"Young Invincibles" not quite Supermen
NY Times put out an article on uninsured young adults whose physical health the State is neglecting, all the while exploiting them for their irregular work. In turn, these young people, 775,000 according to the Times, are forced to "borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow."
Thank you for sharing, NY Times, but I have to point out that this isn't news to us. Us being young people. We know many of our friends are unemployed, can't find work and, as a result, either have to pay hundreds of dollars a month for a health service that gives them so much less than their money's worth, or just go without it entirely. The Times tries their best to personalize the politics. They tell the story of Alanna Boyd who spent 46 hours in an emergency room due to diverticulitis and was billed $17,398. But I ALREADY know young people who have gone to the emergency room uninsured and were billed thousands of dollars.
I do need to emphasize what a grand waste of money this is. The thought that people should pay thousands of dollars for a few hours of services is beyond exploitation.
Patterson wants to extend the age at which young people can be covered under their parent's plan to 29 years old, but that's only IF their parents are covered. What happens to young people who don't have rich parents?
Yeah, Patterson doesn't really care.
Thanks Ilene.
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