We’ve been following Matthew, the cute little fellow who has run up a huge medical bill. Matthew’s mom Terri stays home to care for him and his dad Mike is a Gulf War vet and a police officer. The family has excellent health insurance, but Matthew’s six month stay in intensive care used up $1.9 million toward a $2 million cap on his lifetime insurance benefits. Thanks to the vote of his dad’s union, the family’s group insurance plan now has higher limits, but Terry and Mike have come too close to the edge to relax.
Matthew’s home state is now holding hearings on a bill to create a safety net for middle class families who face catastrophic medical bills. Terri and Mike both testified:
“Just because we are not at or below the poverty level, does not mean we can afford the extensive and exorbitant medical expenses for our child.”
Terri’s testimony tells what it is like for family with a desperately ill child. They worry every minute about whether their son will survive, and then they worry about how they will pay for his care. Scroll down a bit on Matthew’s blog to read both her testimony and what Mike had to say. Terri outlines the advice she received:
What was suggested most often, was to manipulate the system by obtaining a divorce, with my husband taking the joint assets, so I could appear to be a poor, single mother. Not only is this fraud, but itâs not the example we choose to set for our children!
A representative of The XXXX Insurance Commissioners office stated that we did have options, but we just would not like them. Our options ranged from ridiculous to outrageous. The stated options were: Move out of XXXX, to another state that offers the high-risk pool. No one should be advised by a XXXX official to leave the state, where we have resided, voted, paid taxes and built our life together with our family by our side.
In addition to this option, Mike could just quit his job that he values so dearly, and get another job, in hopes of getting more health insurance.
Lastly, we could give Matthew up for adoption! We would not consider this at all! Why should we give our child up because he’s sick or disabled?
Frustration runs through every line of Terri’s and Mike’s testimony. Sometimes the frustrations gives way to bitterness. They worked hard and played by the rules. When their child was born with a serious medical problem, our society abandoned them to options like divorce or giving their son up for adoption.
While states dawdle and comprehensive coverage is a distant dream, Matthew reminds us that middle class families are running out of time.
