Carmen’s Broken Arm
By
I threw a robe over her shoulders and we headed to the
nearest emergency room. There, they took an x-ray, put her arm in a sling, gave
her a prescription for Tramadol, and told us the humerus bone was broken, and she
needed to see an orthopedist right away. The sling helped to hold the arm
still, but if she moved it in the slightest, the pain was excruciating. The hospital
receptionist declined to tell us how much we would be billed for the visit. It
turned out to be $5,196.94.
I called the nearest orthopedist. His secretary said he did
not normally accept visits from ”self-pay” patients who were without North
American insurance plans. After consulting the doctor, she told me he would
make an exception and allow one consultation, as long as we paid what seemed a reasonable
$160 in advance. She made us an
appointment for two days in the future.
We showed up early after Carmen had spent two painful,
sleepless nights, eager for relief. She winced every time she sat, stood, or
moved her arm. In the doctor’s waiting room, I read the news on my phone.
At a París NATO meeting, Spain’s Socialist Party prime
minister, Pedro Sánchez, was the only head-of-state who did not bow to Donald
Trump’s demands that NATO members increase their defense spending to five
percent of their nation’s gross domestic product. Sánchez said that he
considered Spain’s defense spending of two percent as "sufficient,
realistic, and compatible with the welfare state." An increase, he pointed
out, would have to come from funds earmarked for Spain’s social programs,
including its public health system, and this was unacceptable.
The Rhode Island orthopedist was good. Thorough and
sympathetic, ready to operate in a few days, and confident that he could insert
a spike that would join her broken humerus back together, and that her arm
would heal completely. He said he would send us a more exact cost estimate
later, but figured the 40-minute, in-house operation would run about $20,000,
and Carmen would be sent home the same day.
The doctor belonged to an orthopedic group practice with a
“surgery center” and fifteen offices across New England. His estimated bill included
about $3,000 for his services, and $17,000 for “the facility.” This would not
include physical therapy, or the costs of any complications that might arise
during surgery requiring hospitalization, or further operations.
Four days later, Carmen was still in pain, and we were on a
flight back to Barcelona. Twenty thousand dollars would have been a chunk of
our savings, and there would have been no guarantee that we would not have to spend
more. On arrival we went to the emergency room at the public hospital, where,
after a three-hour wait, the Rhode Island orthopedist’s diagnosis was confirmed
by x-ray and consultation with an orthopedic specialist. An operation was
scheduled for the following week. It would be free, along with everything
connected to it, including medication and physical therapy.
Carmen’s broken arm, in the context of Pedro Sánchez’s
insistence on protecting the programs that make life easier for Spaniards, was
a stark example of why NATO might have chosen to stand up to Trump’s bluster.
Instead, they chose to placate him, caving to his demands.
As wars rage across the globe, do we really want to spend even more of our
resources on the notion that they are inevitable, and we must prepare for them?
Or is providing everyone with the basics for maintaining a
decent life a more effective way to keep the peace? Shelter, food, health care, work, and a basic education? Are
these things more potent than bombs for discouraging territorial or ideological
aggression?
Once Carmen’s arm was set and healed, we would not have a
substantial debt, a financial catastrophe looming over our lives should
circumstances prevent us from paying it. The broken arm put an end to our
summer plans, but there were no vulturous collection agencies waiting in the
wings to swoop down if we were unable to pay for its repair.
Spain’s citizenry is by no means unanimously supportive of
Pedro Sanchez’s decision to target spending on social programs rather than on weapons.
The strident voice of a xenophobic, Trump-ish extreme right wing (the Vox
Party), counseled by the likes of Steve Bannon, is frequently heard in
opposition, and the traditional conservative party (the Popular Party) is
constantly nipping at the heels of the Socialists.
In addition to the opposition voices from outside the
Socialist party, former ministers of Pedro Sánchez’s own government are
currently embroiled in various corruption investigations, which are providing
the right-wing parties plenty of ammunition, and have the potential to force
elections. Will Spain’s welfare state hold, or will it be swamped by the
Trumpists loose in the world?
At the same time as Carmen came home from an overnight stay
in the hospital following the surgery, the U. S. Congress finished putting its stamp
of approval on a budget that will reduce or eliminate health care assistance
for some seventeen million Americans. The money saved will be used to help
offset tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens among us. They are people who will
never have to decide whether to bring an ill child to a doctor and go deeper
into debt, or skip the doctor’s visit. They will never have to think twice
before seeking medical attention.
Meanwhile, Carmen’s humerus is healing.
