Just another health care outrage. [View all]
Friday I rushed to my local emergency room showing signs of a detached retina in my right eye. They rushed me up to Wills Eye Center in Philadelphia, which is the only facility anywhere near me that could deal with it.
At the time I got to their ER I had lost 50% of the field of vision in my right eye. I've now lost about 90%.
Being trapped in their ER until 1:30 in the morning I was given a tentative diagnosis. It's not a detached retina but optic neuropathy, where swelling is literally choking off blood flow to my right optic nerve. Basically, my right eye is having a stroke. They have no idea what is causing it, and without knowing the cause they can't treat it.
Now here's the catch. They took blood work and wanted me to make a follow-up appointment to see if they could identify the cause and try to bring the swelling down to see if I can recover my vision.
However (there's always a however) I can't pay for it.
I have no insurance. I have been informed that Wills Eye Center will not take charity care. They wouldn't even quote me a goddamn cash price for the visit, not that I could pay for it anyhow! No follow-up, no blood work, no firm diagnosis, no treatment period.
America, where the poor can just go blind.
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