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Angry, Fed Up, Broke But Not Silent:
Women Speak Up About Their Health Care Nightmares
Debi Trauth of Cincinnati, OH was one of the many women who wrote to NOW with her health care story, and the White House was listening. They asked Debra to appear at a press conference on September 18 with the First Lady and the White House Council for Women and Girls, where she was asked to speak about her health care experience. We hope you will join Debra and the hundreds of women and families who wrote us and tell us your story.
Health care reform has been the hot topic for months now. Admidst all the political bickering, protests and town hall meetings, one thing is certain: The U.S. health care system is failing the people of this country. Millions of people are uninsured or under-insured. Many go bankrupt due to medicals costs. Women especially bear the brunt of the broken system because we are often the caretakers of the family, stay-at-home moms and the majority of part-time workers -- all of which do not come with a guarantee of health insurance.
NOW asked women to write to us with their health care stories, and we received hundreds of them. They are all moving, thoughtful and heartbreaking. Many of the stories will hit close to home, while some may make readers feel like they are one step away from ending up in the same fate.
We are sharing some of these personal stories because they are important evidence that our health care system must be reformed, because these people deserve to be heard, and because they want change NOW.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) cannot be held responsible for any statements or opinions expressed in these stories. Each story reflects the views and opinions of the individual authors and should not be construed as positions taken by NOW. To find out NOW's feelings on the health care reform discussion, please visit our health care issues page.
We have organized the stories topically, for easier navigation:
I suffer from Migraines. I am 55. I have been diagnosed with an episodic type rheumatoid arthritis (it shuts on and off for no known reason), I have a bad back and I have had a hysterectomy...ALL making me uninsurable on private insurance UNLESS my employer covers.
My husband is 62, suffered from depression (more from a chemical imbalance than anything else) and is totally managed with medication and just went through renal failure 2 years ago...out of work for 6 months. He is now uninsurable.
My boss has been covering us on a small business plan that was not so great at $1000 a month for each family (his and mine). Last year it was raised to $2000 a month per family (TWO PEOPLE) on a business policy! We had to cut benefits. Now for $1500/mo. We have a $5000 per person per year deductible. With no dental, vision and prescription at $50 PER prescription for ONLY generic. They will not cover any new drug at all....Those migraines? I get 9 pills a month allotted by the insurance. NINE PILLS - 4 headaches worth. If I need more? It is $306.50 for 9 more!
I cannot afford to go to any doctor since my co-pay is $50 per visit. I haven't had more than a 20 cent raise in 5 years because of my healthcare policy. My boss cannot afford both. So they are killing me and killing his family too.
I was laid off on January 5, 2009. I have been looking for a job since then. A person depending upon unemployment insurance benefits cannot afford to buy independent or Cobra health insurance, so I have none. Health insurance needs to be divorced from employment status.
I have not been able to work in over five years. I paid for my Cobra for 18 months, but when that ran out, too bad for me. I've not gotten my mammograms in the last 2 years, although there is a lot of breast cancer in my family and I am considered high risk. I've been turned down for Social Security Disability twice and am currently trying for a third time. (Although they tell me I don't qualify for SS insurance).
When I break a bone, (I also have osteoporosis) I cannot go have it set. Fortunately, I've not broken any major bones in the last couple of years. Our country claims to be so powerful and wealthy, yet we do not provide health care for those that have worked for companies that have needed us to take pay cuts, work long hours that have affected our health and made our country what it is. My prescription medications are several hundred dollars every month. I'm only 53.
I am a 29 year old single mother who has had numerous problems with the current health care system. When I was 24, I had an abnormal pap test and it was determined that I needed to have a surgical procedure. I did not have insurance nor could I get on the state Medicaid program as Oregon was not accepting adults. Fortunately, my doctor was kind enough to dramatically reduce his fee and I had to pay cash for the surgery, completely draining all of my resources. A couple of years later, I applied for an [insurance] policy and was denied because of this procedure in addition to having migraine headaches.
Needless to say, I still do not have insurance but have had an emergency room visit since as well as a mammogram and a couple of sonograms. I will be paying off medical bills for several years and have already been paying on them for over three.
I fear getting sick, my mother died when I was 17 and pre-menopausal breast cancer runs in my family. Who will take care of my son if I get sick? What if I lost everything? Could something preventable stop me from completing my education? I work hard to stay healthy and hope for the best, in the mean time I hope and pray that members of Congress have the guts to support a public option for people like me who have been denied coverage.
Due to the job market, unemployment, and economic recession, my health insurance choices are limited. COBRA payment is somewhat reasonable, thanks to the Obama administration, but since I am unemployed with limited resources, I have to choose between paying my modest car payment and paying my healthcare insurance payment. I live in Indianapolis where public transportation is very limited and in a full-blown job search, therefore, I face this choice monthly. It is uncomfortable and unpleasant and puts me in a vulnerable situation regardless of my choice.
I suffer from migraines. I get several of them a month, sometimes as often as 3-4 per week. I have finally found medicine that will treat them, but my [insurance] company only covers a finite amount of the pills per month. In the past it has been six. I think now they will cover nine per month. So when I've run out of medicine to treat my migraines, I either have to pay about $50/pill out of pocket or just suffer and stay home from work for the day.
My mother had NO health insurance and couldn't afford to go to a doctor. She made too much money to qualify for public assistance and worked as the sole employee for a private business owner and could not afford a single pay plan. My mother waited to go to the emergency room because she was losing her ability to walk and was in extreme pain. It ended up she had stage four breast cancer and a tumor had wrapped around her spine. My mother went undiagnosed because she was faced with the choice of eating and paying her bills or health insurance. My sister and I lost our mother before either of us was 40 years old.
Yes, PRIVATE healthcare FAILED to help my mother in any way, shape or form. Shame on private health care and all those who feed off the privatized system at the expense of the public they all claim they "help".
I have now been an "uninsured American" for over 5 years after having had coverage the day I started working after college. Upon leaving my last corporate job in order to become a fulltime caregiver to my elderly parents, I paid the ridiculous COBRA fee of almost $600 a month until I just couldn't afford it. When I applied for my own coverage with [two insurance] companies, both denied my application for PRE-EXSITING CONDITIONS. One [insurance company] denied me for having had a hemorrhoid removed two years prior and for taking Prozac. [The other insurance] denied me for the Prozac. I haven't had a gynecological exam in two years and have had to skip mammograms due to lack of insurance. Planned Parenthood has been a miracle for me, but with reduced state funding in CA, free or reduced fee services are no longer an option.
My son-in-law, in November 2008, had a slit in his aorta. My daughter lost her job and their insurance in June. The supplement to the Cobra helps but they will only be able to pay for their insurance until they spend their savings. They need the insurance to keep him alive, but have few alternatives. They are not alone.
My story isn't long but I do believe it is a good, short, simple example of why reform is needed. My story consists of a $400.00 bill for a one hour visit to a physical therapist for a tight muscle in my back. My deductible is $750.00, so after just a few visits to the therapist, I am in the hole almost $1,000.00. With 5 children and one income, this is a big bill that will be hard to pay.
I am a widow with a teen. I lost my job and when I went to apply for bill at home policies, I was denied coverage because my son, who plays sports, had a sprained ankle and I had taken an antidepressant for 6 months following my husband's long cancer battle. When I finally found coverage, the premium was over $900 a month. I am stuck paying that now. It is $200 less than my Survivor's Benefit that I lose when my son turns 16 in less than a year. I will be uninsured. I don't have a place to turn. I will be uninsured. All because of grief and a sprained ankle! SAD!
As a caretaker, I was hostage to a low paying job that I hated in order to get health insurance for my family, especially my diabetic husband. The financial hardship of his health problems created so much stress for me that my own health was compromised.
Our health insurance company denied every claim after his bills reached $5,000, which was usually sometime in January. Now I am being told that physical therapy is not covered for my spine problems because my problems are degenerative and my spine can't be "rehabilitated". Do they mean that if they can't make me young again, I don't deserve any help?
Finally, as a mental health care provider, I was a step-child in the world of health care coverage, yet mental health is essential to physical well-being. I was paid $30 an hour for licensed, professional treatment in my private practice. Not much for a master's degree and 15 years of experience. The common thread here is that health insurance companies benefit if we die. They lose if they cover treatment that is preventative or minimizes suffering.
I am a 43 year old Black woman...
I have been an administrative assistant my whole life...
I have not had health care since 2002 because of the cost factor...which averages out to be $300.00 a month for a single payer...that means no pap smears...mammograms...no doctor's visits...AT ALL!!!
It is as simple and as horrifying as that...
I am a master's degree holding college adjunct professor. I teach 5-7 classes per semester, and I am the writing center coordinator at a women's college. All of this work I do is considered part time, even though I work many hours over full time per week. I am uninsured because I can't afford private insurance and the schools I work at can't afford to offer me their insurance. I haven't been to the doctor in over a year, even for a yearly gynecological exam.
I am a working single mother who needs health insurance for her children -- this also is a woman's story!! After two years at my current job, I still have no health care for my dependents, (I cannot afford the $1,000 plus cost out of my paycheck monthly).... what this means is that I have to visit the ER and wait all day with a sick child whenever one of my children has a routine problem like a cold, or strep throat. It also means that I am unable to get my three year old and my five year old "well child" check ups towards preventative care.
I cannot afford to cover my children and still pay my day care to enable me to go to work that is the "bottom line". I fall into that category of working poor just scraping by, and I too want to be represented and have my story publicized to our Congress. It is a shame that in such a wealthy and industrialized nation we cannot cover basic needs for vulnerable children. It says a lot about how much we de-value children and de-value human life.
My daughter-in-law was denied health insurance because of her pre-existing condition of being pregnant!! Now, how stupid is this?!?! Pregnancy is not a disease.
My 50 year old husband had his first colonoscopy last year. Our [insurer] has refused to pay for it, calling it a "pre-existing condition". How can a first-time screening procedure in a healthy patient be a "pre-existing condition"? It's insanity!
Diagnosed at age 44 in January 1993, I did not take chemotherapy nor radiation. After surgery I had an MRI and again in 2001 showing NO Cancer. Again in 2005 - NO cancer yet I pay 150% of premium when I moved from NYC to Florida because I had a pre-existing condition (2003) and still pay this exorbitant amount. Two companies simply turned me down flat. I was going from COBRA to private, individual coverage. I hate this. My deductible is $5000 so I NEVER access healthcare at all!
Had some health issues about four years ago. Cost thousands of dollars with insurance. Couldn't afford COBRA when I was between jobs. Now, I am self-employed with no insurance because of pre-existing conditions. I have a pre-cancerous condition in which I'm supposed to get a biopsy every 6 months and I haven't gotten it about two years. I'm afraid that when I finally get a job that has health insurance, it's going to be too late.
I went on COBRA in January after I left my job, but the payments for the plan were too high for me to pay. The same insurance provider had a self-insurance option that offered a more reasonable rate. I applied but was rejected on the grounds that I have seen a psychiatrist for treatment for depression. It is frustrating because the message is: I'm only eligible for health care coverage if I've never actually availed myself of health care services.
In 2004, I was diagnosed with displasia of the cervix and underwent the LEEP procedure. I was covered under my parents' insurance at that point. In 2006, I graduated college and lost coverage on my parents' insurance plan. I applied for an individual [insurance policy] and I was told that my displasia was a pre-existing condition. [The insurance company] would cover one screening pap smear a year for me but they would not cover any diseases of the cervix, uterus or ovaries.
Luckily my displasia hasn't returned and I'm now insured through my current employer But I worry. If I lose my job or if want to go back to school and I have to purchase another individual insurance policy, will I be denied coverage again? And if the worst should happen while I have no coverage, what then?
Without my employer's insurance, I wouldn't be able to get insurance that covers the auto-immune disease that I have. It would be a pre-existing condition. Without treatment I could die. This is just about the only thing I see a doctor for, so why get insurance at all if it won't cover what I need? I just don't think a company should be profiting off my disease.
I pay an additional $200 for my insurance because I had breast cancer almost 10 years now with no reoccurrence or other medical treatment related to it over this time. On top of this, even if I can (which I am trying) get this surcharge taken off, more than likely it will be denied, as I have had medications prescribed to help me with menopausal problems, which will more than likely be seen now as a pre-existing medical problem.
I believe there is literally no way out once something is considered pre-existing, which practically everything one might deal with as one gets older or into menopause could be seen in this way. I am now at the highest deductible I can get in order to afford my insurance with no chance of ever getting something lower for the above reasons. To be honest, my husband and I are considering moving out of this country to one where we can afford medical treatment and coverage.
Less than a month after I got married, my husband was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia. This was due to a birth defect which caused his intestines to periodically push through his abdominal wall, but had never been caught by any of his doctors. We did not yet have health insurance since I was waiting for the enrollment period at my job. I had previously been covered under my parents insurance, but was dropped immediately when I got married. My first priority was to get my husband health insurance so that we could afford the surgery to correct the hernia. I was told that my insurance at work would not cover him because I was not categorized as working enough hours to cover anyone but myself. Next, I went to the provider at my university, but was told that we could both have insurance for 5000 dollars per semester, but we would not be allowed to seek treatment for the hernia because it was a pre-existing condition. Last, I tried to enroll independently for [insurance], but again was rejected because of the pre-existing condition that was the reason we needed health insurance.
Due to the time it took to hear back from all of my various options, I missed the enrollment period at work and was subsequently without health insurance for six months. My monthly maintenance prescriptions total over 300 dollars per month without insurance.
When my husband was hired at a large department store, we thought that he would finally be able to enroll in their employee benefits program, but were again disappointed. The company classified him officially as a part time employee which excludes him from benefits. Yet he is routinely scheduled for full time hours. As it stands today, we have yet to figure out a solution that will allow him to have the hernia repaired. All we can do is be careful and pray. Please help see to it that more people do not have to go through the same kind of nightmare.
I was denied private coverage because the [insurance company] disagreed with why my OB-GYN prescribed a medication I take every day. In other words, someone who wasn't a doctor decided that I don't need my medication and didn't deserve to be covered.
My [healthcare provider] contributes exactly $5 to the overall cost of my non-generic birth control. I have a family history of heart disease and am required to take a low-dose pill due to the decreased risk of blood clots.
Every month, my birth control costs me $50 -- money I frequently find difficult to come by at the end of the month before I get paid.
I'm just thrilled that [my insurance] determined that my reproductive health was worth them paying only 10% of my overall costs for my medication.
The health care option at my place of employment does not cover any sort of birth control. I thus am denied coverage for STD testing and contraception. My current dilemma is that I have high blood pressure (even at age 26) and should not be on the Pill, but it is my only affordable option at $30/month. The plan states that it will cover contraception if it is for "a medical reason," and I have tried to have my doctors explain that I have irregular menses and high blood pressure. Will they listen? No.
So, I guess I either risk hypertension or go without having a regular cycle and potentially preventing pregnancy. Did I mention that I signed a contract stating that my employment is terminated if I become pregnant outside of wedlock?
With my mother and grandmother experiencing mastectomies, I was recently offered the opportunity to have gene testing for BRCA1 and 2 (indicators of changes-mutations-which could signal the chance to develop breast or ovarian cancer).
After submitting my blood for the test, I was informed by the processing laboratory that my [insurance] would only cover this test if I already had breast cancer. Or, I could pay $2000.00 to purchase the test myself. I would like to be able to have this test run, but I cannot afford the $2000.00 fee.
My hope and prayer is that women and men like myself can be offered this test-and have our insurance companies pay for it. This is not a frivolous request -- nor are the results without time-consuming counseling. This test encompasses the fact that President Obama is attempting to illustrate: preventive medicine works, and is fiscally smart. Please allow me access to this test -- my life could depend on the results.
My insurance won't cover my birth control pills, because I use it for the sole purpose of birth control (i.e. there is no medical condition that makes it necessary for me to take it). It costs me over $100 for each refill. Apparently, they think it's cheaper for me to get pregnant than to cover my prescription. I pay for it myself because I know better, but it takes money away from my family that could be used for other basic necessities like food and clothing. I can barely afford to pay for the birth control pills, but I know it would cost me much more in the long run if I get pregnant and have another baby
After starting his full-time job working on diesel trucks, my husband had the usual 90-day waiting period before qualifying for health insurance. We got coverage through my [insurance], which covered my allergy medications, but NOT my birth control. How could this be?? We're young, 24 and 26, and have no way of starting a secure family. And yet with his full-time position and health coverage, they don't want to help us prevent unplanned pregnancy. This is quite an expensive out-of-pocket expense, and it's completely absurd that the insurance company should be able to deny such an important aspect of coverage.
Especially when it's possible for men to receive subsidized erectile dysfunction meds through Medicare. When will these misogynistic practices change??
For many years, my health insurance did not cover much if any of my preventive health care (annual OB/GYN checkup). If I needed an operation or had cancer, well then they'd be interested -- but cover a mammogram or pap smear -- NO. Situation has improved somewhat, but these costs should be covered so women get a quick diagnosis when there's a problem.
This is actually my sister's story. She fought breast cancer and her insurance companies for five years before the cancer got her. She told me about wheeling into a doctor's office in her wheel chair for an appointment only to be told they did not have authorization f or the visit and she would have to call her insurance company. She offered to pay for the visit, but was told the doctor was not allowed to charge the patient.
At another office she paid for a visit and her insurance company also paid, but neither the doctor or the insurance company would reimburse her.
She also was the victim of a drive-thru mastectomy. She had to leave the hospital only a few hours after surgery even though she was still in a lot of pain.
My husband and I pay $700 a month to my [insurance], as we are self-employed for the past 20/18 years respectively. We each have a yearly $2500 deductible, after which BS pays 70% to our 30% (it was 80/20 until they up and changed it one day and wrote us a letter), until we reach an out of pocket max of $15,000. That's at least $20K of pre-tax income. EVERY YEAR, should we get really sick. Who can afford that?
I have had three uterine surgeries and an outpatient D&C in the past six years, resulting in more than ten thousand dollars out of pocket. Those charges sit on our credit cards as we try to pay them down. Thankfully, no cancer - just polypectomies.
Last year I went in for my annual pap and gynecological exam. My doc asked if I was having any issues, and I mentioned that my left breast sometimes hurt lately, but since I have fibromyalgia, pains come and go. She noted "breast pain - left breast" on the lab slip for the annual screening mammogram, as she should have. The mammogram results were normal, but my [insurance] refused to pay for it, telling me I was responsible for the $500 charge because it was no longer a "routine mammogram" but instead a "screening mammogram." Aren't they all screening mammograms??? I appealed this charge in writing and lost the appeal.
So often, we pay out $8,400 a year for insurance, and get absolutely nothing for it, except some contracted rates for the lab or doctor expenses we pay. It is a rip-off, plain and simple. And my [insurance company] continues to reap record profits. This is runaway greed, just like the mortgage industry. They must be stopped.
I have had a variety of private health insurance carriers in different states throughout the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. None of them covered birth control or abortion. The HMO did not cover a first trimester abortion after I was diagnosed with cervical displasia in 1990. After laser surgery and chemo, I was denied all gynecological coverage by the next health insurance provider when I moved and changed jobs.
In June of 2005, I had an abnormal pap smear from moderate cervical displasia. The OB/GYN performed cryotherapy on my cervix in Sept of 2005; my pap smears were normal for almost two years following.
In December of 2006, I began to apply to insurance coverage because my new employer, where I started in January 2007, did not provide health insurance. I received the insurance coverage with the common stipulation that no pre-existing conditions would be covered, defined as any condition, symptom, treatment, etc during the 12 months prior to insurance coverage.
In May of 2007, I had an abnormal pap smear, this time worse. Stage 3 pre-cancerous displasia. The OB/GYN wanted to do a LEEP procedure after the biopsy. My insurance refused to cover the biopsy or surgery, thousands of dollars, because they said it was a pre-existing condition; except, I had normal pap for the 12 months prior to my insurance coverage!! They tried to say that they needed 3 normal pap BEFORE the 12 months to prove that I was normal prior to the 12 months; essentially, changing the rules of the game and making it up along the way to deny me coverage and make a profit for them.
By the time I had my surgery, and they tested the results of the surgery, they found I was at a stage 4 pre-cancerous displasia; one small step away from full-blown cervical cancer.
I called the insurance company numerous times to dispute the denial. After no success, I wrote a letter in which I threatened to go to the state, and they finally reversed their denial.
This is no joke; had my displasia worsened to stage 1 cancer, my coverage could have been denied (even more likely so) and undoubtedly I would have gone bankrupt in my attempt to pay those medical bills on my own. Others' similar experiences have resulted in the majority of bankruptcies.
It is stories like mine that are all-too-common among the women of this country, and disproportionately so. Don't ignore over half of our country's citizens; help your mother, sister, daughter, partner...this country could not exist without them
When I was on [insurance] through my fathers work I had prescription coverage for birth control that went from twenty dollars to fifty dollars a month. I was not only on the birth control the pill form for a method of avoiding pregnancy, but I needed it for my severe periods. I have extremely painful cramps and mood swings. I had to change the birth control I was on because of the high co-pay. As a result, the pill I went on did not help treat my severe periods. When my husband and I got married we were unable to afford health insurance. The costs each month for two college students is extremely high. The cost of health care a month is expensive and adding the cost of birth control prescriptions we would have no money. We went a year without health care coverage. The only way right now for low income women to get health care is if their spouse is in the military or they are in the military themselves. I am able to get the birth control I need because my husband is in the military. If we both in school and him not in the military I would still be without health coverage. Everyone women needs coverage, but health insurance agencies are just making it unaffordable.
I am 85 years old, and hit the donut hole about 2 months ago. I received no warning, just suddenly my medical bills were going up even though I had paid insurance costs for prescriptions. I will now get no discount on my prescriptions until I pay $4000 more for my health costs.
I have been on the donut hole before -- last year around the first week in December, the year before towards the last two weeks in December. This is the earliest I have ever hit it. It means that I pay full cost for the 8 drugs I take. Yesterday I went to pick up my Plavix, a prescription for blood thinner because 4 years ago I had to have an artery cleared and the Plavix keeps my blood thin. I always order a 90 day supply because I thought it was cheaper. The bill came to $400. I was given the option to take only 30 pills instead of ninety. There was a dollar price difference in favor of taking only 30 pills. What is the benefit for buying a larger quantity? My donut hole came sooner this year because the pharmaceutical companies have increased their costs. I am taking one fewer drug than last year and one, which cost $150/month, was dropped completely and a sub found which costs under $20/mo. Unfortunately, there is no generic for Plavix or for another heart drug I must take. What they are doing to us seniors in respect to the donut hole is a death panel. The pharmaceutical companies charge us more because we are sick and others aren't. What does that do to us? It makes us keep the pharmaceutical companies rich. And I can tell you this. It doesn't make me feel good and I sure don't take my Plavix every day. Do I want a public option? I sure as hell do.
I am a 62 year old divorced mother and grandmother with no health insurance. I have been self-employed for many years and haven't had the income to purchase expensive health insurance. I am desperately in need of just the basic routine care, such as a physical, mammogram, dental and vision care. I fear everyday that something major will happen and I will lose my home or my health. My youngest child lives in Berlin, Germany, and it is sad that I cannot get the same care as he has there for such an affordable price. I am so hopeful that President Obama will prevail and I will get the affordable care I need.
I have no health care at all and I am trying to budget a mammogram or some kind of imaging solution and an office visit. I used a women's health program attached to our hospital with me paying the lab fees which are now on my credit rating because I could not keep up with the payment plan. HOW TO PAY FOR MEDICAL CARE IS THE BIG QUESTION AS A SINGLE WOMAN ON A SMALL RETIREMENT INCOME.
I am 62 years old with 2 master's degrees and unemployed. I pay over $5000 a year for a policy with a $3500 deductible. It does not cover any of my pre-existing conditions, such as hearing loss. I bought my latest pair of hearing aids when I was working in Australia in 2006, for about one-quarter of what they would have cost me in the USA.
I am seriously considering a move to Mexico or Costa Rica so I can afford to see a doctor and a dentist rather than spend all my money on insurance.
I am 64 years old and, due to a succession of job changes and health problems over the last ten years, I have not had insurance for the last decade. Nor can I afford the premiums for individual coverage.
Several years ago I discovered a lump in my left breast but knew that I could not pay for treatment and that if I was diagnosed with breast cancer, it would be regarded as a "pre-existing" condition should I ever apply for coverage and I would thus be turned down. So I have just been taking lots of vitamins and attending health fairs whenever possible and hoping that it isn't cancer, until I can reach age 65 when I will be eligible for Medicare. But then approximately a month ago I began experiencing vaginal spotting and I am now faced with the same predicament again.
I do not feel I can ignore these problems for another eight months; yet if it is cancer, the cost of treatment will be insurmountable. I have a daughter with three young boys and I cannot die and leave her alone. So I have no choice but to have a pap smear and face whatever comes.
Medical research tells us that stress is the leading cause of illness, and yet our health care system is designed to maximize stress for those who are most vulnerable, namely the elderly and uninsured. In my mind our current healthcare system is close to being a program of genocide, with the poor and helpless as its targeted victims.
Everyone deserves an equal chance at life and health and American's healthcare system MUST be changed--not ten years from now, not in five years, but TODAY.
I'm 63, retired and without healthcare insurance, (having been denied due to a pre-existing condition). Based on currant premium costs and my income I can't afford health care insurance. At this point I pay as I go for only the most necessary, bare minimum treatment.
Preventative visits aren't feasible. If I should have the misfortune of a catastrophic health issue, like so many out there, I'm screwed. I've always worked hard, done the responsible thing; now I keep my fingers crossed and hope my good health holds out.
I haven't been insured since I was 18 years old because my father (who was supposed to cover my brother and me under his insurance until we graduate college) found a loophole which was insurance that was completely useless in the state in which I lived.
I went to the gynecologist around that time because I was having pains which I couldn't identify(which turned out to be nothing serious), but my pap smear came out abnormal and it was found that I had HPV. I ended up having to have two separate treatments of cryotherapy in order to take care of the problem and I was left with thousands of dollars of medical bills which I could not afford to pay, being in college with a low paying part-time job. I have not even been able to have a pap smear come back normal because I cannot afford the bills, so I do not know if the second treatment worked. I am still uninsured and I am in favor of healthcare reform.
My 25 year old daughter was experiencing some fainting, which she thought might be related to low blood sugar. She was working one full time job, one part time job, and was a full time student. She had no health insurance. Neither of us had any idea of how serious her condition was, but a doctor would have known what to look for.
She was in seemingly excellent health, strong physically and emotionally, a wonderful, wonderful young woman. Now she is dead; she died of a heart attack that could have been prevented had she had health insurance. I do not understand how anyone can find any moral or ethical support for making a profit at the cost of people's health, and lives.
In just a little over a week, I will be heading down to the Savannah College of Art and Design, to finish a B.F.A. degree in Performing Arts. I am also one of the 44 million Americans without health insurance. I learned that I had lost coverage after a bill from the gynecologist came back with a $200 charge. I was shocked, disappointed, and furious. I lost coverage because I took a semester off to be closer to my grandmother, who was dying of a terminal cancer.
I had always taken my healthcare for granted. But spending six months knowing that I couldn't go to the dentist, or risked bankrupting my family if I got into an accident has changed me.
Insurance companies shouldn't be able to drop people just because they feel like it or because a person has a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies should provide a six month "grace period" (similar to the grace period provided by student loans) for students who drop out or graduate.I am a recent college graduate. I have never had personal health insurance. The only time I had it was when I was in college. I work for a non-profit now, so I am on the prayer-plan without the public option. I have to pray to God that I don't get sick, fall down, or need any services. I am paying out of pocket for my birth control and all medication when I get sick, which I CANNOT afford on my salary. Pass health care reform NOW
My 25 year old daughter had insurance. Her three month old daughter died of multiple brain aneurisms. But not without a fight. This fight to save her child cost her $350,000.00. That's her portion. She is bankrupt at 25. She will not be able to finance the new car she desperately needs. This will cripple her for years. Just because she needed to be able to say "I did everything I could". This is just wrong.
This story is about my father, however, involves me as I was the primary caregiver for dealing with medical doctors, facilities and service providers.
Several years ago, my father suffered a heart attack. He and my mother do not have health care insurance so the costs were significant to their very modest income. Two months after his heart attack, my father got a stomach ache which became so severe that he was doubled over in pain. He didn't know it, but it was his appendix. Despite my mother's encouragement to go the ER, my father wouldn't do it because he was afraid of incurring more bills. So, his appendix ruptured... gangrene set in ... which required emergency surgery. Cutting to the chase, that surgery led to a 7-week stay in ICU, a total of three emergency surgeries, and $250,000 in related bills.
Even after working through doctors, the hospital and service providers to have debt decreased (which is no small feat); it was still too much for my parents to handle. They had to file bankruptcy. All of this because they didn't have health insurance and my father was afraid to seek out care because he knew he couldn't afford it. This doesn't make any sense to me. The 'system' wants to dismiss preventative health care for all because of the costs, but $250,000 can buy a lot of preventative health care!
Eighteen years ago I developed a severe case of viral encephalitis. I was hospitalized in Indiana for at least two months. I spent two years in rehab, working on regaining my memory, re-learning how to walk, re-learning to do basic every day things. The medical bills started rolling in immediately. I then developed a seizure disorder…more tests, CAT scans, MRI's, more specialists. I was hospitalized more times than I can remember. The medical bills continued.
My husband was working and we had insurance. It was not enough. Four years ago, we finally had to declare bankruptcy. The economy went sour and we became late with a few mortgage payments. Last year we lost our family home due to foreclosure. Right now we are leasing a home to buy. We are 58 years old now. The health care system ruined us.
In 2007, I lost my job and my insurance. I was offered insurance through the COBRA plan from my former company, at $1100. per month! My husband is disabled and does not have health insurance. Luckily, I was a student and was able to get basic health insurance through my school. However, health insurance through universities and colleges is geared to young people. My husband and I are in our late fifties. We used the prescription benefit in the first three weeks of January. After that we bought our prescriptions with our credit cards. The cost was over $500 a month even though we had asked for as many generic medications as we could get. The cost has caused us a lot of financial stress.
I recently wrote to my Senator, Chuck Grassley. He gave me a song and dance routine about how Americans didn't want government making their health care choices. Funny isn't it, because that is exactly what insurance companies do.
I am rapidly hurtling toward my 50th birthday and in my entire adult life I have had health insurance for about a four year window, ending long ago.
I have never had a mammogram and I haven't had a PAP test since 1993. This is not because I feel well and think it's not necessary, I want to have access -- but I truly can't afford insurance. I have asthma, pre-existing condition #1, and when I run out of my rescue inhaler I go to the doctor and get a cursory examination and a prescription for three new inhalers. The inhalers cost about $100 and I need them to, well, live, so I get the prescription filled but that means I can't pay the doctor. So every time I run out of Albuterol I end up in collection. It always takes many months for me to get the doctor paid off. It is a lousy way to live.
I have other health issues as well, but there's no point enumerating them. The point is health insurance for me costs roughly twice my monthly income, so I become really angry when I hear people say that there is no crisis, that people choose not be insured. The insurance companies have given me no reason to trust them. The "public option" would be there to curb the abuses. At any rate, I need it because I doubt I'll be able to afford insurance under the compromise reforms that I've read about.
I am a divorced single mother of two wonderful children, ages 5 & 7. Three years ago I fell gravely ill to a rare and potentially deadly, but treatable, disease called Takayasu arteritis. The rarity of my disease and severity of the debilitating symptoms led me to being misdiagnosed for the first 2 years of my illness. It is difficult to fully explain Takayasu arteritis and its symptoms, in short form. But, in layman's terms, at 26 years old I have the vascular corrosion, bone density loss, joint inflammation and chronic fatigue of a person 60 years my senior. Likewise, I am also susceptible to heart attacks and strokes. It takes a daily regimen of highly toxic and very expensive prescriptions to regulate my disease. But even the treatment of my disease begets a series of daunting side-effects, including, but unfortunately not limited to, hypertension, extreme weight gain, skin thinning/bruising, hair loss, lymph node tumors, cataracts and skin cancer. The symptoms of my treatment are often as painful and debilitating as my disease itself. But, for (and with) the love of my beautiful daughter and son, I willingly submit myself to whatever it takes to be here for (and with) them.
It is in this spirit of self-sacrifice and survival that I have been rendered financially ruined, due to medical debt. I am stranded in an all-too-familiar conundrum for uninsured/underinsured patients: Either pay for prescriptions and treatment or living expenses, gas and food. I have always been a hard worker, averaging 70 hour weeks as a restaurant general manager. But maintaining the rigors of my job accelerated the symptoms of my sickness. My doctors notified me that continuing to work would jeopardize my chances of recovery and possibly led to premature death.
Subsequently, I could no longer hold employment, which meant I lost what health insurance I did have through my job. I initially qualified for [insurance] but was ultimately denied, due to a cluster of state guidelines and regulations. Moreover, because I have a pre-existing condition, no private insurance company will insure me. Effectively, I have been shut out of every feasible resource on a state and private level. Without a federal public option, I will quickly descend from shut out to shut down, literally. With a public option I would be able to purchase an insurance plan that not would only provide adequate treatment, but allow me to purchase my prescriptions at a much more attainable cost than the current overwhelming prices (which I can no longer afford). It pains me to see the public option be battered about in consideration of only the public option (resources) aspect of the term, but not the public option (people) part. And is that not what the whole debate is about? The people? Is the primary focus of health care reform to save money or save lives?
Personally, I went from an upwardly mobile, gainfully employed, tax paying citizen to a patient, who will likely never have good credit again, nor a bank account/savings, a house or any significant possessions or assets of worth to leave to my children and especially heart-breaking dilemma considering my faltering health and uncertain treatment resources. I want to leave them something more than medical debt, antagonistic bill collectors and a jaded sense of being let down by a system I had so willingly paid into when my health provided me the ability to do so.
This is no way for a young mother to live or die in America.
I am a healthy 40-something woman and for many years did not require any surgery or major medical care. However, in 2007, my GP urged me to undergo gallbladder surgery due to the increasing pain from gallstones. I checked with my health insurance company to confirm that my surgery would be covered and that my surgeon was "in plan," and was assured by a representative from the insurance company that everything was in place. The surgery went very well, and I was relieved to not have to experience gallstone pain anymore. However, another pain soon began -- the pain of financial difficulty and debt, which began when the bills started rolling in for the costs my insurance would not cover. The bills came in over the course of 2 years -- I paid the last one only months ago -- and they totaled in the tens of thousands of dollars. And when I say I "paid" the bill, I mean that I put it on my "emergency" credit card, the balance of which used to be "0" from month to month but since my surgery has swollen to a balance of more than $15k.
Making matters more difficult, last February I was laid off from my job and I am looking for work for the first time in 17 years. I pay what I can on my credit card bill, but the finance fees are killing me. My monthly bill is now a reminder of how inadequate the U.S. health care program is.
I am a psychologist who specializes in helping women with mental health concerns. Insurance companies employ many strategies to avoid paying for mental health treatment including limiting sessions, denying payment and routinely underpaying psychological providers. These issues are particularly concerning for women struggling with eating disorder issues, psychological problems with a very high mortality rate. The system needs to be changed.
Until age 53 I had been in what I considered to be good health. I needed back surgery for herniated disks in 1980 & 2000, been treated for depression in 1998, had developed low-grade diverticulitis (treated with outpatient antibiotics) in 2001, and had colonoscopic polypectomy shortly thereafter with a normal exam one year later.
As an employed physician, healthcare coverage was part of my compensation package. At age 53 I determined to change directions and quit the practice of medicine in Sept 2003. Before doing that, I researched healthcare options online and found numerous affordable plans for which I felt I would easily qualify (stopped smoking in 1991, exercised daily, was (then) only minimally overweight, did not use alcohol and had no significant family health history. As a result, I declined the COBRA coverage available to me -- bad choice!
Shortly thereafter, to my great surprise, I was refused coverage by two major national plans due to the history described above. The high-risk health insurance pool offered by Texas was exorbitantly expensive and I chose not to get insurance.
As fate would have it, I developed a 3rd herniated disk in November, 2004. Not having insurance and desiring to conserve my savings, I toughed out two weeks of back and leg pain and was left with a weakened left leg. As the debility was not resolving, I saw a neurosurgeon after several months who scheduled a CT Myelogram which confirmed the self-evident diagnosis. I was advised that surgical repair would cost $45,000 (approx). Having paid $5,635 out of pocket for the myelogram already, seeing that my lifestyle was going to undergo a major change from the leg weakness I already had, I did not feel I could afford to spend that much of my savings and chose to accept the disability.
Again, as fate would have it, in November 2005 I developed another case of diverticulitis that rapidly progressed to peritonitis from a perforated diverticulum and underwent semi-emergent partial colostomy with a protracted (12 day) recovery. My wound healed poorly and I was left with an intolerable wound hernia which was closed in 1-day surgery about 6 months later. Total out of pocket expenses for this illness were $38,590. So, at age 60 I am left with no healthcare coverage, am uninsurable except at rates that are entirely unaffordable, am debilitated and unable to walk far or stand for short periods, am too young for Medicare, own too much to qualify for Medicaid, and have nearly exhausted the retirement fund I had once intended to use for training in a new career.
Having devoted nearly 20 years to the delivery of healthcare and having to deal, on a daily basis, with people whose situations made it impossible for them to pay for their care (which I provided regardless) I am, ironically, in the same situation.
Do I support single-payer, nationalized healthcare?
I have had to fight for coverage for myself which as a doctor I knew was medically Necessary, and because of my tireless fight, was eventually successful. I have had many patients who have not been so lucky, either the fight was knocked out of them or they did not have the medical savvy to prevail.
Ten years ago I underwent a stem cell transplant for recurrent Hodgkins Lymphoma. Thankfully I survived the treatments which were covered by my employer paid health insurance. I left that job 1.5 years ago and have had to pay over $1500 per month to cover the COBRA costs for our family of 4. Though I have been working full time and my husband was working 2 part time jobs, this was a huge burden. Now that COBRA option has run out and we will be uninsured until my new job starts in 2 months. Because I have "pre-existing conditions" -- consequences from my treatments for cancer -- I am ineligible for health insurance. Ironic because I am a physician myself!
As an emergency physician I am face-to-face with the unspeakable suffering of those abandoned by our profit-driven U.S. health care system everyday.
As a Breast Cancer Survivor and a Health Care Professional, I have to say my Health plan did cover the expenses of my surgery and treatment, but what I find appalling is that the medication I need to take for 5 years cost me $350.00 OUT OF POCKET for the first 1500 dollars and I know of several women who have declined the medication because of expense and the need for follow up care.
Because of out of pocket and other expenses I myself have delayed necessary testing because I must now pay my $4,000 deductible, and I have to say I am not in the same financial situation as many women are. I can at least afford to pay this, but struggle just the same. I have decided to join a research project just because I know they will pay for the meds, because I feel that I can not afford this expense for the next five years.
As a health care professional I have seen the physical and financial devastation of ignoring preventative care and follow up care. It ends up costing insurance companies, hospitals and let alone the patients much more, and for the most part, when patients are in this situation, they generally end up on public assistance to pay as they can not work.
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