Seeds of Love

I got another phone call today, this one from the Social Security Administration.

We found out that we hadn’t qualified for Medicaid or any other government assistance because last year we made $3000 too much. I’ve never made too much before!

Our little family inhabits a nether land of middle class existence where we have too much money for government health care support, and too little money to pay our health care bills without going broke. So…we’re having a party. Or, to be more exact, our amazing friends and neighbors are throwing a party to help cover our bills. The party is called Seeds of Love for Errol.

When the cardiologist first examined Errol he told us our son would be a million dollar baby. I laughed. He didn’t. I cried. In the first year of his life, Errol cost us over $24,000 in out of pocket expenses. And that’s not even counting diapers and normal baby stuff. Hubba hubba. That was our start down the dark tunnel of debt that Seeds of Love is helping to pull us out of.

If it weren’t for the spectacular generosity of our friends, family, neighbors, and community we would never be able to repay our staggering health care bills. And millions of Americans without our good fortune are busted by their bills. In fact, 700,000 Americans go bankrupt each year from health care expenses. 80% of them have insurance (I have insurance but it doesn’t insure against financial ruin.) And what about the rest of us who can’t afford health insurance? What about the 22,000 of our fellow Americans who die each year of treatable diseases because they lack insurance and can't afford a doctor. It’s a tragedy. It’s a huge moral failure. Something must be done. We are all in this together.

And here in this beautiful little corner of the country we are in it together. And Seeds of Love is turning our lives around. Every day we are grateful for our loving community! We pinch ourselves to see if Seeds of Love is really happening. If we really can hope again. Generosity, compassion, and kindness embrace us. We are the luckiest family in the world.

Resources

The journalist T.R. Reid has written a fascinating book entitled The Healing of America that compares health care systems around the world. You can read a wonderful excerpt from his book entitled, No Country For Sick Men. or, if you have time, watch his Frontline documentary, Sick Around the World. or hear him interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air.

Nicholas Kristof wrote a powerful editorial this week about a the tragic results when Americans don't have health insurance.