COVID-19 Care Will Not End at Discharge —Government Help for the Uninsured Shouldn’t Either

Our patient had spent nearly a month on a ventilator, his lungs so diseased that every effort to allow him to breathe on his own had failed. And then, finally, he improved and the tube came out – he needed only oxygen from a mask. Now, he breathes without difficulty on his own. But that is far from the whole story. Once off the ventilator, our patient – a previously healthy man in his 40s – was for a time unable to speak aside from occasional unintelligible sounds. Nor could he move his arms or legs. Happily, he has since recovered some of his ability to speak and move, but we still do not know how long-lasting his deficits will be. What we are sure of is that he is not alone. While most COVID-19 sufferers never require hospitalization, those with the most severe form have to be put on ventilators to enable them to get sufficient oxygen. Even those in this group who are fortunate enough to survive their brush with the ventilator face a long road to recovery. Some will suffer permanent disability ranging from neurologic damage to kidney failure to post-traumatic stress disorder. In March, the President announced that “hospitals and health care providers treating uninsured coronavirus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government.” This, he assured the nation, “should alleviate any concern uninsured Americans may have about seeking the coronavirus treatment.” Unfortunately, it does not. Since this announcement, the federal gove...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news