Healthcare System Failures Highlighted by Tragic Incident
The untimely death of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has sparked intense discussions about the flaws in the American healthcare system. This has been a catalyst for widespread public outcry, with many expressing disbelief and anger over the system’s shortcomings. Stateside engaged with Tracie McMillan, a Detroit-based journalist and author, regarding her personal ordeal in securing long-term care for her mother, a story she explores in her book, The White Bonus.
McMillan’s mother faced a challenging health journey after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1981. Her condition worsened following a subsequent car accident that resulted in a brain injury. This led to a protracted battle with insurance companies over coverage, given her pre-existing condition.
“There’s always this temptation in the US to start trying to, like, game out how sick was the person and did they really need the help or all this sort of proving that someone deserved care,” McMillan noted. “And for me, you know, the more I went through this, the more I was like, I think the problem is that we had to fight about that, right?”
Initially, McMillan’s mother was intended to stay at a rehabilitation center for three months. However, she ended up moving between various centers over nine years, as it was deemed unsafe for her to return home. This situation resulted in monthly bills ranging from $9,000 to $15,000 for the family.
“Even though like we weren’t poor in terms of not having enough food or anything like that, the financial terror that I was living with every day was horrific,” McMillan reflected. “I mean, every day I was worried about, we don’t have enough money for mom.”
McMillan emphasized that discussing the healthcare system’s issues as merely bureaucratic masks the true crisis at hand—people are losing their lives.
“We have to think about if when you’re living in the richest country in the world, if what you want to be doing is being like, you know what? That person’s going to be too expensive so, I guess we’ll just let them go,” she said. “I think in my family it feels like that’s the calculus we were expected to make.”
For the complete conversation with Tracie McMillan, tune into the Stateside Podcast.
GUEST ON THIS EPISODE:
- Tracie McMillan, Detroit-based journalist and author
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