This is just one example of why we need universal health coverage. The burn victim's father, a single father, is on his way to filing BK. The airlift from ID to Seattle alone cost $20K.
See video:
king5.com
Burn victim faces tough road ahead
06:55 PM PDT on Friday, August 28, 2009
By CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News
"I got the phone call every parent dreads."
That's how Clint Crawford describes the moment he knew his daughter, Meghan, had suffered a life-changing injury.
"She was camping with friends," says Crawford, "and someone thought it was good idea to use gasoline to help light a campfire."
Moments later, says Clint, "my daughter tripped over the gas can. The stream of gas went down toward the fire, caught fire, came back, and caught my daughter on fire."
Her legs and part of her thigh suffered third-degree burns. The 20-year-old part-time nanny was airlifted from Idaho to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and went through her first surgery today.
Meghan has no health insurance and her single father is currently unemployed.
"I know my daughter is scared to death, worried about scarring, and how we're gonna pay for it," says Clint. It's safe to say the medical bills could be in the thousands of dollars.
Clint says Harborview is picking up part of the cost, and that's not unusual.
The hospital says 12 percent of patients are uninsured. In 2007, it paid $124 million in medical bills for patients without coverage.
Harborview says it offsets those costs through donations, increasing rates for elective and other procedures, and cutbacks.
But Harborview's help won't fully cover the cost of care. The airlift alone will cost more than $20,000.
"I don't know how we're going to pay it back," says Clint.
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