THIS IS NOT A BILL

this is just to say

EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS 
This is NOT a Bill 
This Explanation of Benefits (EOB) 
is  to notify you  
that we have processed your claim. 
It clarifies. 
Payment responsibility 
Retain this 
If you have any questions. 
CLAIM SUMMARY AT A GLANCE 
Diagnosis and treatment codes 
billed on this claim and 
their meanings can be requested 
if you are not satisfied 
initiate a grievance 
by calling, writing or by completing a 
Grievance Form 
Access your plan 
anywhere 
anytime 
Thank you for choosing Blue Shield.  

I read today about the privatization of emergency rooms all over the country and how they are being destroyed. The title of the article: “The profit-obsessed monster destroying American emergency rooms.” I clicked on some other article about the ill care given to intellectually disabled adults in group homes that are corporate-owned. Profit-based. That one made me feel ill. One of the heads of one of the companies was at my childhood home in Atlanta in the last century. He stood on the steps with his designer wife. She designed clothes and because my father worked in retail, I guess we were entertaining them? I remember it vaguely. Maybe they were the Bonfire of the Vanities people? Maybe I’m just imagining this.

I read today that J.D. Vance recently spoke a little more about healthcare — about his POS boss’s “concepts of a plan,” and he said something something about deregulating the insurance markets so that “people can actually choose a plan that makes sense for them.” In a nutshell — a true nutshell (that big old, smooth on the outside and bitter inside nut, the Brazil nut) — J.D. Vance said, Think about it: A young American doesn’t have the same health care needs as a 65-year-old American. And a 65-year-old American in good health has much different health care needs than a 65-year-old American with a chronic condition. I’m thinking about it, J.D. He kept going, making clear that the “concepts of a plan” were that the medically fortunate should not be asked to subsidize those who aren’t as blessed. Because, you know, free markets. Jesus Christ. I bet a lot of you out there don’t remember what it was like before that flawed but life-saving Affordable Care Act. I wrote about it back in 2008 on my old blog. This family lived in fear of losing coverage and going bankrupt because of Sophie’s “pre-existing conditions.” This family spread out the medical debt and paid it over the years. This family had little job mobility for the same reason. It’s one thing we don’t worry about now even as I look with incredulity at the stacks of Explanation of Benefits that cross our doorway. It’s hard to imagine the insurance companies with an even looser rein. The healthcare system is something special beyond the insurance company model, too. The other day I tried to get an appointment for Sophie to see a specialist, and the first available was in August of 2025. Bless your Christian nationalist heart, J.D.

I apologize for the boring post. I’m trying to stay sane, and writing these things out helps me to do so.