BlueCross-BlueShield, a private insurer, provided through my husband’s work, picking up everything. Everything.

And when our insurance some months later switched to Aetna, there were no headaches about preexisting conditions when it came time for the next prosthetic fitting, or for the new $60,000 leg (or maybe it was $80,000; I can’t recall). There were no denials of service when Doug had to enter the hospital again, as he’s had to many times through the years, to receive either emergency services or followup care for various health issues.

This was pre-Obamacare days, mind you. The days when so-called evil private insurers were routinely denying necessary services and screwing poor sick victims out of proper health care.

It was a few months after my husband left the hospital from his heart attack that we ran into one of the nurses who cared for him — at a presidential campaign event, no less. One chat led to another and the subject of socialized health care was raised. And this is what the nurse said: Had my husband been on Medicare or Medicaid at the time of his heart attack, the doctors would have quit their life-saving efforts long before his 10 comatose days had ended. Why? Because the government health care plan wouldn’t have paid for the around-the-clock intensive care. The situation would’ve quickly evolved into a pull the plug, wait and see what happens type of deal.

As it was, BlueCross-BlueShield, the private insurance company, approved all the doctors’ service requests. And so my husband went on to live another day — another nine years, and counting.