What’s unfair about this?
This photo is making its way all over the social media today- I came across it on Facebook. Initially posted three months ago by a Floridian who identifies herself as “M. Turner” on her website, she describes how she was able to get health insurance through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) that was created as part of the Affordable Care Act. I can’t speak to the veracity of this particular story, but her struggles with the insurance industry are absolutely reflective of the experience of millions of Americans.
I’ve personally been surprised by the number of comments I’ve come across calling this “unfair.” A number of commenters are arguing that Ms. Turner should not be able to get health insurance because she did not “pay into the system” when she was well. This despite the fact that she could not afford health insurance and her job did not provide it. It is a too common argument- blame those who are harmed by a system that is structured against them. Can it actually be true that fairness requires us to deprive the working poor of access to healthcare?
It seems obvious to me that the real injustice is that the richest country in the world fails to provide basic health services to all of the people who live here. And even when we do provide services, we place great financial burden on individuals: according to her website, Ms. Turner is in a significant amount of debt as a result of her medical care and lost her job because of her illness.
Most Americans don’t realize how easy it would be for them to end up in the same situation.
