{"id":98,"date":"2009-08-17T18:36:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-17T18:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/17\/health-care-in-america-or-not\/"},"modified":"2009-08-17T18:36:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-17T18:36:00","slug":"health-care-in-america-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html","title":{"rendered":"Health Care in America… Or Not"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim<\/p>\n

Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah<\/p>\n

As I write this, I\u2019m having a miscarriage. Don\u2019t read of if you don\u2019t like the thought of blood, or if you don\u2019t want to hear about it. I don\u2019t want to hear about it and I\u2019m experiencing it\u2026<\/p>\n

I had a positive preg test in July. I was just getting over the flu, no idea if that had some effect. On the first of August I started spotting. Very light, brown, old blood, no gushing or anything. I have had four miscarriages previously, in addition to my successful pregnancies resulting in my lovely children. After a few days, the bleeding picked up. Been there before, so I figured this was not a viable pregnancy. I had not yet applied for Medicaid for pregnant women \u2013 we have a struggling business and no insurance \u2013 but after the bleeding did not subside, I ended up going to the ER to have them check if there was anybody home or if I was indeed suffering an early miscarriage.<\/p>\n

How much did this cost? The first bill I got was over $2000. Well, take my breath away. I can barely afford $20. Then I had to follow up with another doctor, who charged $150 for an office visit, and a lab, which charged $120 for a single test of my hormone levels. Can you bill me? No. Whip out the credit card, saved for just such emergencies. Two days later, they tell me what I already know. Hormone levels are dropping, nobody home, not a viable pregnancy. Okay, been there, done that.<\/p>\n

The last two days have been rough. I\u2019m trying to keep the routine, cooking, taking care of the kids, laundry, all that. But the blood\u2026 the blood. Today I reached the \u201cdizzy from blood loss\u201d level and gave up and called hubby to come home from work. Can\u2019t pick up the baby without a gush that sends me to the bathroom. Yeah, too much information, but I did warn you.<\/p>\n

So, why am I not going to the ER? With a previous miscarriage I had to have a D&C;, where they put me under general anesthesia and cleaned out my uterus. If the miscarriage is not complete, you can hemmorage and continue to bleed long past what is safe. But I\u2019m so afraid of the bill. I\u2019m sure it will be over $10K, and though I have applied for Medicaid \u2013 technically, I was still pregnant because I still had a positive pregnancy test \u2013 I don\u2019t know if they will approve me and I don\u2019t know if they will pay for a medical visit that took place before I was approved. I was told ten days for the review.<\/p>\n

So here I sit, afraid to stand up, getting dizzy, trying to hold it together but almost undone by the baby\u2019s fussing. Can\u2019t even think of going downstairs to check on my stroke-victim father-in-law. I hear him going in and out downstairs. He likes to sit on the back patio area and watch the squirrels play. Trying not to alarm the kids. Now waiting for hubby to get home.<\/p>\n

Why the hell, why the hell <\/em>in the United States of America, should I be terrified to go to the doctor for fear of poverty? What third world country is this? President Obama, Congress, are you listening? I have worked many jobs in my life. My husband has a business. We contribute to society. I don\u2019t ask for much from my government. I expect the government to do few things, but do them well. I can do without the National Endowment for the Arts. I can live without NPR. But for God\u2019s sake, can we at least get some basic health care? I know there are many more like me. When I was in the waiting room the other day, I heard the receptionist telling some poor, ill woman that she owed over $500 on her bill. The woman had no checking account, and about $25 in her pocket, which she offered to pay part of her bill. If she can\u2019t pay, she can\u2019t get the operation she needs. Really? In the United States of America? We can engage in wars of choice, we can ignore illegal aliens, we can give financial support to every two-bit nation, but we ignore our own citizens? Am I mad? Damn right I\u2019m mad. I\u2019m scared, too. Scared that the bleeding won\u2019t stop and I\u2019ll be forced to go to the ER. Scared that we\u2019ll have to declare bankruptcy because my body couldn\u2019t stay pregnant right now. <\/p>\n

Now, if you will excuse me, I\u2019ve been sitting her fifteen minutes and I can tell I\u2019m going to need to make another trip to the bathroom. May have to camp out there if the bleeding doesn\u2019t let up. Yeah, been here, done that. When this happened about six years ago, my husband had insurance through his job. I could survive the misery of a miscarriage without the fear of breaking the bank. I thought it was rough then. It\u2019s worse now. God bless America\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah As I write this, I\u2019m having a miscarriage. Don\u2019t read of if you don\u2019t like the thought of blood, or if you don\u2019t want to hear about it. I don\u2019t want to hear about it and I\u2019m experiencing it\u2026 I had a positive preg test in July. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHealth Care in America... Or Not<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Care in America... Or Not\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah in Progress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/8276196425188955527-2962321004908799126?l=muslimahinprogress.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html\",\"name\":\"Health Care in America... Or Not\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/6218cbef696f8f6c933831dfcc2096b9\"},\"description\":\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Health Care in America… Or Not\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah in Progress\",\"description\":\"I'm an American Muslimah of a certain age with some pretty strong opinions. Feel free to agree or disagree. You won't hurt my feelings.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/6218cbef696f8f6c933831dfcc2096b9\",\"name\":\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1005ec72c60bd66c283862ff890c47ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1005ec72c60bd66c283862ff890c47ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\"},\"description\":\"Muslimah, wife, mom, writer, dispenser of advice. I have been Muslim for over 20 years and my passion is sharing what I have learned in an effort to dispel the misconceptions surrounding Islam.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.muslimahinprogress.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/author\/nancyshehata\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Health Care in America... Or Not","description":"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Health Care in America... Or Not","og_description":"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html","og_site_name":"Muslimah in Progress","article_published_time":"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/8276196425188955527-2962321004908799126?l=muslimahinprogress.blogspot.com"}],"author":"Nancy Qualls-Shehata","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nancy Qualls-Shehata","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html","name":"Health Care in America... Or Not","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2009-08-17T18:36:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/6218cbef696f8f6c933831dfcc2096b9"},"description":"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahAs I write this, I'm having a miscarriage. Don't read of if you don't like the thought of blood, or","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2009\/08\/health-care-in-america-or-not.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Health Care in America… Or Not"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/","name":"Muslimah in Progress","description":"I'm an American Muslimah of a certain age with some pretty strong opinions. Feel free to agree or disagree. You won't hurt my feelings.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/6218cbef696f8f6c933831dfcc2096b9","name":"Nancy Qualls-Shehata","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1005ec72c60bd66c283862ff890c47ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1005ec72c60bd66c283862ff890c47ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nancy Qualls-Shehata"},"description":"Muslimah, wife, mom, writer, dispenser of advice. I have been Muslim for over 20 years and my passion is sharing what I have learned in an effort to dispel the misconceptions surrounding Islam.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.muslimahinprogress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/author\/nancyshehata"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}