What would you do if you couldn’t afford health insurance and you knew something was terribly wrong? For millions of people this is a situation that’s faced daily. Would you go to extremes to find healthcare? Are you willing to commit fraud?
In New Amsterdam’s season 2 episode 6 “Righteous Right Hand,” when a group of women on a retreat end up in the ED, all is not what it seems. In the face of hospital closures, lower-income communities go months and years without treatments. Easily treatable cases are now life-threatening. Instead of standing by watching helplessly as the people in her community and church suffer without medical care, Kaye Henry decides to get care for her fellow congregation by any means necessary.
In one of the richest countries in the world, people are praying for hospitals to lower the cost of medicine. Maybe Henry takes it as a sign when a nice young man in a van rental office offers to sell her supplemental accident insurance. All she had to do was one scary thing and all their prayers could be answered. Sometimes you have to wait for the right hand of God but sometimes that hand is you.
But is committing insurance fraud a sign from God?
In honor of this powerful episode that focuses on both African-American healthcare issues, as well as the ways in which the cost of insurance and availability of good care can affect us all and abortion, The Koalition spoke with “Righteous Right Hand” writer, Erika Green, about tackling abortion, religion, grief, death, health care in the African-American community and more. We also discuss what’s next for Dr. Max and Dr. Iggy this season.
New Amsterdam airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
Check out our interview below.
