Struggles with the HMO

Though stuck in a foreign country, Cathy felt Alan was better off having his injury in Canada than in the United States, and she even considered moving the family to Canada before deciding to go back to their hometown of Philadelphia. This was because Canada had a national health care system, and the United States' health care system was comprised largely of private corporations.

Because Alan's care in Philadelphia would be provided by a private entity in the form of the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), every aspect of Alan's hospital stay and rehabilitation was examined and questioned since the HMO attempted to pay as little as possible to get Alan healthy again. The first instance of the HMO's meddling was their canceling of an air ambulance in favor of their own air ambulance for transporting Alan from Kingston to Philadelphia. The HMO air ambulance was...