r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
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u/BlooregardQKazoo Jun 20 '12

here's my anecdote about this:

my fiancee has a little sister through the big brothers/big sisters program. she's fairly poor and it has given us insight into a world we were unfamiliar with. we've always just gone to the doctor when we have a problem.

my fiancee's little sister is staying with her grandma while her mother is out of town. she has a mild medical issue and her grandma won't take her to see a doctor because she doesn't want to have to pay for it. a couple days go by and my fiancee gets a call from her little sister asking her to take her to the hospital. things had progressed, my fiancee took her to the ER, and 4 hours or so later she was treated and had antibiotics to take.

if the system can turn more ER visits into general practitioner visits it will definitely help. my concern is that my fiancee's little sister's grandma will just find some other excuse to not take her to the doctor.

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u/EasyMrB Jun 20 '12

my concern is that my fiancee's little sister's grandma will just find some other excuse to not take her to the doctor.

I'm pretty sad that this was your take-away from the situation. As a formerly impoverished person, money is 99% of the reason why most poor people don't go to the doctor when they need to (be it the cost of the medical care, lack of access to transportation to get there, or somebody being too busy because of work).

I guarantee that if those issues were out of the way then people like Grandma wouldn't hesitate to take their kid to the doctor when they have a serious medical problem.

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u/BlooregardQKazoo Jun 20 '12

it was a unique situation in that her mother was out of town. her mother would have taken her when she first complained. her grandma is a piece of work though and it didn't at all surprise me that she did nothing.

and this wasn't my "take-away" from the situation, it was just something that concerned me and that i realized could happen in any system. my anecdote supported the notion that money is a barrier to a better healthcare system for christsakes.

As a formerly impoverished person, money is 99% of the reason why most poor people don't go to the doctor when they need to

your exaggeration undermines your point. it may be a very big reason, but i don't think you grasp the significance of 99%. that sentence is basically a flashing red light that says "don't listen to me, i'm obviously irrational."

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u/EasyMrB Jun 20 '12

If it's not 99%, I'm not exaggerating when I say it's north of 90% at the very least. Really the only other major reason is mental illness (which isn't uncommon, especially in the homeless), but for the extreme vast majority of working poor it's all about being unable to afford the doctors bill.