A close friend of mine back home in New Jersey is recuperating from an emergency liver transplant. It's got me thinking of my own situation--unemployed with no health care plan. I'm also wondering, in light of recent events with the healthcare system here in Johnston County , if I became so ill here would I receive the level of extended care needed to keep me alive? Have we entered an era of credit checks for care?
I ask because, Johnston Health, currently operating at or close to the red, is now running credit checks on patients to gauge how likely the facility is to get paid for their services. While credit checks are nothing new, I thought hospitals' main goal is to heal what ails you.
So does the standard of care here in Johnston County become diminished (apparently you still get treatment even with bad credit) if you don't have the means to pay? And if not, why bother with the credit checks?
My friend's journey to the transplant list goes like this: she went to her local urgent care center where medical personnel couldn't believe she was still walking, let alone driving. Next she went to the local emergency room. Initially she was given the usual level of scorn and disdain for the gall of showing up to this facility seeking treatment, but was eventually admitted. Upon closer inspection of her health care plan, doctors began coming out of the woodwork and even going so far as to call in colleagues from their practice; and running lots of tests. Thank God for those Cadillac benefits!
My friend was then sent up to New York University Medical Center to receive her actual transplant.
So if I find myself in the emergency room here in Johnston County, do I tell you my social security number first or what ails me?
