My dad got his insurance approval for his transplant…

So, when a liver is available, we’re good to go on the surgery.  He is actually double covered on his and my mom’s insurance plans, so as far as cost goes, he is going to wind up unbelievably lucky.

The liver unit that he is going to, which is the most successful in the country (read: expensive)  is estimated to cost between 500,000 and a million dollars.

Not a typo. 

The anti-rejection drugs afterwards will cost upwards of $7500 a month for the first few months.  

He will be on medication for the remainder of his life and may need subsequent surgeries for any complications-which, to be clear, complications seem to be the norm and not the exception.

The total cost over the rest of his life is astronomical.  Obviously worth every fraction of a cent.  Obviously what we consider to be the greatest money ever spent on anything, ever.  Still though, mind-boggling.

At this point, if he could not afford the transplant, his prognosis would be a couple of years-at best.

The thought that I could lose him because we didn’t have the money to keep him alive is so beyond comprehension to me that I literally will not think about it.  And yet I know that my nightmare is many other’s reality.

What I’m saying is this-

We absolutely have to pass the Health Care bill this weekend.  Call your Congressman, folks.