On Thursday night's episode of NBC's Superstore, titled "Delivery Day, Dina (Lauren Ash) and Amy (America Ferrera) both finally gave birth--however the two have very different experiences and thus we get a racially tinged lecture about healthcare inequality.
While at the hospital, Amy finds out that her health insurance, provided by Cloud 9, the company they all work for, will not cover her delivery at the hospital she is in. It will, however, cover Dina's because Dina was apparently given better health coverage as a manager of the store. Jonah (Ben Feldman), Amy's new sort-of boyfriend, is outraged by this.
Amy: Oh, no, he's not the dad.
Hospital Employee: Oh, I'm sorry.
Amy: Oh, no, no, no, no. I don't mean, "He's not the dad," like I was having an affair and got knocked up by some Rando. I just mean that the man I had sex with, he is the father of this baby.
Hospital Employee: I understand. I'm not a nurse but we take a class. The reason I'm asking is we don't accept your insurance.
Amy: What?
Jonah: Oh, but her coworker's having a baby in the next room and you take their insurance.
Employee: Well, looks like they're on a different plan. They have health shield bronze and what you have is different.
Amy: And by different you mean...?
Employee: Worse. It's worse.
Jonah: Of course. Corporate takes care of the managers and the rest of us get the scraps.
Amy: Can we please not do all of that right now?
Employee: So, you could pay out of pocket, but the room is about two grand a night.
Jonah: Whoa.
Employee: Or there's a clinic nearby that accepts your insurance.
Amy: Okay, and the clinic is good, right?
Employee: It's been there for years.
Amy: That didn't answer my question. Oh, God.
[Overlapping coughs]
Jonah: Can I finish complaining about health care inequality now?
Amy: No.
Throughout the episode we see "White Privileged" Dina has a much better experience than Amy. While Dina is treated to a first class hospital experience with attractive doctors, Amy is rooming with a corpse in a run down clinic. In addition, her doctor appears to be ancient and underqualified. And notice how suddenly diversity is not considered a good thing.
Amy: Can't believe my baby's going to be born in a hospital that looks like an escape room.
Jonah: I--I like it here. That other hospital was snobby. This is, um-- you know, this is down to Earth. It's connected to the community. It's diverse.
Amy: I don't want diverse right now. I want to be in the hospital where only rich white people go. I want to feel deeply uncomfortable that I'm the only brown person there.
Jonah: We just have to make the best of it, okay? Honestly, you look around, it's kinda roomy once you-- Oh, my God. Uh, hi, sorry. I'm Jonah. This--this is...
Amy: Is she sleeping with her eyes open or...
Jonah: Yes, let's go with that.
It's no secret that NBC is trying to portray the differences in health care experiences in America for the "rich" white people compared to minorities and it's all part of the left's mission to bring single-payer health insurance to the U.S. Last time I checked, though, people weren't flocking to other countries with socialist healthcare systems that are "supposedly" better and more equal. In fact, health care in those countries is worse than it is here. So, unlike Amy when Jonah says, "Can I finish complaining about health care inequality now?" I am inclined to say, "No."
