"One Baby, Seven Opportunities for Injustice"

Sidney needs a 7-organ transplant, but the real battle is with her insurance company:

Recently, after waging another insurance war, the doctors in Miami agreed to accept payment for their services at whatever the state of Minnesota deems it would pay if the surgery and care was taking place here.

However, since insurance will not cover the $10,000 medical helicopter flight and the family doesn’t have access to a private airplane, they have to hope that a commercial flight is available when they get the call.

And, once the surgery is performed, Sidney will have to remain in Miami for three to eight months — including a month-long stay in the intensive care unit — during recovery so the family will need to find temporary affordable housing there.

Murray said that she’s not a big fan of Michael Moore but, as she watched his movie, “Sicko,” which compares health care in the United States as provided by profit-oriented health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to free, universal health care in other countries, she saw a lot of similarities to the experience she was going through.

“It’s frustrating because there’s a lot that’s not covered,” Murray said. “People don’t understand the realities of insurance until you have a medical crisis. No average person could go through a financial situation like this and come out OK.”