There are some anecdotes, such as when people need to go to jail to get health care, that just make you realize how insane it is that there is no real universal health care in America. This is probably another one of those stories:
In an interview with Esquire titled "The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden … Is Screwed," the former SEAL told journalist Phil Bronstein that upon leaving the service in September 2012, he lost benefits ranging from current health care to a future pension. And now he's stuck in a months-long wait for his disability claim to be considered.Woah, right?He had survived his last deployment, and there was a barbecue near his house to celebrate with about thirty close friends from "the community." The Redskins were on, his favorite team, and there was lots of Commando ale, brewed by a former SEAL.
"I left SEALs on Friday," he said the next time I saw him. It was a little more than thirty-six months before the official retirement requirement of twenty years of service. "My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night. I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You're out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go fuck yourself."
Where is Aetna, Cigna, United HealthCare, WellPoint or Humana now? Where are these benevolent corporate citizens providing 'quality' health care to all Americans? Shouldn't they be tripping over themselves to provide health insurance to this American hero?
Well, even when you kill Bin Laden, insurers still won't cover all your medical bills if you have a pre-existing condition:
The Esquire article notes that the man, who retired from the military, was planning to buy private insurance for $486 per month and pay out-of-pocket for certain treatments not covered by that insurance.Yup, you got that right: this hero will be paying almost $500/month for junk insurance that will most certainly have an astronomical deductible and cost sharing, all while not even covering the entirety of his medical needs.
Welcome to AHIP's America, folks. (AHIP is the big-profit insurance lobbying body that sucks your premium dollars into a black hole and spits them back out in the form of gifts to GOP lawmakers, as well as Max Baucus and Joe 'Aetna' Lieberman (thank God, he's gone!) types.)
Just goes to show that even an American hero -- and his family -- is not above getting screwed by America's corporate-controlled, non-system of health care.
The only solution: Medicare for All.