PUBLIC VIEWPOINT Health Reform And Making A Living

Posted: November 29, 2009 at 2:22 a.m.

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I am a registered nurse and small-business owner following the health care debate in your pages. Small businesses need health reform now and we do need a public option so there is some option get health care when insurance companies make it impossible to get or price coverage out of reach of working people.

I’m writing today because of an event that happened this week to two very good friends. My young friend Cris is a laid-off cabinetmaker who has been unable to find a new job despite months of looking. In the meantime, he is doing carpentry and odd jobs to survive. He was beingassisted by a friend (who is a veteran) in building a backyard shed for a couple.

Despite safety glasses, a fairly serious eye injury occurred during the construction. Luckily, the person injured was the veteran, who decided to go have the eye checked at the VA. I say “lucky” because of veteran’s health care the injury was treated and no permanent damage occurred. The MD said, “It may have saved your sight that you came right away.”

When I talked to Cris, he said if he had been injured, he would not have sought treatment because he has no insurance. He went on to tell me stories of many men he has worked withat construction sites who were seriously hurt, but didn’t go for treatment because they knew the bills might topple the family finances into ruin. I’ve seen this over and over in my career as a nurse. This is a crazy system to have in a “developed” nation.

Another friend was considering starting a business of her own after working 20-plus years as a nurse. She is currently very healthy. But when she priced an individual insurance policy, it was nearly $1,000 dollars a month - even with a $5,000 deductible - IF she can qualify for the policy, because she had cancer seven years ago.

Currently, I have a successful small business and carry a catastrophic insurance policy with a $3,000 deductible. For now, I can afford it. But I know that if I got sick, it would soon be priced beyond my reach and I’d have to close my business and try to find a job with insurance.

This is no way to foster small business growth.

I wonder how many entrepreneurs we are stifling by letting employerbased coverage and the insurance companies rule our health choices. We need health care reform now.

G. LEIGH WILKERSON, RN

Fayetteville

Opinion, Pages 11 on 11/29/2009

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