A South Carolina man is learning that there are some things that feel good at the time but, yes, they can make you go blind. Here’s a recap of his story, much of it from the Charlotte Observer. Luis Lang was self-employed with a good income and a 3300 square foot house worth more than $300,000. He knew that the law (Obama Care) required him to buy health insurance, but it felt good to spend the money on other things.
Lang is a Republican who opposed passage of Obama Care and thought the government had no right to require him to buy insurance. He is also a smoker and a diabetic whose personal habits probably contributed to his health problems. He began to have headaches bad enough that he went to a hospital emergency room. After about $9,000 of medical bills, he learned that he has a number of visual problems including a detached retina. He says that his vision is so bad that he can’t work. He’s also diabetic and has had several small strokes.
He needs surgery and other treatment that he can’t afford. What is a red-blooded American Republican to do? He went to the government for help. He learned that the annual enrollment period for Obama Care had closed. After intentionally defying a law that required him to buy insurance, he thought he could wait until he was sick and then buy it – like buying fire insurance after your home is in flames. Then he learned that even though his income has all but disappeared, he can’t qualify for Medicaid because Republican-governed South Carolina turned down the Medicaid expansion. Therefore adults don’t qualify just because they are sick and poor.
Lang’s plea for charity at a crowd-funding site says that his treatment will cost around $30,000, but it might be more. A visit to the website is remarkable. People are contributing; and they are leaving comments. As of May 12, 2015, when this was written, every comment by a contributor faults Lang for not taking better care of himself and for not purchasing insurance. Most identify themselves as Democrats or Liberals who support the law but are still willing to help a Republican who they think made a mistake. There is not one contributor comment from someone who self-identified as a conservative or Republican. Intriguing…I know many Republicans who give generously to causes that they support.
Lang says that he thought help would be available if the need was dire. He and his wife blame President Obama for their situation. She said her husband “…should be at the front of the line because he doesn’t work and because he has medical issues.”
Before Obama Care, there were millions of uninsured people who did without desperately needed services either by necessity or to avoid the family financial burden that came along with care. Now we have taxpayer-funded subsidies for those who can’t afford insurance and a mandate to purchase it. How should we respond to people with means to buy insurance who intentionally put themselves at risk? The care that they need is not free. The health care workers and their employers must either pass the cost along to those who behaved responsibly or deny service to Mr. Lang. If he loses his eyesight; his loss will burden not only him, but the rest of us. As a blind citizen, he would probably qualify for Social Security Disability and health care – but only after he is severely disabled, not before. The rest of us are likely to support him and his poor judgment for the rest of his life.
The unfortunate Mr. Lang is one among many Americans facing the consequences of his own poor decisions. Smoking, poor diet, alcohol and drug abuse, failure to purchase insurance – all are irresponsible behaviors, and I can’t see that one is worse than the others. How much responsibility should taxpayers bear for bailing out bad decisions by individuals? I feel the same responsibility for Mr. Lang’s crisis than I feel for the problems of a drug addict who contracted hepatitis from a dirty needle. They both took intentional risks that felt good. They both violated the law. I’d like to see them back on their feet. Is that a taxpayer responsibility, or do we let them “go blind”? Personally, I’m willing to pay my share of taxes for Obama Care. Paying for Lang stretches me past my limit.