Healthcare obviates this ex-pat's guilt
Posted by mofembot Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:14:00 GMT
I read a fair number of on-line newspapers and blogs these days, and every so often I joke about how I should stop, because I get so upset and disgusted and angry with what is going on in America. And then part of me feels guilty: after all, if I really hate what is going on, if I really want things to change, then why don’t I move back to the U.S. and try to do something about the mess?
The practical reality for the moment is, we couldn’t afford to move back to the U.S. even if we wanted to. I’m going on 52, my husband will be 50 this year (yes, I robbed the cradle)… granted, he’s a lot more employable than I am, technogeek that he is, but still–who’s going to hire us in this economy? And more germane, I think, is what the hell kind of health care could we expect?
We had had a pretty good health care provider when we lived in the States – Harvard-Pilgrim Health Care was pretty good for all the routine maintenance stuff. Yes, it was a six-month wait for a mammogram and eye appointments and that sort of thing, but our kids’ pediatrician was wonderful and I had a fine OB-GYN. I can’t complain about the care or the cost of my hospitalization for what seemed to be a heart attack (I can complain about the futility and boredom of having to spend a weekend in the hospital because there was no one around to run any of the needed tests–note to self: don’t get admitted to a hospital on a Friday evening), nor for my husband’s emergency appendectomy and follow-up surgery.
That was all okay, really. But when it came to approving treatment of our oldest daughter’s genetic condition, one that left her missing 18 adult teeth (yes, you got that, eighteen)… well. Even though their own doctors said that her condition was medical, and that implants were a structural and medical necessity, not a cosmetic enhancement, we were turned down. And ultimately paid ~$30K for our daughter to have a decent smile and a way to bite and chew and talk normally.
Everything I’ve read indicates that things in HMO-world have gotten much worse in terms of denial of coverage. And again, at our ages, wouldn’t just about anything wrong with us (if anything there be) constitute a “pre-existing condition”?
Add to this the magical disappearing pension plans, the complete lack of job security, the wholly inadequate unemployment insurance… we just can’t afford to leave France, even if we thought going back would make a material difference. And that isn’t remotely clear, either.