My friend and fellow Blank Label Cartoonist Paul Taylor has mounting medical expenses. His first child was born prematurely, and if any of you have had experience with this (or have friends who have) then you know how expensive it can get.
None of us are rich. If we were, we’d throw money at the problem, and pray that medical science can spend it right.
Since we’re not, we’re hoping to throw YOUR money at the problem. Each Blank Label Cartoonist is chipping in originals or other valuables for auctioning. You can find the complete list here. And if you’re interested, there’s an auction for Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management Sketch Edition #293 on the list as well.
*throws in some plunder that is otherwise going towards Blackness Between*
Thanks for letting us know. Man that’s rough. . . .
Thanks again!
It’s great to see BLC pulling together like this.
I’ve made a few bids. Even if I don’t win anything, I can at least help drive the final prices up, and throw someone else’s money at it!
(Ooh, and there’s a PayPal button on his site, too. That one doesn’t depend on nobody else being willing to spend more money than me!)
Man. I wish I had money to throw at the problem. 🙁
I hope everything works out okay, that poor little fella needs the best he can get.
I don’t have money to throw, unfortunately. Since the boy and I moved into our own space earlier this year, well.. it isn’t cheap.
What I do have, however, is a wee bit o’ unwanted advice. I work in Admissions/Financial Counseling in a children’s hospital. Paul’s hospital almost certainly has some sort of Financial Counseling service – if he’s not talking to them, then the counselors should be ashamed of themselves. They should be spearheading efforts to help the family pay their bills. Even if Paul’s income is too high for Medicaid or even Medicaid Spend Down, he may be eligible for the government-sponsored version of an HMO, which may help.
NICU bills are painfully expensive; in fact, for many hospitals, the NICU is a primary source of income. There are, however, many options which may – well, if not eliminate the expense – at least help defray some of the costs. Our hospital even has special restricted funds for these types of things.
If Paul isn’t talking to these folks, please, please encourage him to. If they’re not as good as our counselors, and he finds them unwilling to put themselves out to help.. well, please encourage him to keep pushing.
I hope the auctions go well. The joy of a new baby shouldn’t be pushed out of focus by the stress of mounting bills – it’s hard enough to see the baby through all the healthcare issues. I’ll keep ’em in my thoughts, and pray for the best for the family.