Humana-Miami Rally from Doral, Florida

Footage from the Humana Miami headquarters rally on Wednesday 11th, 2009. Here some of the sights and sounds from Doral, Florida.

My Medical Me$h Problem

My name is Jorge R. Serrano. I'm a photojournalist/filmmaker. While working as a photojournalist for WTVJ, the local NBC affiliate, I injured myself. That injury was later diagnosed as a small inguinal hernia. I continued to work for nearly a year. After covering tropical storm Noel from Bahamas I developed the aspiration to become a foreign / war correspondent. Besides, my progressive political views were not appreciated at WTVJ so an alternative to staying there seemed necessary anyway. To that end I was advised to have my hernia repaired if I would not want to have the hernia burst while at a third world country or war-zone. So I eventually went to a surgeon and was sold into having the hernia repaired with a plastic mesh patch. This "bullet proof" patch has become a genuine nightmare. I had all sorts of other plans designed with the pre-requisite that I would be in excellent physical condition. I planned to film adventures in the wild, explore new places and bring untold stories to the general public. I used to practice martial arts and run in thriathlons. All those dreams have been battered.

I and innumerable other people are suffering horrendous complications including death from these mesh patches. These surgeries have become very popular mostly for economic reasons. In my case chronic pain is only the tip of the iceberg. From organs being strangulated by scar tissue generated by the plastic mesh, to the leaching of dangerous chemicals causing all kinds of health havoc. I should not have been a test subject for this dangerous and unproven device.

At great expense we tried to maintain the HMO's coverage after the surgery while I kept going back to the surgeon with complications. He kept giving me the same response: Basically more pain killers and walk it off. When my wife changed jobs we lost our coverage. By the way, NBC, in the almost four years I worked there never gave me health coverage. After months of pain and other complication, we used all of our savings to enroll on the "Preferred Medical Plan" who promptly denied even referring me to a specialist using the now common excuse of pre-existing condition.

I now find myself lost in the wilderness of this immoral health care system; in desperate need of health care with no way to get it. Meantime the pain and long term consequences of my lack of care keep piling up. Since I can't carry a heavy camera for hours like I used to, I can't earn the money for paying the ton of medical bills I incurred while "covered". Without insurance the medical care I need is completely out of my range. It's no surprise that: "Medical bills, plus related problems such as lost wages for the ill and their caregivers, contributed to 62% of all bankruptcies filed in 2007....Medical insurance isn't much help, either. About 78% of bankruptcy filers burdened by healthcare expenses were insured, according to the survey, to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine."

I like provably most other Americans trusted the system would protect my interest. I was wrong to count on a system contaminated with the profit motive. The for-profit medical industrial complex has become a tool to get around the Hypocritical oath to not put profit or advancement above duties to patients. For profit medicine encourages profit-producing drugs, surgeries, tests and treatments at the expense of the patients' interests. It created a monster industry designed to ration medical treatment to fatten their profits. The United States stands alone among industrialized nations in not providing health care for all it's citizens. There are currently 46 million Americans without health care and we rank # 37th in health care even though we spend more than any other country. How does that make any sense? How can we abide by that? Is paying so much for so little worth it just to keep other human beings from the care they need? Is that worth it?

The health care debate should be strictly framed in a moral context. Does greed have a place in medicine? That's the question I ask myself in my film: Me$h The Movie. The Medical Industrial Complex's greed pushed me into my current me$sh. Now, how do I get out?