On monday morning, I had a doctor’s appointment for some bloodwork. Unfortunately, I currently have no health insurance. Or rather, I do have some insurance, but it’s temporary, major medical only*, and there’s a $1000 deductible. No doctor’s visit covered. So everything had to come out of pocket.
*because the owner of the small company my husband works for is an IDIOT, that’s why.
I talked her out of about half the tests she wanted to do, so that only the bare essentials were done. I got out of there for just under $200. Not too bad.
Tuesday I noticed my back starting to hurt. Oh shit. Not this again. Fortunately, I still had some celebrex samples leftover from my last adventure, so I popped one of those in the afternoon.
Didn’t do a thing.
Huh.
Wednesday morning I took another celebrex, just in case the other one was a dud (that happens, right?) and went to work, noticing that the pain wasn’t in the same spot as it was the last time - it was higher and on the right side of my back. Weird. I enjoyed our Thanksgiving luncheon at work…but halfway through started to feel…not nauseous…just…weird. Like, maybe it would be best if I stopped eating, right…NOW.
I took some Tylenol, the only other pain med I could take with celebrex still in my system, and after about an hour or so felt good enough to pick slowly at the plate of yummy desserts I had brought back to my desk. That night I took it easy and popped some more tylenol.
Thursday morning I woke up and didn’t feel good at all. The pain had spread around my side and front on the right side. I took more tylenol and started to get ready for work, but a wave of pain hit me so hard I buckled over. I had chills. Then I was hot. Then I was chilled. I took my temperature. I had a slight fever, but I couldn’t tell much by that because I had been taking so much tylenol. Was that a bad thing? I didn’t know.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go to work. I stripped and crawled back into bed…crying. Because this was not good. This was very serious. And it was MORE serious in that I was going to have to see my doctor again, and more tests would have to be done, and there was NO WAY I was getting out of there for under $200. And Kev held me and took the morning off work and we just lay in bed together until the Tylenol kicked in and I could fall back asleep.
Later that afternoon I made it to the doctor’s office and they saw me pretty quickly. She poked and prodded my belly and found the spot that was tender.
Doc: hmm…pain there is associated with the gall bladder.
Me: I don’t have a gall bladder anymore
Doc: hmmm…
I was given two choices.
1. She could draw blood for tests. Give me antibiotics. And send me to get a CAT scan. Bloodwork and scan results would be in some time the following week.
2. ER.
She wanted me to go to the ER, because then they could do all the tests immediately and I could find out quickly what was wrong with me.
ER = $$$$ At least $2000 out of pocket, between the deductable and the 20% we’d be responsible for after that. AND if I don’t get real health insurance by the time my 6 month temp insurance runs out, I wouldn’t be able to reapply for it again.
I chose to stay and have the bloodwork done in the office. I could always do the ER if things got worse. So they drew blood. They gave me a shot of antibiotics.
nurse: soo…umm..this is going to hurt. but it will hurt WORSE tomorrow, ok?
me: ok…
nurse: *jab*
me: IIIII’m henry the 8th I am! King Henry the 8th I am I am! I got married to the widow next door! She’s been married seven…TIMES before! *weeeeeeeep!*
FUCK THAT HURT.
The office manager gave me paperwork for a CAT scan. With the price written on it. $750. And that was at the CHEAP place.
Doc visit + bloodwork + shot: $358
one week’s worth of augmentin (antibiotic): $44
Total medical bills for the week: around $600
There would be no CAT scan for me. Sorry Doc.
That night I dosed myself with some old percocet we had (though doc had written me a script for them - 60 of them! they apparently give them out like candy!) and stayed off my right side.
Praise Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and Casper the Friendly Ghost, I woke up Friday feeling so much better. No more fever. No more chills. Pain on right side faded to a dull ache. For fear of risking my future job prospects there, I needed to get to work. I got there an hour late and made it through the rest of the day.
Today the pain is faded even more, but I’m still getting tired easily. Just taking it a day at a time.
Hopefully, the bloodwork will shed some light on what happened, but I might never really know.
But do you see this? These choices I had to make? And how much it cost, even with just the bare minimum of care? And we are LUCKY! LUCKY that we’re both currently employed…though for how much longer is anyone’s guess. I took a GIANT risk with my own life because I was afraid of wracking up medical bills that would have bankrupted us fast. It was LUCK that the minimal of care ($400!) seems to have solved the problem. Already because of this, plans have to be scaled back, finances adjusted. So it’s Happy Birthday to me and Merry Christmas to us when I get my bloodwork results back, because that’s what it’s come to. But it could have been so much worse. And I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if had been worse. Or if it’s not over yet. I still have some pain - whatever it is that’s inside me is not gone yet. I have to hope that the next 5 days of antibiotics will kill it off for good.
So for those of you out there that think there is nothing wrong with our current health care system in the country, FUCK YOU. No one should have to make a choice between their health and paying their bills that month.
I am so lucky.
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I can’t begin to express how sad and angry this makes me! You should not have to put your health, much less your life, at risk because of your financial position. This isn’t a third world county, and with the amount of wealth floating around (albeit a bit less given the current state of the economy) there is no excuse for this country not to have affordable health care available for EVERYONE. And equal health care, at that. I’m glad you are feeling better, but really bummed that you had to go through this. I don’t know what the answer is, but do hope that in the next couple of years, this kind of thing will be addressed and fixed. And that in the next couple of days, you will be back to your normal, happy, pain free self.
I guess my question is, WHY do you not have any health insurance? “My employer doesn’t provide it” is an unacceptable answer; individual health insurance is available and not all that expensive. My son, a single 24 year old, pays $100 a MONTH for adequate coverage from a subsidiary of Blue Cross. If you live in California, Kaiser is even cheaper.
So to spare you that trifling expense, you propose to nationalize American health care and throw us over to a Brit-style National Health Service, where everything is paid for as long as you’re willing to wait months for an operation or lab tests? Or a Canadian system whose prime purpose seems to be to force Canadians to go to the U.S. for care? Hillary-care - or Obamacare! - will be a nightmare.
Not that all is roses here; American “employer-paid” health care is an inefficient, bureaucratic mess. Get the government AND employers out of the picture, and let people buy their own health insurance, a plan that would be transportable and not tied to a particular job.
If we have to live in a socialist country so that you can have health care that doesn’t cause you to file bankruptcy, THEN SO BE IT. That is fucking ridiculous! And someone should SHOOT YOUR HUSBAND’S BOSS.
@Jane - thanks, sweetie! missed you guys on thursday. I came for a bit on friday but it just wasn’t the same
@Tech Reader - first of all, let’s just assume that everyone HAS a job. yay! 100% employment for everyone! Not every company provides health insurance, yes, but in your scenario, everyone is already healthy, because everyone can afford health plans that are ridiculously cheap! hooray! except, no. there are pre-existing conditions. and as soon as those start to accumulate, that “affordable” health insurance isn’t so affordable any more. Good for you son that he is free of those and can get cheap insurance. I come with some health baggage though, and can’t get wonderful insurance for $100. I currently have shitty insurance for that much. Also, your son is a BOY and BOYS are cheap to insure until they hit middle age. I am a GIRL and according to health insurance companies, am at risk of getting EXPENSIVELY PREGNANT AT ANY MOMENT! OH NOES!
I’m willing to do anything it takes to make sure that everyone has health insurance, because the “greatest country in the world” isn’t so great when people have make life risking health decisions based on their bank account. And that “trifling” expense wasn’t so trifling to us, asshole. Maybe you have piles of money laying around you’re not doing anything with, but we don’t. And there are plenty of people in worse situations than us, where $600 out of nowhere might have meant their kids didn’t get to eat anything that week. Or month. So oh yes, quake in your boots at the thought of an overhaul, but it’s coming, because our current situation? Sucks. Don’t like it? Move to a country that has a similar health care plan to our current one. Like guatemala.
@grace - this is what I’m saying. What’s the point of living in a capitalist society if over half the population can’t afford health care? SICK AND GIMPY BUT THANK GOD I CAN BUY A BURGER FOR $1!
I Hear Ya, ESC. I am A Freelancer and so is TAH, and therefore we both need to purchase Our Own Health Insurance. We are both Healthy, Late 30’s/early 40’s Adults. TAH pays $120 a month for Health Insurance, with a Crazy Deductible ($5000!!!!!) and Very Little Coverage. My Plan is $258 A Month with a Crazy Deductible ($2500!!) and Very Little Coverage because I Am A Woman. I live in California. I don’t know Where Tech Reader’s Son is purchasing his Health Insurance but I don’t know anyone who pays $100 A Month for their health insurance and gets Decent Coverage. Kaiser is The Same Rate as I pay for my Blue Cross Coverage. I know because I Checked when I shopping for My Health Insurance. TAH and I make choices ALL THE TIME about going to the doctor when we are sick. This country needs A System.
I am Glad that you are Feeling Better.
xoxo,
TDR
http://dutchjackalgirl.net/wpblog/2008/10/17/the-dutch-medical-system-the-short-version/
This is an explanation of how health care works in a ’socialist’ country. Oh wait, with 30+ political parties, I think we’re a democracy.
Wrong, just wrong.
From someone who is glad she grew up in one country where she’ll never have to worry about cost of treatment and now lives in another one.
SO many people are experiencing exactly the same thing and in one of the richest nations in the world this is SO WRONG. Why does everyone not see if we spend the money to help keep people healthy in the first place things will be so much better?? People are so “afriad” of this socialist healthcare thing. Well I say - go work in a hosptial for a while and THEN see what you think. As a pediatric RN,NP I saw kids denied healthcare they needed even when they HAD “good” insurance. I saw parents lose their jobs because they had to make the choice between being in the hospital next to their kid that had surgery for a brain tumor and showing up for work. Everything about this system is SO WRONG. We waste unbelievable amounts of money on lobbyists and administrative bullshit and supplies. The amount of waste and regulation in hospitals is at a point that you wouldn’t even believe. Our family has government run health insurance and IMHO it is the best insurance freaking available! Our premium is $500 A YEAR for our entire family!!!!!!! Everything in-network is covered, our prescriptions are $6/3 months for on-formulary drugs (which is practially everything) and our co-pay is $20. So, don’t tell me that government sponsered healthcare does not work because I live it and I tell you it DOES work. Private insurance companies and crazy ass litigation are the problems. Not the government. We are a country of (reasonably) intelligent people. I feel certain that if we get rid of the monetary bullshit we could come up with a great system that DOES WORK. We just have to do the right thing and that seems to be so hard for everyone. Now, you might not be able to get your fancy boob job or your face lift so some people might have to suffer. Man, can you tell I am a little passionate about this issue? That is one of the main reasons I absoulutely would NOT vote for McCain - talk about someone who does not get it. $5000/year for insurance premiums? Oh thanks. That is not even a drop in the “reality bucket” of what healthcare costs have become. I could go on……………………bankruptcy from health care costs is a real concern for people and that is simply wrong.
Oh and PS - anyone who thinks that the average person can get GOOD coverage for $100/month without a $10,000 deductible, high co-insurance percentages and co-pays is high.
On Wednesday, I bought health insurance for my healthy 7 year old. She now has a $2500 deductible and a $25 copay. For this I pay $200.00 a month.
Insurance for me? Oh–I’m glad you asked–I don’t qualify for any of the “regular” plans because I have an autoimmune blood disease. My insurance would be $400 a month.
Six HUNDRED dollars for two people? Thanks but no thanks. I’ll take my chances that nothing going to happen to me before January 20th when my employer’s insurance kicks in.
What a horrible decision to have to make.
I’m so glad you’re feeling better, that sounds like it was excruciating.
Not going to argue the pros or cons of our healthcare system, but Brittany is right - the goverenment/military sponsored insurance makes it work. Why can’t they extend it to everyone? (grumble grumble…same old answer, I’m sure…money)
That totally sucks! I’m sorry ESC.
Everything I’ve heard about UK and Canadian healthcare from people who have actually lived in those countries has been positive. This appears to be particularly true for preventative care.
Wow, that sucks. And you can still have stones even if your gall bladder is gone. I’ve heard of that many times. I also wondered if it was a kidney stone or infection, but I guess the lab work will tell you that, too.
Every country that has socialized health care thinks we are nuts and ass backwards for not having it yet! And they have a culture of not abusing the system. We do not. Which is where we will fail for some time in this. But as I explained to my very conservative so called christian supervisor at work, those that abuse the current system wont be any more expensive on the new system. Its still the same people!
The rest of us who need care but can’t afford it are the one’s who will benefit. The ones who pay their bills and worry about them. And no more will a hospital have to add money worries to an already stressed patient.
I hope you get better soon! And in case you need to know, emergency rooms cannot turn you away for inability to pay. And afterwards they will work with you to pay it off. As long as you are working with them, they will not put you into collections. So do not hesitate to use it if you need it. I know it costs a bundle, but if your life depends on it, utilize it.
I’m so sorry you had to make such a choice and I hope you get good (read: inexpensive to treat) news back from your bloodwork. It’s a crime that a country as wealthy as ours should put it’s citizens in these sorts of positions. Good luck. And I agree w/ Jamie; if it comes to it- for heaven’s sake GO TO THE ER. They can’t turn you away and will work w/ you to pay your bill.
TechReader is living in Happy Republican Dream Land, because the picture s/he’s describing doesn’t work. I’m currently afraid to go to the doctor, because if they find something wrong with me, and then my husband’s company goes bankrupt after the first of the year, I won’t have insurance, and I won’t BE ABLE TO GET IT.
Wrong, wrong, wrong on so many points.
ESC, I hope you just had One Of Those Weird Little Pains That Just Goes Away. Stay well, ok?
All of these “If I lose my job, I lose my insurance!” woes, as real as they are, would be fixable if health care wasn’t linked to employment and massive health bureaucracies. And if we don’t know how we got here, we’ll never find our way out.
The Kaiser company started as a steel maker, and turned to shipbuilding. But during WWII, wages were strictly controlled, and Kaiser wasn’t able to offer more money to shipwrights - so they invented the concept of “fringe benefits”. Kaiser would provide health care to shipyard workers, and was able to cheat on the wage-control laws. (We see how well wage control laws work, don’t we?) After the war, the ship-building industry collapsed - but the health insurance industry didn’t, which is why we now think of Kaiser as a health insurance company, not as a shipbuilder. And now, of course, the idea of paying is laughable, because the price is so insanely high.
But you know what? Those health insurance companies DON’T PAY THOSE PRICES. A few years back, I spent 3 days in the ICU, and the bill was nearly $100K. But once the hospital finished applying all of the pre-agreed discounts and writeoffs, the hospital collected about $15K from Blue Cross. Even if you never collect a dime from your insurance company, it’s worth having health insurance just to get the insurance company’s pre-negotiated rates.
Government run health care has been a fiasco in every country that has tried it. Inevitably, the people who can afford it end up coming to the US for care, and the people who CAN’T afford to travel endure long waits, rude and overworked doctors, poor service and a lack of the latest techniques and treatments. Want an American example? Look at the Veteran’s Administration for a preview of what government-provided health coverage looks like here.
Which isn’t to say that our current system is peachy-keen; it sucks, and we all know that. But Hillarycare isn’t the answer.
Janice? I’m not a Republican. Get over it.
Shelly? You’re correct; that’s what the ER is for. ESC should go if she needs to.
Brittany? The health plan I bought for my son was this one;
http://tonikhealthinsurance.org/
$100 per month for the $3000/year deductible. Not perfect, but at least I won’t go bankrupt caring for him if he prangs his damned motorcycle. And it actually does pay for a lot of stuff under the $3k cap. Plus, he gets their discounted rates.
Everybody: Buy your own health insurance while you’re still young and healthy. Many associations can get you group discounts. With your own insurance, you can switch jobs if a better one comes along, and you won’t panic if you’re between jobs for a while. This is especially helpful if you’re an independent contractor.
ESC: I hope it’s nothing but gas pains, and that the worst fallout is having to read my politically-incorrect rantings. But if you need to, GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. My obscenely-high taxes pay for you to not be turned away. There may be “doc in the box” clinics in your neighborhood that provide moderate care at reasonable rates; seek them out.
I wish you well.
Wait….So YOU pay for your 24 year old son’s health insurance, Tech Reader? Why can’t A 24 Year Old Man pay for his own health insurance? Maybe I should talk to My MOM about paying for mine!
xoxo,
TDR
So the lesson here is…get health insurance while you’re young…pay for it out of pocket…and…um…never change? Even if you get a job that pays for it?
I’m still confused.
I keep trying to find one of my british or canadian friends who feel that their health system is falling apart. Still looking…
Wow………so I can see why that insurance is only $100/month……..
For the record - the VA really has a GREAT system and we actually prefer to utilize it over our private MDs whenever possible. They have a high quality medical record system that actually allows ALL providers in the VA to pull up ALL of your records. That goes a long way in continuity of care and reducing medical errors. I have both worked there and utilized the system and I think it is the best run healthcare system in this country. Of course, that is only my own humble opinion. Is is perfect? Of course not. But, for the money we pay for the services there - NOTHING - it’s amazingly great and I have loved all the providers we have worked with there. And, I learned a ton while I worked there. And Tricare, which is also government run, is a great insurance and amazingly affordable.
I dunno, I keep hearing Canadians saying how happy they are with their health care provider. Also folks in England, and there was a link upstream to the Dutch system. The fact that practically every other western country does this EXCEPT US should tell you something, along with the fact that we already pay way more for our health care than those nations do, and have worse infant mortality, among other things.
And I’m 56, so it’s a little too late for me to buy insurance young and stay healthy.
And TechReader, if you’re not Republican, you must be Libertarian, and making enough $$ to pay for your own insurance and your son’s too. Good luck with that.
Oh, and getting government out of the regulation business has worked so well for the housing market too, why NOT deregulate health care???
Sorry, too snarky.
snarky is totally allowed on my blog
@Tech Reader - As a young child, I visited Hungary with my family while it was still part of the USSR. While there, I was stung by two yellow jackets at the same time and rushed to the hospital. I was seen immediately by a very competent doctor. Once I was stable, they released me. My parents never paid a dime for it and I am now a relatively healthy adult living in the US. Granted, I didn’t need surgery, but the treatment was excellent and the hospital pristine. Not overcrowded. No rude nurses or doctors.
My point is, I would like to know what your basis is for the accusation you make against Canadian and European health care. What kind of first hand experience do you have?
I’m a Brit, and just reading this makes me very thankful. If I or my other half or my children are sick then we can just get on the phone for a doctor’s appointment without having to worry about if we can afford it or not.
If one of us has an accident and bashes their heads or breaks something or has a cut requiring more than a plaster, and having 2 boys means this happens frequently, then we can go straight to A&E and be seen. Yeah there’s usually a wait but I’m safe in the knowledge that I won’t be charged a small fortune once they have finished stitching my kids heads/arms/tongues back up.
For some operations or appointments with consultants there is a wait and sometimes it is a few months, which sucks, but when my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer she went from initial docs visit to first bout of chemo within a few weeks. This included having a lumpectomy and other tests done. The standard of care she received was first class, she could not praise the nurses highly enough, even though all nurses are underpaid and overworked.
I don’t think the NHS is failing us at all and I am so grateful for it. I could if I wanted, pay to go private with health insurance, but I’m happy for now knowing that if I have any health worries I don’t have to compound it by stressing about money either.
Sooo… I’m Danish. I pay for health care through my taxes. Our government run health care system (which, you know, has been a fiasco in every country that has tried it), allows me to go to my GP, to specialists, to the hospital and to the ER without handing over anything but my social security card. There is a small annual co-pay for prescription medicine, which is only bad if you are on some kind of special/expensive medication. I suffer from chronic migraines, so I have private insurance on the side - it’s less than $35 a month, and it fully covers my extra medication costs.
Reading your description of the last few days… It makes me feel so incredibly spoiled. I can’t imagine having to make that kind of decisions, and I’m so, so sorry that you had to.
By the way, the Tonik Health Insurance Plan you recommended, Tech Reader, does not cover Maternity, one of The Reasons It Is So Inexpensive. Most Women Of Child-Bearing Age require Maternity and Gynecological Coverage.
xoxo,
TDR
We’ve already established that The Husband isn’t allowed to get sick until he gets a new job (I can’t put him on my insurance yet because my open enrollment period hasn’t come around yet.) I’m still trying to find a cause/cure for the headaches and migraines that I’ve endured for 20 years, but the money’s running out. I don’t know what the answer is, but I certainly know that the current system isn’t working.
Thinking of you, ESC, and hoping that the cure for what ails you in quick and cheap.
Thanks to our friends across the pond for chiming in on this. I think Americans in general tend to have a very negative view of “socialized medicine” or other such similar systems (such as the VA). People tend to think the care is bad, you have to wait a year for a gall bladder removal, there is no such thing as emergency medicine, the doctors aren’t up on the latest evidence based practices and the providers are not good quality professionals. That simply isn’t so. You have good and bad doctors and nurses no matter where you are. I think Americans like to have this idea that anything American is just “bigger and better” and that isn’t the case. I think we need to look at these other systems around the world and learn from them and come up with a system that combines the best of both worlds. We can do it but I think it means eliminating insurance and litigation as we know it which will unfortunately displace a lot of workers so the choices definitely aren’t easy. The current system can’t continue to function as it is and I think there are lots of folks out there who still don’t realize this. So many people like ESC are sure feeling it though.
Sorry ESC! That’s so horrible!
I cut my finger a little too deep for a band-aid and as I was sitting in the student health center on the phone with the worker’s comp people, I couldn’t help but wonder how much nicer it would’ve been to walk in, flash an ID, get my finger fixed and leave.
TechReader, I think we can both agree the current system needs lots of work.
Sorry you’ve been having a bad time and i hope by now you’re feeling better, I can only say how much this reinforces my appreciation of the National Health Service here in the UK. It’s not perfect but it does work most of the time, from having a few serious health issues in the past, I can vouch for the total dedication of the staff and the efficiency of the hospitals/General doctors. My pregnancies were both covered so no worries about the money there ( just the cost of the actual end product which only gets higher each year) the kids vaccinations, visits for bumps, cuts, broken limbs, infections etc etc, all covered and all seen with minimum fuss. Hubby tore his achilles tendon in Feb of this year, all consultants fees, surgery, aftercare & physio sorted. My elderly neighbour had a bad fall on Thursday last week and when I phoned the docs, she was seen as soon as we could drive her there. We only pay for prescriptions and thats a set amount per item-not based on what the drug is and if you’re on state benefit or in full time education or over retirement age, its free.
The only thing I don’t like about being ill is the being ill part, I don’t have to worry about the cost and peace of mind is invaluable.
Sweetie, Jamie’s an ER nurse and 100% right–if you get that pain back, haul ass for the nearest ER and USE IT! You can’t be turned down for lack of adequate coverage–oh, and needing surgery because you have something in your right side? Isn’t THAT major medical? And don’t you HAVE that insurance? Yes you do! Even if it doesn’t cover 100% the negotiated payments do help.
I don’t even want to open the type of fight that’ll start if I tell what my insurance is. Maybe you read the problems I had in December with it tho? I blogged most of it live to have a record of the phone calls that went for hours.
Let me know if you want to hear that stuff–meanwhile if you get that pain again quit risking your life and haul ass off to the ER. And if Kev’s not there? Call an ambulance so you’re not found dead when you could still be alive.
We moved when I was pregnant, so I had to go on COBRA coverage for the duration. $800 a month for the privilege of still paying a copay per visit, and paying 20% of everything else. The second kiddo was born and had an ID number we could use, we submitted for independent health care - husband’s company plan would’ve been more expensive than the COBRA. Since enrolling in that plan, we’ve had the monthly payment nearly triple, even though we’ve increased the deductable to a crazy level (and that’s a per person deductable too, so out of pocket only applies to the individual, not the account as a whole - grrrr). Why? Because they can, and because I’m older than my husband. A not-insignificant part of the reason we didn’t have a second child was because there was no way to get insurance coverage for another pregnancy. How stupid is a system that requires that type of decision? And dental - yeah, just gonna ignore that and hope nothing insane happens.
Esc, I hope that your health improves, and that you don’t have to make any more decisions like this.
Bloody hell! I know I complain about the NHS, but at least I don’t have to think - hmm… I’m in screaming agony and can’t walk, but I’d like to eat tomorrow …
I’m sorry to hear about your choices that you had to make ESC.
I’m still not sure some of the comments about wealth floating around I looked outside and saw no wealth floating around.
I’ll be honest my big problem with government (Socialized Medicine) is me having to be taxed for other peoples health insurance. I think there should be a way to opt out of it. If I am not going to use it why should I have to pay into it. I have the same problem with having to pay property tax for schools when you don’t have any children too so don’t think I’m just limiting this to Medical.
If you think everyone should pay into the system then make it so everyone does no matter what you make as an employee you have to pay into the government ran medical. This should be a payroll deduction not just higher taxes for some parts of the working class.