Rep. Jason Kander Gets it- Why health care matters
Posted by Jessica Podhola in Uncategorized
From Rep. Kander’s newsletter”10 More Lessons Learned in Jeff City”…you can sign up for it here.
Thanks, Mr. Kander.
1. THE BULLY PULPIT CAN DO BIG THINGS.
Two Sundays ago, I was on Army duty teaching combat tactics at Fort Leonard Wood. When I came in from the field to change batteries on my radio, I checked my email on my phone. I had just received
an email from a constituent named Don.
Don explained that his wife, Kathy, needed a double-lung transplant or she wouldn’t live much longer. After losing his job last Christmas for spending too much time by his wife’s bedside, he had been paying COBRA to keep her covered. Her doctors had placed her at the top of the transplant list and deemed her strong enough for the surgery. They also pronounced it to be her only chance.
Inexplicably, the insurance company had said that she was too “high risk” to endure the surgery and they were unwilling to allow it. I called Don about ten minutes after he sent his email.
With the help of my staff, I spent the week attempting to shame one insurance executive after another into reconsidering.
Over the week, I tried everything from ”polite” explanations of the legal implications they faced if they did not act soon, to simply becoming a pest. What finally seemed to help is when I threatened to call a press conference.
On Friday morning, I got a voicemail from Don saying that the insurance company had approved the surgery and Kathy was again first in line on the transplant list.
This is great news and I hope you’ll join me in keeping Don and Kathy in your prayers. We’re very hopeful that a donor will be found soon.
The lesson I learned here is twofold. While I do have a bully pulpit to do some good in individual situations, it will never be enough to fix the broken health care system that would create such a nightmare scenario in the first place. In the long-run, we need to change the system.
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