Esophageal Atresia. There was no easy fix for Isaac, he spent 11 out of his first 13 months in the ICU and underwent 14 major surgeries during his first year.
In time, we determined that our local doctors could not do all that Isaac needed and we made the decision to take him from Virginia to Minnesota to save his life. We were fortunate, an amazing surgeon (one of only a few in the country) worked diligently and saved our Isaac.
We brought Isaac home to our house in Virginia for the first time when he was 13 months old. Approximately one month later his health insurance was cut off, OVERNIGHT. Our beautiful, strong, loving child had hit his lifetime maximum of 2 million dollars in a little over 13 months.
He has a tracheostomy and a G (feeding) tube. He has always been an otherwise pretty normal kid. Our medical supplies stopped arriving, and our son's medical would no longer be paid for.
Our backup was Medicaid, which would assist, but not the way Isaac needs it. With Medicaid we would be limited to companies that accept it, and we could not travel to Minnesota like he has several times over the past few years for LIFE SAVING procedures. Doctors in Virginia are simply not versed enough to save our baby.
Our lives are in Virginia, we have two other children and my husband and I hold full time jobs. Our support system is here, our friends and families.
We work very hard, and were lucky that we were able to get Isaac insured through my work when this happened, but always faced the looming risk of lifetime insurance maximums and pre-existing condition clauses.
One month after Isaac's insurance maxed out, Health Care Reform was signed into law. Our baby can no longer max out with insurance, and his pre-existing conditions can no longer be used against him.
There seems to be a misconception, that those needing the Health Care Reform don't work hard, have too many kids, are lazy, want a handout, don't want to be responsible, etc...... I am here to show you the other side of that.
Imagine living a perfectly normal life, and having a beautiful baby, with a birth defect. We don't have "too many" kids, and we hold full time jobs (always have). We are on no other type of government assistance, and have always been fiscally responsible.
However, health care costs are extreme. We are not personally responsible for that. We are stuck in a system. We have amazing kids - one who has now undergone 21 major surgeries in his 4 years. He deserves the best healthcare we can get him.
Isaac goes to school, he takes gymnastics classes, he has a smile a mile wide, he is the sunshine in many people's day.
His parents are educated, work hard and provide for our family. We wish we didn't need the health insurance he so desperately needs. We wish he hadn't undergone so many major operations. We wish he wasn't ever sick and that he had never faced any of the obstacles he has faced.
We wish there was no need for Health Care Reform, but there is. There are other kids like Isaac, he is not alone.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1040941
Your back...funny man. My little FARC friend.