I watched the ABC interview with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with tears in my eyes. It was sad, moving, emotional, and full of hope. It also took me back to another time in my life, when my boyfriend suffered a similar traumatic brain injury, and went through many of the same therapies. He had to “relearn” how to walk, how to talk—-many of the same challenges that Giffords now faces. It was long and laborious, but it turned out fairly well for him.
He had a level of determination similar to Giffords. He was too stubborn to let a grievous injury beat him. And he had one other thing in common with Gabby Giffords: he had great health insurance. I don’t know where he would be today if he hadn’t had that plan.
After a year in the hospital, he went to a rehabilitation center for six months. Before the rehab center would allow him entry, his insurance plan had to guarantee payment. Good rehab centers deserve all the praise that they get, but they cost out the wazoo. And they want a pretty solid guarantee that they will be paid before they offer their services. If your plan offers only limited coverage for rehab, then limited rehab is all that you will get. When a person has a severe injury that disables them, they often cannot return to work. At some point, the health insurance will stop. The person can COBRA, usually at a very high cost. (It can be up to and even over $1,000 per month even for one person).
In the case of my boyfriend, his big-hearted employer chose to keep him on the company insurance plan if he made a contribution toward the premium. He kept him on the plan until he qualified for Medicare, which takes two years from the date a person is deemed permanently disabled. He was lucky to work for such a charitable human being.
Every time the rehab center wanted to extend his stay, they first had to check with the insurance company as to whether they would continue to pay. It was all in their hands—-at twenty-five, he’d had no time to build up an emergency nest egg.
Where am I going with this? Well, I love the amazing recovery of Gabby Giffords. I celebrate it! I love that my boyfriend still has a great life after a horrific injury. But I hate that there are people out there who will never have the chance to make this kind of a recovery, because they don’t have the means. They may be hourly workers with no insurance. They could be self-employed people who have limited coverage plans in order to make them affordable. Or they might just be simply out of work. I wish for anyone who suffers a life-altering injury that they get the wonderful care and support that the Congresswoman and my boyfriend got. But I know that this is not the reality. I hope that when people fight the efforts to have healthcare for all, that they understand this: you, or someone you love, could be one injury away from years of treatment, a lost job, and nowhere to turn. All that might stand between you and a good quality of life could be the unreachable fee for your rehabilitation.