Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & The Raiders) on the cost his new pacemaker and the state of healthcare
12 hrs ·
I guess I *am* the $6 million dollar man. OK, I exaggerate...about $85 thousand dollar man ❤️. The final (I hope) pacemaker bill arrived yesterday. ***UPDATE: new bill, I’m the $90 thousand dollar man!*** So I get to have a second thankful post about how much I appreciate having good health insurance and that the USA has a Medicare program. So far, my out of pocket is $6.00, although we are still challenging the ambulance bill balance of $400, since they’re saying I could have been taken to a closer place to have the surgery. Unless the cardiologist was going to do it in the median of I-95, that isn’t the case, so hopefully that will be corrected.
It got me thinking about the whole health care system in our country...and what if I didn’t qualify for Medicare? What if I didn’t have good health insurance? I’m lucky I worked enough to have good union coverage, but what if I didn’t? Very few people could take $85k out of their pocket to pay - assuming the surgery could have taken place without some financial guarantee.
I thank my past self for realizing I wasn’t immortal and keeping up those insurance premiums. And hopefully this is a wake up call to people who are waiting to get good insurance “later”. If you can arrange your budget to afford it, buy the best plan you can. Starbucks will survive without you.
Our health care system has gotten better but is still broken. When you’re thinking about who should represent you in govt, please think about this and put yourself in the position of someone who needs expensive care, or who has a pre-existing condition. Speaking from experience, I know this health care debate can pretty much be a lot of noise until it affects you personally.
OK, off my soapbox for now. If you choose to reply to me or other posters, please be civil in your remarks to or about others (including politicians by name)...everyone is entitled to an opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/marklindsay/posts/10158245609502715
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And that is tragic.
I remember it well. Hillary did her best to get people to understand the need for health care reform, way back in the "olden" days.
HRC was way ahead of her time, even back then, and all it earned her were lifelong enemies - and corporatists, at that. Which is why I knew then that she was a real leader, and someone to respect. She has been fighting this fight for over 25 years.
I am sorry you were one of the victims; I truly am. I watched my sister die because of our broken health care system. She was 46, and on Medicaid. She was treated so very horribly I still get enraged just thinking about it. My sister was my right arm. I miss her more than I can express.
I am also angry every single day that people do not understand how this will impact them. If not now, soon.
And their epiphany will come far too late for far too many. 
the other night and Murphy supported Clinton of course. A lot of "old" issues are topics on that show and it makes me think that nothing has changed in 25+ years, especially with the greedy, selfish, corrupt GOP.
When will THOSE people die off? They should be the first ones to kick the bucket (in a fair and just world). What is ironic is that they get the ACA...yes, the same ACA they tried to destroy! 
"As members of Congress debate whether to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, it seems fair to ask: How much do they pay for health care? The answer is that, while they don't pay nothing for coverage, they don't pay much.
As the myth busting website Snopes points out, "contrary to popular belief, Congressional members do not receive free health care." Instead, they choose a gold-level Obamacare policy and receive federal subsidies that cover 72 percent of the cost of the premiums.
In short, Snopes reports that members of Congress and staff "pay approximately 28 percent of their annual healthcare premiums through pre-tax payroll deductions." They also have access to "free or low-cost care" through the Office of the Attending Physician as well as "free medical outpatient care at military facilities" in the D.C. area."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/heres-how-much-members-of-congress-pay-for-their-health-insurance.html
They have never been on the real front lines of the little people's health "care." (I put that in quotes because it is anything but.)
In answer to the question when will they die off? After us. They have their health care insured. Younger people do not, or at least not in any way that is meaningful.
I hope for better times.
Peace to you. May we see better days. 
We're talkin' all Paul Revere and the Raiders albums, all of ML's solo albums; posters all over my bedroom wall, etc.
