One of the biggest names in Champaign/Urbana music died on May 24, 2009 in Urbana. His name was Jay Bennett and he was, among other things, a former member of the critcally acclaimed indie rock band Wilco, which is based in Chicago. He was also a member of Titanic Love Affair and the owner of a pretty cool recording studio here in town. I won't get into the particulars of Bennett's career as it isn't relevant to this discussion. But needless to say, he was a brilliant musician and a true artist.
The cause of Bennett's death has been determined to be an accidental overdose of pain killers. While the man was involved with the creation of some of rock's most important music, it seems that he struggled financially after leaving Wilco and moving back to Urbana. He also struggled physically and in the spring of 2009 he was diagnosed with the need for complete hip replacement surgery, which he could not afford. On April 24, 2009 he wrote this post on his myspace page:
... I am among our nations under-insured (my previous injury to that leg was listed as a pre-existing condition, and any injury that could be linked to the same root cause, I was told would not be covered). Some time passed as I contemplated my next “move,”---how to come up with the money to pay for the surgery “out of pocket,” and as I brainstormed, my hip finally decided to lock up, and the pain got worse. So I began the arduous, or more accurately, extremely time consuming and endlessly frustrating, process of finding a surgeon and hospital that would perhaps “cut me a deal,” be willing to bargain/barter a bit, or at least allow me to make installment payments. As it turns out, this is possible, but also difficult to arrange, if you can not come up with a sizable down payment as a show good faith, etc. I have been saving as much money as possible ever since I made this new commitment to my health, my future, and my quality of life, and have sold off some vintage recording gear, whose monetary collectors value now far outweighs it’s functional value. As time has passed my mobility has continued to erode, to the extent that, for quite some time now, it has even been difficult to sit at the computer for more than just a few minutes ...
One month later he was found dead in his Urbana home, a victim of an accidental overdose of the pain killers prescribed to him to fight off the pain until he could raise the money for the surgery.
We often throw around careless arguments when we discuss "socialized medicine" or "universal health care." It can be easy to forget that we are talking about human beings who struggle with horrible physical problems because they simply cannot afford to have them "fixed." In the case of Jay Bennett, it seems clear that his lack of sufficient insurance, and the for-profit model of health care that dominates our system, indirectly caused his death. If he had been fully covered his surgery would have been quick and routine. The pain would have diminished and his life would have continued. More music would come to us through him. More joy brought into the world.
We can claim that it is better for insurance companies to make decisions about our health care instead of the government. And that might be true. But in the case of Jay, and many others like him, right now the power is simply out of their hands. They have to suffer until they can raise the money to pay for their health care, or until they die. His situation is all too common, and that is what makes reform of the health care system such a high priority.
Many were the nights that we drove the open country roads with Wilco's Being There blasting from the speakers and from our throats. Jay's music will live on, but he is missed. It is a shame he had to leave us at all, but here's to a death that is not in vain.
