There’s an action item here
Erin Sellers in a February 11 article in RANGEMedia.co titled “We both could have died” nails the article’s theme with a quote from Joni Mitchell:
You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
It is no secret that healthcare is becoming big business through mergers and buyouts. It is also no secret that healthcare doesn’t even resemble a “free market.” A free market requires a willing buyer. Many (or most) consumers of healthcare, especially reproductive healthcare, seek help to remedy a health issue, often an urgent one. They are not in a condition conducive to comparison shopping, nor are many patients equipped to thoroughly evaluate what is offered. As hospital systems consolidate and healthcare insurance becomes more restrictive choices are further constrained.
Access to some basic healthcare may be lost in this swirl of business. M. Seller’s article tells the story of an older woman who is pregnant with a fetus that has a undeniably lethal genetic abnormality. Carrying the fetus is a significant risk to the woman’s life—the more so with each passing month. But here’s the catch: Sacred Heart (Providence) refuses to allow the procedure (a dilation and curettage or D&C) unless the pregnancy is “immediately life threatening.” Her health insurance is through her husband’s job with a Catholic employer. It will not cover the cost of the procedure at Deaconess Multicare where a D&C would be allowed in a case like this. Cost at Deaconess? Quoted at around $8000—out of pocket. Instead, the patient has the outpatient procedure at Planned Parenthood in unfamiliar surroundings and without the attending OBGYN physician who had been taking care of her.
It is a fair bet that this particular detail of insurance coverage was not at the top of the list of considerations when this patient’s husband acquired family health insurance through his employer—or, for that matter, when he took the job. What if, thanks to healthcare mergers and acquisitions, this couple lived in a region with only one hospital, that hospital were a Providence institution, and the nearest Planned Parenthood Clinic were a two or three hour drive away?
It would be harder to turn back the clock and unwind concluded mergers and acquisitions—but we can prospectively scrutinize a proposed acquisition for evidence that it will result in a curtailment of medical services—and intervene to prevent that from happening. That’s what “Engrossed Senate Bill 5241—The Keep Our Care Act” would do. [“Engrossed” just means “as amended”, in this case, “as sent on to the House”.] Click the link. There you will see that ESB 5241 passed the Washington State Senate on February 8. It has moved to the House in the hope of passage before the end of this year’s “short” (60 day) legislative session.
Here’s where we come in. On that main page on the upper right there is a green elongate button that says “Send a comment on this bill to your legislators.” You don’t need to write a thesis. Just let them know you’re watching, you’re invested, and you approve. If you have the time and inclination, explore the other links available on that main page. It is an education in how legislating actually happens—something most of us (including me until recently) are pretty clueless about. M. Seller’s article “We both could have died” is well worth reading to understand more of the background.
In Washington State a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions in consultation with her doctor is enshrined by a referendum passed in 1970—but what good is a right if, by virtue of healthcare mergers and acquisitions, one’s ability to exercise that right is inaccessible?
This is an important bill. Indeed, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” Recognize what we have and protect it.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry