After This Mom Lost Her 1-Year-Old Son in a Car Crash, Health Insurers Left Her $175k of Debt

(TMU) — It’s no exaggeration to say that the United States health care system is in the grips of a major crisis.

Despite the country being the wealthiest in the world, over 34 million people are uninsured while even more are underinsured. Thousands of Americans die of preventable illness every year while many struggle to afford their expensive prescriptions, yet U.S. health care remains a multi-billion dollar industry that rakes in major profits year after year.

And while the crisis has been reduced by mainstream media to an election year talking point—or an issue of “the market” versus “socialism”—the health care system has a life-and-death impact on Americans from all walks of life.

Such was the case for Michelle DuBarry, a Portland-based writer whose tragic experience with U.S. health care reveals all that’s wrong with a system that upholds corporate profits rather than human life.

When DuBarry’s 1-year-old son died after he was struck by a careless driver along with his father Eric, rather than being left to mourn she instead “sat at his bedside, his tiny, stitched-together body hooked to a million incessantly beeping machines, straining to recall what our deductibles were.”

Doctors had attempted to save the baby’s life but after two surgeries and one night in the ICU, he succumbed to his injuries. However, his death was only the beginning of a bereaved mother’s unimaginable ordeal at the hands of heartless health insurers and the bureaucracy that serves it.

In 2010, I had good union health insurance. Obamacare was the law of the land. In November that yr my 1yo son was struck by a careless driver in a crosswalk. After two surgeries and a night in intensive care, he died.

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1231669877628256256

DuBarry was already in dire straits because she was a new hire at her job and having worked less than a year in her position, she wasn’t comfortable taking days off. After all, if she lost this job then she could kiss her health insurance goodbye.

But a week hadn’t even passed before the hospital where she lost her son served her and her husband’s home with a lien. Having just lost their son, DuBarry and her husband now had to look at the possibility of losing their home.

I googled FMLA and learned I wouldn't qualify b/c I hadn't been at my job for a year. If I lost my job we would both be without insurance. Without my income, there was no way we could afford $1K/month COBRA.

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

Within a week of his death, before we had even received a bill, the hospital put a lien on our house to make sure we wouldn't skip out on the PICU bill.

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

In effect, the hospital was saying “Sucks that your son is gone, but we did our best – time to pay up!” Additionally, DuBarry’s husband couldn’t receive any treatment from his primary care doctor because not only would his supposedly “good” health insurance not cover it, but his doctor wouldn’t accept payment from the auto insurance company either.

https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1231669880736190465

Have you ever had to call around to find a doctor that can handle your specific insurance situation? Have you done it in the days after your toddler has died, when you haven't even figured out a way to talk about it, when your husband is injured and urgently needs a Rx refill?

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

Eventually, they only had to pay $5,000 following the death of their child and they still had a bit of cash from the auto insurance company on behalf of the reckless driver who killed the child. But once the health insurers realized that DuBarry and her husband got $175,000 from the auto insurance company, they did what any good predator would do: they sent their legal team to seize the funds leaving the grieving parents penniless.

https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1231669882573377537

Then our health ins. co. came after our pain and suffering settlement. They demanded reimbursement for the $175K they were out. Turns out they were legally entitled to do that. In an instant, our modest settlement – meant to compensate for the loss of our son – was reduced to $0

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

DuBarry and her husband had no option to go on family and medical leave, so they did what good Americans are supposed to do: they went back to work toiling away to cover their mortgage and bills despite the catastrophic loss of their baby boy.

https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1231669884666273792

Through all this, my husband and I both were suffering from PTSD. We had jobs, a mortgage. All of it hung in the balance. In a humane system, we could grieve without having to navigate an insurance juggernaut, without worrying about being thrust into debt and poverty.

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

And while the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” is often touted as a major benefit to millions of people who would otherwise lack health insurance, it did precious little to help DuBarry and her husband after their devastating hospital visit.

DuBarry told her story on her personal website, explaining:

“In 2010, my husband Eric and our son Seamus were struck by a careless driver in a crosswalk near our home. Eric sustained minor injuries, and Seamus died the next day after enduring two surgeries and a night in intensive care. Our hospital bills totaled $180,000, and though most of it was covered by health insurance, we still had thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses.”

They “soon learned that our health insurer was entitled to reimbursement out of these funds, effectively reducing our settlement to $0.” Due to these experiences, DuBarry began organizing to fight for a bill that would match the laws in many other states where the injured party is “made whole” for all damages from the at-fault party’s insurance prior to the injured party’s medical insurer getting paid. The bill was finally signed into law last June and DuBarry sees it as her late child’s legacy.

https://twitter.com/DuBarryPie/status/1231669886604075008

Every one of us lives in a body that is going to fail. Sometimes it happens suddenly, catastrophically. Do you want to fight with insurers when this happens? Do you want to sort through a mountain of bills when you lose someone you love, when your grief is raw?

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

Michelle has now joined the growing legions of Americans demanding a universal healthcare system. While the plan has been lambasted by the right, as well as by Democratic Party bosses, many experts have hailed the plan as far more practical and less expensive than the status quo.

There is no compromise on healthcare that doesn't leave millions of people unacceptably vulnerable to corporations trying to profit from sick and injured people.

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

I believe change is coming. I am ready to fight for other families, for #MedicareForAll, and to elect @BernieSanders president. Sending solidarity and love to all who are suffering under this awful system. ❤️?

— Michelle DuBarry (@DuBarryPie) February 23, 2020

People across the globe were floored by DuBarry’s exceptionally American ordeal.

One Twitter user commented:

“In Canada, all that would have been free, and not only that, you wouldn’t have even needed to think about it. Our complete medical is paid from our taxes.”

While another wrote:

“All public health care is free in Australia. Can’t understand why USA unwilling to do the same. It’s just a cost the government meets.”

While Americans on both sides of the political divide—both “conservatives” and “liberals”—often revel in patriotic pride over the alleged greatness of the United States and the supposed “freedom” that citizenship offers, this woman and her husband found out that there simply is no “choice” under a private health care model. Instead, the health insurance industry is out to squeeze every last dollar from those who are suffering.

Why is it so hard for so many people to imagine a model where our health and happiness is protected rather than the profits of a small handful of health insurance corporations?

By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com