I learned the real value of health insurance recently

[noahmijo]

Just for the record I don't discuss any serious disease or anything life threatening. This is just a simple little thing that happened to me that I feel can easily fall under anybody's "Oh crap this can happen to me" category.


Well I was diagnosed the other day with an inner and outer ear infection. I don't swim very much, but I do have pretty bad allergies (hayfever) and I use headphones alot. My guess is between those two a good breeding ground for bacteria was born. Put simply I was just engaging in everyday normal activity nothing extreme or unique really.

Then all of a sudden bam, the pain becomes too much, and my girl insists I go to urgent care (this was on Labor Day)

Well to begin with I was surrounded by the usual crowd you'd see at urgent care but I paid some attention to what I was hearing. I heard some poor guy upset about having to spend $100 co-pay and then being told to shove off to ER. Another family had some sick little toddler and sorry to be judgemental but the whole time I was just hoping she just had a little fever or something not too serious because they didn't look like they would be able to cover anything beyond that.

A report came out the other day that said that almost 40% of the population in Arizona's "Right to work state" is without insurance.

See that story here~~> http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0830AzUninsured30-ON.html
Report: 1 in 5 Arizonans without health insurance last year

I am very fortunate enough to have found a job where I am given excellent health coverage. Needless to say that I was given a session at UC along with an RX all for practically pocket change...FAR FAR less than it would've cost had I not been a holder of a good insurance provider.

I'm 24 years old, I take good care of myself, I'm invincible or so I thought. I wasn't doing anything dangerous or out of the ordinary and here I had to go see a doctor at UC no less, and then get two different types of medication and on top of that was told that light surgery would be necessary if the medication didn't work (which thankfully it seems like it is)

Now to me this is a bullshit story compared to the sufferings of thousands out there with far worse problems. I always knew our healthcare system in America was in trouble, but what I experienced here wasn't even a really serious issue so much as if I wasn't covered it very well could've developed into one.

What's that say about people who wake up to find out they have a tumor? or cancer? A freakin earache would've broken me had I not had decent insurance.

I dunno what to say here people, all I know is after one little experience in UC and seeing all those scared faces and knowing that more than likely most of them were thinking about what they could sell to afford the treatment necessary for their kid's "recurring cough" I feel even more powerless now as an individual. How do we really fight a system like this? what's more, here in Az the biggest enemy appears to be THE POOR who have been duped into believing that socialized medicine will boost THEIR taxes and what's more anyone who advocates such a measure hates Jesus and is not Christian.

Meanwhile it's people like me I think that would be "disadvantaged" by such a system but I call bullshit on that personally. I waited nearly 2 hours, the doctor did his job with me, but it wasn't like some country club visit that for some reason repugs paint our Free Market healthcare system like.

Oh yea, and the first question I was asked before I even got treatment "Do you have insurance or will you be paying for this visit yourself?"


Eat that one all of you who claim that illegals come into Arizona's UC centers and bully their way into getting free treatment.

So with that I'm done ranting on this subject, can't wait for "Sicko" to come out. Should be interesting.

[cyberpj]

1. Everything you said is valid. Having once been really broke and

without coverage, here's some of what I remember.

Non payment of medical bills doesn't go on credit reports so people just don't pay them - or pay the minimum required to get seen and then don't pay. Without judgement, I'm saying that's a big part of why those with insurance pay more.

Overall, you are correct to assume that unless it's an emergency, poor folks either use clinics or just don't get care.

[Lindacooks]

3. Well, no.

Poor folks DIE. 18,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance.

That's the number I remember, but going to John Conyers' blog I saw this:

"The tragic bottom line is that 83,000 Americans die every year because they have no insurance. Being uninsured is the seventh leading cause of death in America. Our failure to provide health insurance for every citizen kills more people than kidney disease, liver disease, and AIDS combined."

http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_health_care.htm

[MisoWeaver]

16. That is the second time I have seen those numbers

But consider this: Upwards to 500,000 people a years die due to imcompetance in hospitials.

Maybe your better off without health insurance.

Just this past May, my mother's second husband went in for a broken leg and left throught via morgue.


He was elderly but still. Things like this shouldn't happen.

[Delphinus]

18. That's what I'm thinking, MisoWeaver.

I have been uninsured for seven years. I'm not on medication (thank goodness) and I've not needed to see the doctor for anything major. I took advantage of some inexepnsive blood tests the last two years, just to see if basic things were OK. Myabe the fact I've stayed healthy is because I don't see the doctors and I don't take medicines.

I have a chance now to receive insurance, but it will take one quarter of my monthly pay - and I'm already having a hard time making ends meet. One can only live so frugally ...

[Lindacooks]

41. No, you're not better off without health insurance.

Dying because of hospital mistakes is an entirely different issue, another one which really needs to be addressed.

When you're elderly, the chances of dying in a hospital are very great, mostly because of pneumonia caused by bacteria prevalent in that environment. My grandmother died from pneumonia when she was admitted for a swallowing problem. My grandfather developed pneumonia and almost died with a broken hip.

But dying because you can't GET medical care is a sin. These are preventable deaths, and in a just society this would NOT be happening.

[Rosemary2205]

8. Unpaid medical bills do indeed hit your credit report

most doctors won't go hard collections and the garnish your wages route but for profit hospitals will in a heartbeat.

[holboz]

15. Yes, our hospital told us they would send our bill to collections

We had a $12k bill for the 4 days of ICU treatment my daughter needed when she was born. We were told that we had six months to pay it or it would go to a collection agency. However, they *kindly* offered to refer us to a bank for a loan (probably at some outrageous percentage rate). I wonder how much that hospital would receive for the referral?

Instead we did what most Americans do with hospital bills they can't pay right away: We put it on our credit card. We had insurance through my husband's employer at the time but it didn't cover the life-saving treatments my daughter needed.

Don't get me wrong; I would have paid $120,000 if that's what it took to save my baby's life. But it's frustrating to spend hundreds of dollars for insurance each month and yet we still owed thousands for 4 days in the ICU.

We want another child but we don't think we can afford the hospital bill to have one. Especially since it took us YEARS to pay for the first one. However, my husband is English so we're seriously thinking of going back over there to have a child. Additionally, the UK government gives every child born in the UK approx. $400 to start a savings account.

[AlienGirl]

10. Not true about the credit reports: medical debt is awful for credit scores

Other companies buy up unpaid medical debt, attach "service charges" on top of it, and when you can't pay *that* bill, it goes on your credit report, as do any judgments the debt-collection companies get against you. They can also garnishee your wages, and even put you in jail (a process called "body attachment).

Oh, and the type of debt is often indicated by the name of the company, so when you go apply for a job and they run your credit report and see you owe $5000 or so to Physicians' Collection Inc., your prospective employer can figure you'd probably use a lot of sick days as well as being a generally irresponsible non-payer-of-bills, and they will hire someone who is less of an insurance risk. You have no redress against this, as there's no way to prove they are rejecting you because you've been ill.

Tucker (515. Cancer. Aftereffects of radiation. MRSA.)

[cyberpj]

14. Wow. Sorry. It's been since the 70's for me. Pre-greed era I guess. nt

[noahmijo]

22. Wow. You just made me even more proud to be an American

::sarcasm::

[EarlG]

2. Not long ago

I woke up to find my left eye had swelled badly - it looked really nasty, was swelled shut. Looked like I'd been punched in the eye, except there was no bruising. I had no health insurance at the time and no primary care physician, so not knowing what else to do - and being extremely worried about the state of my eye - I went to the emergency room. The doc took a look at it, diagnosed conjunctivities, gave me a tiny sample tube of medicine, and that was that. The swelling went down within a couple of days.

Total cost: $600. Fortunately I could afford to pay it, but millions can't. As an immigrant from the UK, where this kind of ailment would have been treated easily and quickly at no charge by my local GP, I find it shocking.

[nosillies]

24. It truly is shocking.

My husband is also from the UK, and we still have an address there. Although we've not gone as far as planning to have our baby there, as has a previous poster, we do often "save up" our doctor's visits for our trips back home to England. It's just cheaper and more convenient at times. Ridiculous -- we are Americans with health insurance, but still prefer the NHS sometimes. No, the NHS isn't perfect, but I think the uninsured Americans would take it any day.

[Broadslidin]

4. 46.6 Million u.s. "units" Without Health Insurance (2005 us Census Report)

Obviously,
not a large enough number of uninsured "units" on record
to cause most corporate financed politicians to choke on.

[EnviroBat]

5. A few years back...

I almost died of Scarlet Fever, and yeah I thought it was only something that kids got back in grandpas day. I was a student in college with NO medical insurance. Thank God for the charitable people that treated me at OSU medical center and the Urgent Care centers I attended. I was dangerously close to becoming a statistic, and only after I was unconscious did I get the medical attention that saved me. Scary times we live in...

[Rosemary2205]

6. A simple ear infection can be a tragedy.

One of our past foster kids ended up with us because his Mom was below the poverty line, no insurance and got got a cold that evolved into an ear infection that went septic. She spent an entire month in ICU then 3 more months in a nursing center getting treatment. She now has permanant heart damage and is deaf.

We tend to think of healthcare in terms of the big stuff but the little stuff can cause enormous problems if not treated early.

[EnviroBat]

7. Yikes!

[noahmijo]

9. Yea that's pretty much what I was saying

Although right now it's just a searing pain in my ear had I not pursued care for it it could've developed into something far worse.

That's a huge killer I think. People develop something small, can't afford to have it looked at or treated, figure it's nothing big (yet) and let it go.

That poor child....:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Rosemary2205]

13. Fortunately mom and son are back together

From my experience I'd estimate 40% or more of kids in fostercare are there because their single parent was unable to access either medical or mental healthcare.

[xmas74]

21. An ear infection is why I can no longer dispatch.

I left the field for about a year to go back to school. The distance was too far to drive and they offered to give me my old position back any time I needed it.

While in school I developed an ear infection. I had no insurance and did not go to the doctor. I did go to the school clinic but they said they "couldn't help me" since it was not a prescription for birth control. (Turns out that's all they did there.) I finished my schooling, moved back to my old area and tried to find a new position in a different field. There weren't any so I decided to go back to dispatching.

Turns out I've suffered a bit of hearing loss. I had an interview but flunked the hearing test. I'm now considered ineligible for any position.

[noahmijo]

31. I'm at a loss of words for you

Well to me you're a real person not merely a stat. I don't even feel worthy enough to offer you sympathy.

[xmas74]

34. I'm paying college loans back now

and working in a field for alot less money, but I'm luckier than some.

My hearing is still good enough to function on a regular basis, just not good enough to hear whispers in my right ear. And that could put an officer's life in jeopardy so I completely understand why I can no longer work in the field.

It could be much worse. Imagine if I were a construction worker with no insurance and I was injured in a car accident or doing repairs on my own home? I might never be able to work again and would have to learn how to support a family on a disability check.

Like I said-I've had some bad luck but I'm lucky compared to some. I can still work-just for less money and not in a field that I'm trained in (and still paying for). We're living at the poverty level, according to national stats but I've haven't had to declare bankruptcy yet. We're barely scraping by.

I just used myself as an example of what a simple illness could do. I think that explains exactly why we need comprehensive health insurance for all, not just for a few. Think about it-for $100 doctor's appointment (which I couldn't afford) and for $25 in antibiotics I'd probably still be working in my field.

How many others have had something similar happen to them? I suspect that this is more common than everyone thinks.

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. I have my own insurance coverage

It has an obscenely high deductible and provides little more than catastrophic coverage. I'm lucky to have it. Still, I have not seen a doctor in over eight years. Why? It is expensive and doctor visits are not covered. But another concern is the simple fact that I might lose what little coverage I have if my medical files were to document indicators of some potential future challenge to my health. I've known several people who either had coverage canceled or who were priced out of the market by premium increases for that very reason.

Incidentally, the last time I saw a doctor it was because of an experience with sudden hearing loss - which eventually was diagnosed as having a viral origin. Be careful with your ears.

[holboz]

17. Yes yes...

I haven't been to the doctor since my six week post-partum checkup a few years ago. I hope to change insurance companies next year but I'm too scared to go to the doctor out of fear they'll find something wrong and BOOM - the next insurance company hikes up a rate because of a "pre-existing condition".

About 10 years ago I put down on an insurance application that I had gone to a doctor one time for a bad headache. They came back and denied me because they said I may be prone to "mental health issues" in the future!!!!! That's when I realized I must be VERY careful about applications and when I decide to go to the doctor.

[renate]

19. whaaaaaaaaaaaaa....?

A bad headache 10 years ago = risk of mental health issues? (Which would hardly cost them anything anyway, since mental health coverage is generally pathetic.)

Wow. Did you have to send them your medical records? I wonder whether your doctor wrote down something he/she shouldn't have. My understanding is that usually doctors try to avoid using specific psychiatric-type words like "patient seems depressed" (rather than "discouraged," for example), precisely because that kind of thing can complicate getting health insurance in the future, but maybe some haven't gotten the memo.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. I fully believe that

When I first became self-employed, I filled out the application for one insurance company truthfully, stating that I had been treated for depression five years before, had had a biopsy (negative), and had broken my ankle (in a freak accident) and my arm (at age ten).

The company approved me for a $200 a month policy with a $1000 deductible and NO coverage for mental illness, cancer, or broken bones.

I sent them a nasty letter declining their poor excuse for coverage and ended up at Kaiser, where I was very pleased for 10 years: no exclusions, no deductibles, reasonable co-pays.

Unfortunately, they don't operate in Minnesota, and I'm stuck with one of thee insurance companies which all charge the same and all provide lousy benefits for the self-employed. So much for the free market.

[Coyote_Bandit]

38. I always ask my doctor

up front before he listens to my heartbeat or looks in my throat or ears or anything else to keep my medical chart as clean as possible and explain that I carry my own insurance coverage. I am certain my sudden hearing loss was diagnosed as viral labryinthitis because of that request. Had it not been it could have been treated as a neurological deficit possibly indicative of something like MS or an acoustic neuronoma. I remain grateful to that ENT.

I also know a psychologist who cannot get health coverage because of "mental health issues." She briefly took anti-anxiety medication - during the time period where (1) her mother was dying of breast cancer, (2) she was the primary caretaker, (3) she was operating a newly established clinical practice with no assistance and (4) her recently acquired step-son had been arrested and charged with the commission of a serious felony. I don't know about you but simultaneously experiencing that combination of events would give me at least a wee bit of anxiety. And if I were educated enough to know the available treatment options I would be proactive in trying to alleviate it. Because of her own experiences with the insurance industry she structured her practice where she mostly does court appointed child custody evaluations. Insurance coverage and collections are largely irrelevant to her income.

[porphyrian]

12. Florida's another "right to work" state...

...which really means "right to keep labor unions powerless." I can't wait for that movie, either, and I hope it makes a difference.

[noahmijo]

27. Maybe I'll cheer up when I finally get the hell out of Az

I can't speak for Florida, but I can say that the "Right to work" policy is horrible to the common worker. First off here in Az corporations like sears, best buy, ect strive to hire part time only and treat them like shit at that. Obviously they do this so they don't have to dole out benefits.

Then to boot the place is full of religious freaks whom I really just don't see how they manage to function normally throughout their day..actually they don't function normally really they engage in facts like pulling pistols on people who accidently cut them off whilst not more than an hour ago they themselves engaged in reckless behavior.

Oh yea those payday loan companies have sprung around here left and right and about a month ago one of them got robbed by a pair in clown costumes. Happened about 5 minutes from where I live and I pay a premium for rent because I didn't want to be around that kind of shit.

25% of the people in my city are retired. The sales tax has gotten to be almost as high as Washington state's but unlike WA we have to pay an income tax here not to mention property taxes are way higher than they should be considering the low quality state we live in in terms of economy, public policy, and overall design.

You can tell I was dragged to this state at an early age against my will. The only thing good I got outta this place was I met fiance out here (who incidently is a Seattle native and she too was kicking and screaming when her parents dragged her out to this hellhole)

At least in Florida I guess you have some nice scenery and maybe a beach close by? but man I personally can't deal with red state hell anymore. These rethugs don't know jackshit about how to properly manage a city or state or they are outright crooks who are hoodwinking us all. Red state Democratic politicians? forget em, one of the big ones here blew taxpayer dollars to have a goat slaughtered to appease his Chinese guests.

I know every place has its problems, but seriously I've lived in NYC, been to Seattle, and I can honestly say it's like night and day, what I have become used to dealing with out here most people in the cities like the one I mentioned have their jaws drop it's that sickening.

Don't know if you plan to move anytime soon but obviously I do. If not best of luck in fighting those rubes I know you have to deal with down there in the state where the best damn oranges in the world come from ;)

[porphyrian]

33. Actually, aside from the ocean and the humidity, I think the two...

...states are probably very similar, from the sound of it. And I think I may have another reason our states have the "right to work" bullshit - immigrant labor. We've got a bunch of immigrant laborers who work here, both harvesting crops and in construction. They're migratory for the most part, sometimes illegal, and almost always treated like disposable slaves. I'm not sure about Arizona, but it's a hunch.

Luckily, and I love the irony of it, Tallahassee has a fairly huge population of Democrats and lefties, in no small part due to the universities here. I've got enough friends and family here that I'm not ready to bail again yet, but give it time.

So, steal those oranges. Most of the bastards growing them are slime and a large part of the problem. They're so powerful, we've even got a Citrus Department in our government. Joy.

Good luck yourself. If you haven't decided where you're going yet, think about Chicago. It's got most of what makes NYC cool, but with more polite people.

[noahmijo]

39. Yea you got Arizona pegged on the immigration bit

It's like that out here too. They are just disposable slaves for the most part.

I will keep your statement about the oranges in mind. I've already pretty much switched over to juicing out what little the orange tree at my dad's house can produce.

Sounds like we're just desert/tropical mirrors of eachother in a way.

[xmas74]

35. Missouri is also a "right to work" state.

And in my are the payday loan places are popping up left and right-five to one over a regular bank in my town.

I believe Jay Nixon (attorney general) was investigating them, since they seem to grow the most in military towns and tend to open their offices in areas in walking distance of the poorest areas of town.

[Misskittycat]

20. This is a key issue for all of us uninsureds. 46 million

people without health insurance at all and many more who are underinsured should be a very powerful voting bloc. I don't understand why this isn't used better by the Dems.

[bpj1962]

23. Universal Health Care

Just think back to 1993 and the health care initative that was started by the Clinton administration. The republicans called it communist, socialist and the Doctors were all against it. Lieberman voted against it as well. Now look at health care costs in 1993 and them compare them with todays costs. Once again the republicans have made sure that the rich get richer and the middle/lower class foots the bill. Loss of job and medical bills are the main reason people file for bankruptcy protection. When are people going to wake up and realize that the republicans have been giving everything away to the corporate shareholders and soon we will have nothing left.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Actually, Clinton's program would have left us with many of the same

problems, because it allowed the private insurance companies too much power.

It was Clinton's program that introduced the term "managed care."

The insurance companies thought, "What a good idea!" And that's why your insurance company (in the form of medically untrained clerks working from a chart), not your doctor, decides whether you get a certain treatment or not.

[bobbolink]

28. I was with you until once again, YOU BLAME POOR PEOPLE???

How dare you!

I'm so very sick of this shit!

You owe all us poor folk an apology for this crap!!

Have the integrity to apology for this discrimination!

[noahmijo]

30. Whoa easy tiger I don't owe anybody anything read what I said

I was claiming that the poor are to blame here BECAUSE they are the ones who give the pukes enough votes because they are duped into voting against their own interests.

Sure at the root of it lie the rich and the crooked bastards who are at the helm but they can't do it without the aid of votes from the poor.

You ever hear the saying "You can hire one half of the poor to kill the other half?"

This is where I am going with this. It is NOT a shot at the poor, it is what I see happening out here in Az. The poor are duped and hustled into voting for repukes (not that the dems out here are that much better) and you know damn well it's not just in my crappy state it happens everywhere.

The point is they are programmed to instantly object to any programs or policies that would benefit them.

It sickens me to see the poor vote against their own interests and allow themselves to be used as pawns for the crooked games of the rich. However they along with the middle class could easily force those in the rich class to dismount but they refuse to and out here it's typically because they fear either going to hell or they really believe that it is them who will be taxed into even more poverty if those "damn demoncraps" get their way.

[bobbolink]

42. No, of course you wouldn't have the integrity to apologize

for your blatant discrimination.

You wouldn't blast gays like that, because the gay people here would blast you good for that.

You wouldn't say the same thing about a racial group, because the mods might actually take that one seriously.

There is finally a bit of action to not allow such ridiculous discriminatory words against women here, but much still is posted that is clearly sexist.

But there is NO sense of fairness or concern for the false words posted against poor people, and that is not only very ugly, but shooting youself in the foot. You will push all the poor folk away, and then whine because they aren't voting. Well, duh.

You show me some stats, and quote a link or two to back up your allegation, or drop it, like a reasonable person would.

You know as well as I do that there is NOTHING to back up this blatant bias of yours against poor people. Muddleclass and rich people make the same idiotic complaint about "socialism", and I'm willing to bet that they make that complaint in much larger numbers than poor folk do. If you can prove your allegation, then by all means, do so. Otherwise, have the courtesy to admit that your bias is showing.

[SoCalDem]

29. I once had to take $500 CASH to a friend in the ER before they would set

her 5 yr old's broken leg..:grr:

They had no insurance and were too proud to sign up for medicaid for the kids.. he was self-employed and she was a stay-at-home Mom to 6 kids (two sets of twins)..

[Vinca]

32. That's one of the worst stories I've heard yet. nt

[noahmijo]

40. ditto that

[AbbyR]

36. My daughter has no insurance

because my husband had to retire in April (poor health). He died recently, and in order to put her on my insurance, it will cost over $400 per month. Since my income was just cut in half by my husband's death, I can't afford to insure her.

I am so disgusted with the medical system in the US. Before he died, we had to find a G.P. for my husband - he used a clinic for regular things and had a specialist for neurology and respiration. I couldn't find a single doctor in town to take him. "We're not taking new Medicare patients" is what I was told.

If universal, single-payer medical insurance doesn't become an issue in this election, I'm giving up on the political system. It has cost us enough. I'm ready to throw in the towel.

We did everything right - went to college, raised a family, obeyed the law - and now my daughter is uninsured. I'm so disgusted.

[xmas74]

37. Go to your Div. of Family Services office

and find out if your daughter qualifies for state-assisted insurance.

I don't know how old she is but in some states children do qualify. In Missouri they have cutoffs for certain levels-below $2200 a month and the parents pay no premium, no copays, etc. After that it's a $5 or $10 copay for the doctors office (I think it's like $3000 or so a month) and then after that it's a premium (I think the max is $60 a month) with a copay. They have a bar set on monthly income but I've heard of some actually going past that and being accepted into the program-usually those w/ homebased businesses or w/ no insurance at work.

It's always worth a shot. In my case right now I have to go back down there to requalify my child. Someone saw that my child support order included insurance so they cut her off recently. Problem is that he's not covering her and has no plans to ever cover her.