This important article written by my colleague Christopher Balchin was originally printed on the Opinion Page of the Times Herald-Record, NY
By Christopher Balchin
In early March I got the call every child of an
elderly parent dreads: My mother, Kathy Balchin, age 80, had fallen, breaking
her left wrist and right leg. Coming home was out of the question. She needed
hospitalization, nursing home care, then physical therapy. She was in a state
of shock. My father, Robin, 83, was in crisis.
Imagine this scenario:
• She and my
father do not fill out a single insurance form. They don’t have to worry about
money. Every minute in the hospital and nursing home, and transportation, is
free of charge. Is this even conceivable?
• While Kathy convalesces at the nursing
home, her care manager comes to see Robin at home. She asks many questions —
warm, sympathetic, respectful — about their lifestyle. She makes notes, is
thoughtful, has a sense of humor and plenty of time. She wants to know how the
accident is affecting them and my father’s concerns.
• A carpenter comes. He installs an extra
wooden banister on the inside wall of the stairs. He builds a step outside
their front door. He installs rails in the bathroom downstairs and raises her
easy chair several inches so she can sit even with the full leg cast.
• When my mother comes home, a physical
therapist visits three times a week. A nurse comes daily to give her an
injection for a chronic circulatory problem that has been aggravated by her
immobility.
But this
is not a dream. These are facts.
This happened this spring in England. Kathy and
Robin Balchin live in England. They have the National Health Service, and every
single thing — what I’ve described and much more — was provided for them.
You can call it socialized medicine, you can
call it what you like. But I’m sure glad they have it, and you would be, too,
in my place.
It would be SO EASY to have a similar system
here. The most amazing medical equipment is on hand today. Our technology is
tremendously advanced, but our ethics are lagging.
American philosopher Eli Siegel,
founder of Aesthetic Realism, said that contempt, thinking we’ll be more by
making other people less, is the greatest interference in people’s lives,
including in economics.
One of the most foul instances of contempt
today is the exploitation by a few people of the sickness, pain and worry of
millions of others, including the elderly. Ellen
Reiss, the class chairman of Aesthetic Realism, explained why for-profit
companies and decent health care are like oil and water when she wrote: “Once
you are after profit, you can’t be too interested in what people deserve. … It
will cramp your ability to make money from them.” The most pressing needs of
Americans today are seen as an opportunity for profit. It doesn’t have to be
that way.
In order for every American to get the health
care they deserve, this question, which Eli Siegel asked, must be addressed:
“What does a person deserve by being a person?” The other day, my mother’s cast
was removed after more than four months. The physical therapists will be coming
more often now that she is learning to walk again. My parents are not bankrupt,
they are in their home, they have no health-care debts and will be able to
continue the same modest lifestyle they’ve had these past years. They are even
planning a bus trip to Scotland!
Kathy Balchin said, “You wouldn’t believe the
treatment I’ve received. Everyone has been so good to me. I’m so grateful to
the National Health Service!”
So am I.