And yet it’s true. I posted the link to the GoFundMe page for you to see, but it got flagged, so I can’t.
Here is the text on the GoFundMe page, with the man’s name xxxed out
“xxxxis stricken by the Covid-19 virus and is currently in an induced coma and on a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine.
He is 28 years old, a husband and father of 3 great children, and employed at Denver Public Schools.
The very best case prognosis is a very long recovery lasting many months. The family is quarantined at home while xxx is in the hospital.
While we wish him well, wishes don’t feed the little ones or keep a roof over their heads. The medical expenses alone will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars as he has been in ICU for weeks and will be for many more weeks.
Please help with whatever you can. Thank you.”
By the way, the health insurance plans available through the Denver Public Schools are notoriously bad. One of my husband’s staffers is married to a DPS assistant principal. The entire family was on the modest Kaiser plan offered by my husband’s nonprofit because it was cheaper and better than what he had at DPS.
I admit I don’t like wearing a mask. As I’m practically a hermit these days the only time I’ve had to wear one is at one particular grocery store chain and I only go once a week. As long as there is a requirement to wear masks indoors I’m probably not going to resume visiting stores for more than the absolute essentials anytime soon. I really don’t need much anyway.
Or perhaps Wisconsin shouldn’t have opened up. Now, more people in Wisconsin will get the virus and those who came from Illinois will bring the virus back home with them.
This ridiculous need to reopen so quickly all over is going to end up being disastrous for all of us. Going to have to shut down all over again.
It’s beautiful up there! Plus people have vacation homes or friends with vacation homes in the Lake Geneva area.
I have been sorely tempted to hike at Kettle Moraine (WI), but I keep thinking everyone else on “extended vacation” has the same idea & the trails will be crowded.
When I worked carry out the other night, I was sitting by the front window of the restaurant fielding phone calls and watched as cars pulled up to Dick’s Sporting Goods and loaded up kayaks they had purchased for curbside pick-up.
Probably in anticipation of driving up to Lake Geneva…
I know one person who made a hair appointment at a salon in Kenosha, WI not far across the border.
Yes. Some sources recommend keeping an eye on the hospital capacity and positivity rates (as testing expands not only in number of tests, but expands to the general population – not just people presenting with symptoms).
A regular customer came in to pick up his carry out order, ask how we were doing, and then he launched into an angry rant about Pritzker’s family traveling to FL and WI
So the claim is that the increased case count on Saturday is due to the opening of the beaches on Friday?
Doesn’t matter, since it is all better now.
The data is lumpy and fuzzy and one-day reports don’t tell much of a story. Maybe opening up Wisconsin is a disaster, maybe not, but it is way too soon to tell.
Downstate Illinois must be about to go into open revolt. Multiple counties with single digit case counts are still in very restricted status because of Cook County. Crazy.
I agree, way too soon to tell whether opening up Wisconsin is a disaster.
Personally, I think that the problem with Wisconsin’s reopening is not that it is happening but how it is happening: Rules and guidelines are being used only in a few counties, and there’s no chance of statewide rules and guidelines because the legislative leaders in one political party have said they will not agree to anything suggested by the governor, who is in another political party.
I would not be the least bit surprised to hear of some places shut down again. However, given that people are going out of their way to push the boundaries, if not avoid altogether, the current restrictions we are under, I would also not be the least bit surprised if everyone continued on to ignore the new shut down orders.
Apparently pre-covid, according to this morning’s Chicago Tribune, Illinoisans spent 60% of their time at home. During the earlier stages of SIP, that went up to 85%. Now it is down to 74%. I don’t see it going back to 85% again for more than a couple of days. Police don’t have the resources or manpower, nor the inclination frankly, to enfore anything but the largest and loudest gatherings. The state is fending off lawsuits left and right, which only drain it’s resources further.
The threat of closing down again means very little at this point. The people most phased by it seem to be the ones who have been really, really good at isolating. At least mask compliance near me is very high and people really do try and SD. We’d probably do better at this point if government would focus on getting hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes plentiful and widely available again.
So the Denver Public School health insurance plan isn’t ACA compliant?
I find that hard to believe. I would think they are required to be ACA compliant. And I’ve never heard of a policy that has a deductible of hundred of thousands of dollars.
I’m in Illinois too. In my leafy suburb, some of the athletes have been going to local fields to practice, mostly alone. In the early days of SIP, police were sitting near the fields and chasing the kids away.
Now, (and we are still SIP), nothing…police have seemed to have lost interest and are letting the kids workout. Although I haven’t see perfect social distancing practices, most have been doing ok.
I would find that hard to believe too. I’m sure it’s compliant. Doesn’t mean it’s affordable. I do know that DPS insurance is considered bad: high out-of-pocket and high premiums.
OTOH, we don’t know if the person in question had insurance. No law requires it. (smile.)
Governor Whitmer of Michigan is allowing regions of the state to open starting Friday. The UP and lower northern Michigan. Bars and restaurants can open with restrictions, hotels and campgrounds will continue to be closed.
This is a Facebook post from a popular downtown Traverse City restaurant
Thank you everyone for your support and phone calls today. We are blown away by the level of activity since the announcement. We understand that many of you are eager to get into the restaurant this weekend. We are working as quickly as possible to have everything in order to assist you. We will begin taking reservations online or through the mobile app Resy, beginning Tuesday, May 19th. Please do not leave messages at the restaurant. Thank you again for your support and patience.
Kinda tells me everything I need to know about this weekend unfortunately.
In my personal experience, a lot of Northern Michiganders have decided that coronavirus is over. I am not seeing many wearing masks, the stores that are open are busy. It will be business as usual just with more places open. I imagine that this weekend with all of the pent up downstaters coming to the open regions of the state to be interesting to say the least.
Maybe he isn’t a full time employee (part time hourly and working less than 20 hours a week) therefore not eligible for their medical insurance plan. Or he opted out and bought a non compliant plan, since you said he has insurance - but nowhere in the GoFundMe message does it say “even with insurance”. It doesn’t mention insurance at all. Your post did say it - but maybe you presumed that given he is a DPS employee.
So I checked my own insurance – since that was part of how this conversation started – and you’re right emilybee – my insurance would take over once we paid $10,000… And since my co-pay for hospitalization is $1,000, you were almost on the money with that 8K estimate. And when you consider what those costs are, $10k would not be considered ‘astronomical.’
“There is something like that, I’d have to look up how much, but it would still be a fortune.“
“A neighbor started a GoFundMe page for a Denver Public Schools staffer - he’s in facilities management - who’s been in ICU and on a ventilator for 4 weeks and whose bills are expected to be astronomical even with his insurance.”
The IL governor divided the state into regions in his recently released Five Phase Re-opening plan so the entire state would not be held to what’s happening in Cook County.
I have not looked into what’s going on in the other regions as my area is tethered to Chicago.
Even with the regions, some suburbs & collar counties are objecting.
But yes, you are right, downstate they have actual real pitch forks!
