22 Year old Dies Uninsured

Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
22 Year old Dies Uninsured
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Tue, 09-29-2009 - 9:05am
Doctors say now that she died, not from swine flu, but from viral pneumonia, but the cause is less relevant than the fact that she died at all.
Like a large number of young people in this country, this young woman was uninsured. Most young people can't afford private insurance because the jobs they hold don't offer it or don't pay enough. These are kids who haven't yet gotten their first "good" job with benefits. Some are still in college. Some are working p/t while going to school. Some may not, for various reasons, be retained on their parents' health insurance. In any case, most of them rarely earn enough to pay for health insurance so they do without.

Shouldn't there be something in place to protect these young people?


Uninsured 22-Year-Old Boehner Constituent Dies From Swine Flu

hjnyoungkimberly09-_568332bA 22-year-old woman from Oxford, Ohio, died from swine flu on Wednesday. Kimberly Young graduated from Miami University in December and continued to live in Oxford, Ohio, within Minority Leader John Boehner’s congressional distrct. Reports now indicate that after initially getting sick, Young put off treatment because she was uninsured:



Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost, according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.


On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Young’s condition suddenly worsened and her roommate drove her to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where she was flown in critical condition to University Hospital in Cincinnati.


“That’s the most tragic part about it. If she had insurance, she would have gone to the doctor,” Mowery said.


According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 30 percent of 19-24 year olds are uninsured, more than any other group. Despite the conservative argument that young people are voluntarily refusing health coverage in favor of extra spending money, the reality is that high costs on the individual market put coverage out of reach. As Suzy Khimm notes at Campus Progress, young people “are far more likely to be working part-time or lower-paying jobs for employers who don’t offer coverage”:



In its 2008 study, the Commonwealth Fund found that 66 percent of young adults aged 19 to 29 who experienced a time without coverage in the past year said they had gone without it because of the cost.


Young people might have a better chance of accessing comprehensive coverage if there were a public plan, which could lower the cost of insurance, particularly for those without good employer benefits. Young people may also have a better chance at coverage if there were generous subsidies for lower-income individuals, as many take lower-paying jobs when they first enter the workforce.


Even though Boehner represents a large university, he has been an outspoken opponent of a public option that would make insurance cheaper and more accessible to recent graduates like Young. On Meet the Press last week, the Minority Leader continued to stick to the obstructionist Frank Luntz-endorsed talking points, dismissing the public option as “big government” while defending a watered-down plan.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 10:07am

What a shame.


When I was about her age my appendix burst. TG I was living in England & received the best of care.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2007
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 10:48am
This tragedy was front page news in our local paper since Oxford is only about 50 miles from here. John Boehner will somehow put his spin on this to where he'll wash his hands completely from an wrong doing, even though he's one of the leading right wing voices against any
Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 10:55am

An appendectomy would be considered an emergency and it would be treated under the system we have now, BUT...... the patient would then receive a bill for about $10,000.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 11:55am

She went to a clinic and was seen by a doctor. It appears disease doesn't care if you are insured or not. Some liberals appear to think a virus will see an insurance card and flee the host. Personally I doubt that, however that doesn't stop liberals from reporting about it.

Just FYI, insurance doesn't stop one from getting ill, she was seen by a doctor despite not being insured.

She waited until near deaths door to visit a hospital. Generally the closer you get to death, the harder it is for doctors to pull you back, despite your insurance status.

A dose of Tamiflu costs under $100 at drugstore.com.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 3:27pm

She went to a clinic and was seen by a doctor.


I didn't see that in the OP.


Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 3:39pm

Exactly.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 3:55pm

In my state a single woman under 30 pays a bit over $400 a month for a basic individual Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield policy. A Charter Oak (CT government run plan) runs about $230 per month.

There are free medical clinics all over Ohio, just the type many get on a socialized health care system. Check out - http://www.freemedicalcamps.com/vcity.php?stateid=OH

In my state a child up until age 26 is allowed to remain on a family plan and wouldn't even require an individual plan.

Here is another list of free clinics Ms. Young easily could have visited - http://www.ohiofreeclinics.org/

The mission statement of free clinics in Ohio is - "To provide quality health care and related services free of charge to those who lack appropriate alternatives, and to advocate for policy changes that make health care available to all."

She could have visited her local ER at any time and not been turned away. By law hospital ER's must provide care.

This woman suffered an abundance of alternatives for free or no cost care yet chose not to use any of them. Somehow this is blamed on our system. What if she had insurance, and didn't visit a doctor, would it still be the fault of government for not checking up on her every hour or so?

This woman appears to have had asthma, did she have a pneumonia vaccine? - http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=26790&PID=198309#198309

Sheesh, she is at high risk of dying from flu, has asthma and didn't bother to carry insurance or visit her local ER until it was too late. What a sad story of a young adult who didn't understand how to behave as an adult.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Tue, 09-29-2009 - 4:13pm

"She went to a clinic and was seen by a doctor.

I didn't see that in the OP. Please provide a link to that info. The OP states that she held off until she had to be taken to the hospital."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/deceased-miami-student-remembered-for-her-passion-315472.html

News of Kimberly Young’s death Wednesday, Sept. 23, came as a shock to those who knew the vibrant 22-year-old who was working at least two jobs in Oxford after graduating with a double major in December 2008.

Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost, according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.

Mowery said Young eventually went to an urgent care facility in Hamilton where she was given pain medication and then sent home.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-2007
Wed, 09-30-2009 - 11:37am

I agree that Obama needs to do something about America's health care crisis. I never have liked insurance companies. And for the past four years I kept thinking that the government should regulate insurance companies...they have too much power. Several years ago there was a story about a woman in California who needed a medical proceedure done to save her life. Her insurance company wouldn't help cover it because they said that the proceedure was "experimental." But it seems that the people in her community rallied against the insurance company and then they agreed to cover it! Who are these insurance people anyway??? I doubt they are doctors! Who gave them the power to deny

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-2007
Wed, 09-30-2009 - 11:44am

What type of health care does England have?


I live in a very small community where we don't even have a clinic open on holidays or the weekends. I was complaining about it to my doctor when I finally got my son in for a very painful earache. He said that if I were in Canada I probably wouldn't be able to get my son into a doctor for two weeks for his earache. To anyone in Canada...is this true? He said that people in Canada usually have home remedies for such things and that the only time they ever visit a doctor is for emergencies only. Wow! If that's true, Canadians must be a lot of homeopathics or something.

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