Stories

Young and Hopeless

Anna Crawford — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 01:51:37 -0500

I grew up in an upper-middle class family. we had good health benefits. I was in the hospital for 8 days because of an eating disorder which cost 20,000 dollars...of this my mother had to pay 20%. She retired early to spend more time with me during this time and our health care ran out...we had to cease my therapy because we couldn't afford 200 dollars a week plus insurance payments. Keep in mind, when she retired she was still making more than the average income.

To this day, she is not insured and anxiously awaiting Medicare....worried that the entitled benefits will run out before she can recieve it.

In my case, my fiance and I got pregnant and had no health care. My employer (an avid bush supporter) said I could be eligible if I worked 40 hours a week for 3 months. THere were no reasonable accomadation and I was off the required amount by 5 hours 1 week. I didn't recieve my insurance until 5 months after it was promised.

I had to pay 180 dollars each visit, once a month....This was on top of the bills that came in monthly (up to 2000 dollars.)

Once I got my insurance, my employer changed the plan on me which didn't offer as good of benefits, so I had to pay 20% out of pocket for ALL services. That included weekly visits and the 3 day REQUIRED hospital stay.

We had insurance for our daughter from my husband until he had to change jobs. We thought it would be quick to get insurance benefits, but realized that it would cost us between 300-400 dollars a month in benefits.

I stay at home with my daughter now, and although my husband makes the average American income (40,000) - we still can't afford insurance. We don't have cable, have basic internet for my schooling, and are very frugal people. If we did have insurance, we couldn't pay for our medical bills.

While I could go to work - if I did, we'd have to spend up to 800 dollars a month in childcare....barely worth the job.

I still am scared, to this day that we will get pregnant again or our daughter will get sick or get hurt. Just taking her to the doctor to get her routine immunization's cost $500!!!! And we recently had to go to the hospital which will total in the thousands!!!

Health care needs reform. Considering that the Average American can't afford insurance anymore....pretty soon none of us will.

Pre-Existing Condition

Andrea Young — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 15:28:33 -0500

13 years ago I was fully covered by health insurance in California. I moved to Washington with a new job, not a single day of unemployment. I then got another insurance plan. Then about 6 weeks later I found out that I was pregnant. The current health plan said pre-existing condition.

My old health plan was an HMO for only N. California, so that was out. The only recourse that I had was to get COBRA coverage from the old job. This was a bit less than 300/month out of my pocket. But the coverage was much less and I had to pay 10% of the cost of the ob/gyn bill plus deductables. Half thru the pregnancy I got married and his insurance also would not cover anything.

The total bill was about 22,000 with about 4,500 out of pocket.

Moral of the story I guess is that you must pee in a jar whenever changing jobs or you might not be covered. And by the way the first appointment, 10 minutes, was $125. It was not covered. The insurance had a one year waiting period for any Gyn service such as pregnancy testing, pap smears, etc.

Deductable Rules Our Operation

Richard Baker — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:02:10 -0500

My wife and I have been with Humana Health Insurance for fifteen years.

Fortunately, apart from doctor's office visits at reasonable intervals and one hospital stay for my wife's pneumonia, we have used very little of our benefits under our comprehensive plan which costs about $600.00 per month for the two of us.

Our surgical deductable remained fairly reasonable but with steady incremental increases.

Last year I was diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury and scheduled for surgery.

Reporting this surgery in advance to the insurance company as instructed for certain authoirizations, I was told the deductable for surgery had been increased for 2005 to $3000.00 per individual or $6000.00 per family.

The entire cost of the surgery was about $3200.00 so the insurance company would have paid only $200.00

The deductable was prohibitive for us so I had to decline the surgery and wait a year until I can get on Medicare, meanwhile hoping my shoulder would not deteriorate beyond repair.

Having paid out over $100,000.00 in premiums over fifteen years and receiving only a small fraction of that back in benefits seems unbalanced.

A non-profit government insurance plan with reasonable premiums and deductables would have prevented me from having to burden the taxpayers
with my medicare bill.

Health Care System Should be Bush's Priority

Susan Faust — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:53:53 -0500

If Mr. Bush wants to establish a legacy for his presidency, he's barking up the wrong tree! Health Care should be his number one priority. Why?

How much of our seniors' social security benefits are going toward prescription medicines and treatments? How many stories have we heard about our elders eating cat food in order to pay for their medicine?

We are an upper income family, and we are being told to expect our health insurance premiums to increase 65-85% EVERY YEAR. My husband's business is forced to shop carriers annually, causing disruption and distress to all employees. The hourly workers want to drop their insurance altogether -- increasing the burden on our public hospitals. We see our family income drop. That's less money we can save for our retirement.

My future security rests with my health and the vitality and affordability of our national health care policies. Perhaps Mr. Bush has too many friends in the drug and insurance industries to rock that boat.

Needed Revisions to Medicare

Lois Snider — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 04:10:36 -0500

I am fascinated by the interest in saving Terry Schiavo from "starving to death." I understand the concern because my father starved to death in his own home. He had a stroke and subsequently was told by Medicare that he had to leave the hospital. We (his family) were told that Medicare would not pay for a nursing home because he was considered to be "terminal" and needed only "custodial care." We could not afford to pay for a nursing home on our own so we kept my father at home. He could not walk and didn't know where he was. We had a hospital bed and a hydraulic lift to get him in and out of bed. He eventually quit eating and went from 180 pounds to 80 pounds. No doctor would come to our house to insert feeding tubes. He took on the appearance of a prisoner in a German prison camp during World War II. I could no longer shave him because the bones in his face were too sharp. All of his ribs could be seen clearly. Eventually his feet turned black and he died. He was carried out of his home in a body baq.

In my mother's case, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was able to get around until about the last two weeks of her life. I could not afford to put her in a nursing home and once again Medicare did not cover her medical expenses because she was "terminal." One evening about 5:00 p.m. she began to throw up blood. I called her doctor who said I should just keep her at home. From 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the next day she threw up blood in a pan and I poured it in the toilet. I finally called an ambulance and she died in the hospital. She had, however, bled almost to death with no comfort from medical personnel. When I came home from the hospital, both the bed where my mother slept and the carpet were soaked with her blood.

My story is not unique. My point is that while Congress in willing to intervene in keeping Terry Schiavo alive in spite of her wishes, they are not willing to help those who need help and comfort in their final days. Medicare must be changed to allow people to have medical care in their final days so that they are not forced to die in degrading and inhumane conditions with no relief for their pain and suffering.

We Need to Change the Health Care System In the US

Sheryl Henderson — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 21:34:18 -0500

I am a 58 year old, native Texan ,who also, happen to be disabled, and I live on SSDI!! This is not a piece of cake!!

While I do have Medicare A & B, due to constant fee cuts, more and more Doctors, no longer accept Medicare assignment! The fact that I am ill, and I get a whoping $949.00 a month, no way could I pay, the 20% not covered by Medicare. Also, since I'm uninsurable, as are most disabled people, my only option was to apply for the Texas High Risk Pool! The kicker here is that, the monthly premium, is $1400.00 a month! I am one of the lucky folks, in that my premiums are being paid, by a non-profit organization!

I, being a native Texan, find it sickening, that GWB's, home state, has more uninsured people, than any other state!
The childrens progam, CHIP's, is a month to month, program due to cut backs, by our current Governor. If this program is discontinued, many more children, will be without insurance!

If your thinking well, how about Medicaid..forget that! If you make over $740.00 a month(who could live on that?), then you are ineligible.

While Bush talks about a tax break to help people get insurance, he never mentions the fact that, only the healthy, will benefit!

The Dallas County Hospital District (Parkland Hospital) is overwhelmed, with indigent people, and the uninsured! And, no help, is in sight!

The one thing, most people don't realize, is the fact that under the current system, everyone is carrying the burden!
Home owners are paying ever increasing city, and county taxes..just to maintain status quo!

While I hope, this never happens to another, it will, unless we as a nation, acknowledge the fact that as we age, illness becomes a way of life, and unless you are wealthy, you may find yourself, lacking funds, to pay for needed health care!

Two Categories: Have and Have Not

Patrick Knoll — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 14:14:22 -0500

Just like America's economy, affordable healthcare and life expectancy have evolved into two separate boundaries: Those who are affluent enough to afford the extreme costs of health service, and those who cannot.

Due to the physical traumas I have experienced in my 62 years, I have had many different jobs. This was due to my epileptic condition, which restricts me from driving, working at heights, or with machinery.

Even when I gained steady and financially rewarding positions, I would frequently be denied the health insurance provided by my employer. My health, and job security was always endangered because of my condition.

I am not ashamed of myself because of my epilepsy, but within the last ten years I've also experienced more physical difficulties: Non-hodgkins cancer of the lymph glands, extreme osteoarthritis, and many surgeries for joint replacements.

Many others face far more serious and financially devasting physical complications than I, yet my monthly costs for medications to help control my epilepsy dictates my lifestyle. If a political leader can gain tax breaks, primarily benefitting the wealthy, proclaim this program is re-initiating our economy, why can't that same person recognize that less and less of American citizens either have health insurance, nor can they pay the extreme costs mandated by our drug companies, the expense of even visiting a doctor, or the preservation of their own life.

We are at a crossroads, and we must legislate a form of socialized medicine. If not, only the rich will be able to live, and the poor will continue to die. Were we ever to reach that point, it would endanger the very basis of this nation's economy, even the foundation of this nation's democracy.