Barbara Dehn

Sorry Virginia, Insurance companies aren't Santa

Read More: Health Care, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Industry, Healthcare Reform, Insurance Companies, Obama Health Care, Politics News

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..... It was the Christmas season and I was at a holiday gathering at one of my husband's work friends. I had finished working a 12-hour shift in the Pediatric ICU. I changed into something festive and was looking forward to a little break.

I didn't want to think about how much busier our unit would soon be after yet another local hospital shut down. You see, a huge insurance company had bought up a bunch of hospitals and was busy trying to make them more efficient. After about 18 months, they stated in the press that the costs were too high, and they had to close more hospitals because there just weren't enough funds to cover the cost of providing care. I thought I understood, I mean after all, MRIs, CAT scans and surgeries are expensive, but I wondered about the numbers of people paying their premiums and where all that money went. Boy was I surprised when I found out.

I'd been at the holiday party for about a half hour when I discovered that my husband's friend was married to one of the insurance company executives. Soon after, I heard him laughing when someone asked if the hospital closing meant that his wife would also be looking for a job."

"Are you kidding me?" he asked with a wide grin. "They all just got their holiday bonuses. Her check was for $60,000.00, and that's on top of the quarterly bonuses they all got. She'll be just fine. We're going to take the kids sailing in the Caribbean."

I was stunned. I felt like the 8 year old, who just heard from an older cousin that not only was there no Santa Claus, but I was an idiot to ever believe in the first place.

I'm not usually speechless, because I'm used to working in life and death situations, but I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. That feeling lasted about a minute, but then the ICU nurse in me, the one with attitude, spoke up.

"Let me see if I get this straight," I asked, "You mean that Insurance company X doesn't have enough money to provide care to the people who've paid their premiums, but there's more than enough for bonuses for executives who close hospitals so those same people are left out in the cold. Is that what you're saying?"

And this was his answer, "Wake up. That's how the real world works." Then he asked me what I did for a living, which is when the real fireworks began.

I learned a lot that evening. I learned another lesson in human nature. At the hospital, I was privileged and honored to see the best in people. People who devoted their lives to perfecting pediatric heart transplants, and others who made certain that children could walk without a limp or live without pain.

I was around a lot of heroes, and in my naiveté, I forgot that while there are many who are in the business of helping people, there are others who are only in the business of helping themselves and lining their own pockets. Even if it hurts the folks they're supposed to be serving.

And that, Virginia, is the real truth

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-dehn/sorry-virginia-insurance_b_285164.html