Lessons Learned from my Uncle’s Sacrifice: A Proposal to Reform Medicare
The following anecdote is by Dr. John Maa, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. It is a follow-up to his original story published here three months ago (“Ultimate Sacrifice”). You can also read the story of his mother in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine (“The Waits that Matter”). My uncle’s tale illustrates the fundamentally American tragedy of experiencing financial and medical catastrophes simultaneously, and having to choose between rationing one’s own care or depleting precious financial...
Read MoreUltimate Sacrifice
The following anecdote is from Dr. John Maa, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco An estimated 60% of American bankruptcies result from overwhelming medical costs. My uncle’s tale illuminates the dual tragedy of suffering catastrophic illness and being uninsured. The 2008 recession claimed my uncle’s job, health benefits, and assets, except for a small inheritance. By 2009 he found work (but not health coverage) as a consultant. One day he noticed that his eyes were yellow. He emailed a photograph, and I immediately recognized jaundice. I calmed...
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