Who Really Gives a Damn.

I have recently come to realize how awful our health care system is. Being one of the luckier ones, my parents have seem to always have a job providing out family with insurance. So never had I have to worry about paying anymore than a co-op fee and leaving it at that. But some are not all so lucky to be able to even go to get a simple check up from a doctor without having to give up all you savings just for one visit.

My boyfriend of almost five years is one of those strange specious that has never seen a doctor since being a toddler. Since us both moving out of our parents and getting a place of our own, he had lost all insurance privileges through his step mother, being the only care giver he has ever had. We didn't think anything of it until this past year. He has fainted four times this past year out of no where, most damage is done when striking his head upon impact of the fall. Seeing at his job at the time didn't offer him any insurance options, we chose to finally go to an Affordable Health Care Clinic. They did simple test yet found nothing, this place may I remind you didn't even have the equipment to even conduct a simple blood test. Nothing was wrong, he was perfectly healthy just probably dehydrated according to them. This was two months ago.

Just last week in our Health class we have together, it happened again but worse. It was as if a mini seizure as he just dropped in his chair, hitting his head violently on the table and the floor. Thank God the teacher was a doctor and seemed to know what he was doing. As soon as he regained consciousness he was just deadly pale and looked lifeless. Paramedics were called and they ran as many test as they could, nothing was wrong it seemed. Worrying more about how much an ER visit was going to cost, I took him myself to a public health clinic in down town Portland that our teacher recommended being in our situation. We weren't even able to get, waiting hours just to see someone that could tell us if he was safe to come home.

What I'm trying to get at is that just a month ago my boyfriend had plenty of money saved up and quit his job. In which doing so, we found out he was eligible for Cover Oregon because now his income was zero. According to them you need to be making under one thousand dollars to get it for free. Is this what is keeping people from getting jobs? I am so thankful that we are trying to get health care to everyone, but my boyfriend making decent money, working forty plus hours a week and attended school full time couldn't even have a way to see a doctor without paying his life savings out of pocket.

There is a gap here, and I'm not saying that the health care system has bad intentions. I just want to know where these loop holes come into play and how they are affecting out society. It's so sad that it's come down to being afraid to ask for help.

More updates soon on how he is doing and what I dig up on this.