Saturday, October 18, 2008

Hawaii ending universal child health care

Hawaii ending universal child health care: "Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched."

I pay considerably less in taxes for a family of four (Canada), than my husband does for 4 months of U.S. health insurance, and I have rarely had to pay out of pocket for anything (we did have to pay for an ambulance ride a couple of years ago, and there was one injection-GCSF- that my daughter got to boost her immune system while she was doing chemotherapy that OHIP didn't pay for).

So for 13 years of premature triplets (including about 3-4 weeks of hospital stays for me before their birth, plus assorted ultrasounds, genetic counseling, doctor's visits etc), 9 weeks of NICU for the kids, probably 20 weeks of additional hospitalizations due to pneumonia from the girls' lung damage, then cancer and treatment for one child (about 8 months worth all together including surgery), developmental pediatricians, speech, and occupational therapists as well as a version of ABA because of the autism...I've paid taxes. When I was single, and working, earning over 100,000, I was taxed at about 17% (I understand that's gone up a bit). I paid my "dues". So did my parents...my mom had 13 years of treatment for her malignant melanoma before she passed away. My dad did have to wait about 6 months for his knee replacement, but I think that he was consoled for that by the fact that he could take my mom to the hospital whenever he wanted to.

My husband is paying almost $800/month for his health insurance right now (just for him) through the American company that he works for. We know that it's high, but because he has a "pre-existing condition" he has to. We couldn't move our family to the United States if we wanted to, because even completely aside from the autism, one of my daughters had cancer and we could never get her health care covered, and we could never be sure that any job that WOULD cover her would stay forever.

The United States pays more per capita than any other nation in the world, and yet they can't afford to insure their children have health care in even ONE State? No matter how many times people explain it to me, I will never understand that. Kids growing up in a developed nation deserve more.

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