Health insurance and healthcare in the States is a complete disaster. Everyone knows that, but we often think of the people behind those policies and decisions as merely cogs in the machine.

They have names and faces though, and OP – and ob/gyn – met one of them in the course of her daily practice.

This happened years ago. I am an OB/GYN in a busy suburb of San Francisco. One of my patients was the vice president of a large health insurance corporation.

She was a dynamic executive who climbed the corporate ladder quickly.

The woman was behind a decision that OP disagreed with; it basically forced a majority of mothers who required c-sections out of the hospital after two days instead of four.

One of her special talents was reducing healthcare benefits for patients. She initiated a policy where women who underwent cesarean section would to be discharged in two days rather than the standard four day hospital stay.

When the executive found herself pregnant with twins, OP had to talk to her about her options. She told the woman about the policy and said that a lot of her patients found it hard to leave after a couple of day on their own with a newborn.

Shortly after having in vitro fertilization she found herself pregnant with twins. During one of her office visits I mentioned the new two-day policy.

I told her that for some patients it was really rough to be discharged after major surgery in two days and be expected to care for a newborn infant.

OP smiled and said she was tough and insinuated that other women needed to suck it up.

She just smiled and said that she didn’t get where she was in corporate America by giving away money. And patients just needed to suck it up.

Health insurance wasn’t meant to be a convenience.

She was singing a different tune after her own surgery, though, screaming and crying about how it just wasn’t fair.

She was 42 years old and went to full-term with her twins. Despite her age she elected to attempt a vaginal delivery because of the quick recovery. Her labor was long and extremely difficult and ended with cesarean section.

On day two I went to her room to complete her discharge from the hospital. She said, “I’m NOT leaving! This is inhuman! You can’t expect me to go home and take care of twins like this! I can barely walk! All you need to do is write a note in the chart that says I’m having a complication. My stay will be authorized.”

OP refused to lie and say she needed more recovery time, though, so on her way she went – hopefully with a better understanding of how her “bottom line” affected real women.

I told her that would be fraud. And I wouldn’t be willing to falsify a medical record.

Anyway, about a year later the state of California forced them to reverse the policy.

I know Reddit is going to have some serious reactions to this story.

The top comment says maybe now she will understand.

But those who know says she just dug in her heels.

Because some people are just hateful.

And this patient had more access to money than most.

Too many people make rules about things they’ve never experienced.

Seems wrong, if you ask me.