I recently fell quite ill. I was attacked by a strain of pneumonia, forcing me to be on a ventilator for a number of days. As difficult as the experience was for my family and me, it did teach me certain important lessons about our health care system:

1) HMOs can be detrimental to your health: My illness was not taken seriously in its initial stages. Repeated calls to the weekend hotline after I got worse first generated the advice to stay at home, and, then, to go to the clinic. My wife’s pleas (I couldn’t speak because of my cough) that I should be admitted to a hospital were politely tossed aside. We disregarded the counsel and went anyway. By then, my lungs were severely infected.

A doctor friend of mine later told me that HMOs have “protocols” and “procedures” in place to keep costs down. This apparently includes discouraging people from showing up at hospitals, since the HMO then has to foot a large bill.

Stories of HMOs shortchanging their members are, of course, legion, as Michael Moore’s “Sicko” demonstrated. His documentary revealed how HMOs were given a turbo-boost by friendly legislation passed with the support of the Nixon Administration. They have grown phenomenally since then, based in part on their ability to control expenditures—sometimes to the detriment of their customers.

2) Medical support staff personnel deserve every penny that they earn: Without exception, the staff at the hospital I was at for two weeks was wonderful. I was bedridden for a number of days, and the nurses heeded my every request with amazing kindheartedness. This attitude was true for all the other employees there, such as the physical and respiratory therapists.

Yet, the economic downturn has seen medical workers struggle to maintain their salaries and benefits. Nurses from California to Massachusetts have been in battles to stave off reductions in their wage packages. Anyone who begrudges them their pay should have to spend a night in intensive care.

3) Everybody’s medical emergencies should be covered: I was lucky that I was insured for my hospital stay. But many others aren’t as fortunate, including a good friend of mine. Last year, he fell down from his bike, breaking his hip bone and injuring his ribs. His accident cost him thousands of dollars, since he was uninsured, and he’s reimbursing the hospital in monthly installments. No one’s trauma in the emergency room should be compounded by anxieties about how to pay the bill. But any efforts to remedy such a cruel system are met with howls of protest from the right wing.

I’m grateful to have recovered. But I’m incensed at our health care system.

If you liked this article by Amitabh Pal, the managing editor of The Progressive magazine, please check out his article entitled "Republican Triumph Bodes Ill for the World."

Follow Amitabh Pal @amitpal on Twitter