Well, since we're once again talking about the moral bankruptcy of American healthcare, I guess I'll retell the story of how my wife and I fled to Australia this year because of our healthcare providers in Florida:
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In 2023, we lived in Tampa. I worked for local news. My wife was having a rough pregnancy. We had health insurance through my job, so we thought we were golden. We weren't.
We still had high co-pays for OB/GYN visits and medications for my wife. But that wasn't what drove us out. 2/
What drove us out were the OBs who deemed my wife a risky pregnancy: If they treated her & there were complications, they'd lose money due to lawsuits.
So they discharged her on a pretext. Because of the way my insurance network worked, this effectively blacklisted her from all OBs in the area. 3/
Another group agreed to see her but soon transfered her claiming they didn't have the specialist her at-risk pregnancy needed for safe delivery.
They gave her a few hospitals to contact, including one they said could probably only do a "consultation" in January...when she'd be 8 months pregnant. 4/
My wife needed maternal health specialists because her pregnancy was considered risky. But the maternal health specialists we tried all said they couldn't take her because she was 'too far along'.
So January hits: no delivery team, no reply from any of the hospitals, no OB, no other resources. 5/
My wife, now fearing for her safety, hopped a plane to her hometown of Melbourne in Australia and consulted their public hospital Royal Women's. She immediately found a full medical team to help her deliver safely.
I followed as quick as I could and got there with only a week to spare. 6/
After our daughter was born (hospital bill: $50), we decided to stay in Melbourne, where we'd have a home, resources for new parents, medicare, & a high quality of life.
In Florida, we'd have faced low pay, high rent, high hospital bills, gun violence, & short parental leave...if we were lucky. 6/
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We still had high co-pays for OB/GYN visits and medications for my wife. But that wasn't what drove us out. 2/
So they discharged her on a pretext. Because of the way my insurance network worked, this effectively blacklisted her from all OBs in the area. 3/
They gave her a few hospitals to contact, including one they said could probably only do a "consultation" in January...when she'd be 8 months pregnant. 4/
So January hits: no delivery team, no reply from any of the hospitals, no OB, no other resources. 5/
I followed as quick as I could and got there with only a week to spare. 6/
In Florida, we'd have faced low pay, high rent, high hospital bills, gun violence, & short parental leave...if we were lucky. 6/