Health Care Stories - More people speak out
Posted on July 15th, 2008 by Levana Layendecker in Tell Us Your Story
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People are speaking out:
I work in call center, which I hate, a lot. I work there just so I can get health insurance. The job is very stressful and I've been unable to find other work (that includes health care) for the past 7 years. I am 55.
Pamela, Portage, MI
As a psychologist involved with the health insurance of my patients, I have experienced many unfair practices by this industry. They have disallowed mental health benefits to a young woman, newly arrived from out of state with no social, emotional support system who was diagnosed with cancer which she may have had prior to her new employee based insurance.
Sandra, Del Mar, CAMy daughter, Karen, worked as a temp, which is becoming more and more common for young people. She was told she had health insurance through the temp firm. She had some health problems that required two hospitals stays, each about a week. She then learned that her temp health insurance plan only provides coverage for days when she was at work. Only one of the 13 days [was covered]. She now owes . . . $30,000. She's declaring bankruptcy, which will affect her for the next seven years at least.
Nicholas, New Market, MD
I am a physician. I do my best to deliver quality health care to all who seek my help, regardless of what (if anything) they can pay. However, every day (and increasingly more year by year) I see patients who either can't afford the medicines and treatments . . . I see from the inside all the games we doctors have to play with insurance companies simply to get paid (sometimes) for the services we render, so that the CEO's of the large insurance companies can live like kings.
Daniel, Wichita, KS
After my divorce I was left with no medical coverage for the first time in my life. It's been 7 years since I have had any normal routine medical testing for anything.
Patricia, Kent, OH
We pay $369.00 a week to keep health insurance. We are getting to the point of choosing between keeping our house that we have been in since 1978 or having health insurance.
Charlene, Nashua NH
My daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at age 2 after sustaining a fracture in her leg. It's depressing that no matter how hard I work, I will never be able to provide her with the $30,000 per year medical treatment that she needs. I regret even more that I probably will spend her college savings on a knee replacement surgery.
Kasio, Las Vegas, NVWe had an HMO twice refuse to pay for an MRI for my daughter. She fell at home and was complaining of the worst pain of her life in her foot, which was swollen and bruised. Eventually I had the test done anyway and it showed two broken bones!
Miriam, La Mesa, CA
As a physician, I am confronted every day with children and families that have to choose between high quality health care and what is affordable. Furthermore, on many occasions, I have spent a significant amount of time developing a trusting relationship with a patient and his/her family only to find that their insurance has changed and they must move to another doctor.
Michael, Corvalis, OR
As a speech pathologist who has spent a number of years working in nursing homes, and seeing the limits imposed on therapy by insurers, I have often thought that if health care were not allowed to be a profit making field, and not traded on the stock exchange, and if salaries of CEO's were more in line with the salaries of those who actually provided the services, there might be a great deal more money available to actually provide the care needed. It can be a private endeavor, just not a profit-making private endeavor.
Recently I listened to a politician compare a public health insurance plan to putting an alligator in a duck pond and couldn’t help wondering, who in his estimation, is the alligator.
I certainly hope he was not referring to the government’s plan as the alligator because if he were, then clearly he either did not know what he was talking about, or had an ugly agenda he felt he needed to protect by spewing hyperbole.
For the record I work in the healthcare field, most specifically I work at a center that treats breast cancer patients. Part of my duty is scheduling MRIs for patients with known cancers, or those with a strong family history that predisposes them for cancer. I see first hand the pain and fear in the eyes of these women who have gotten this most feared diagnosis and now have to deal with the bureaucracy of their health insurance while undertaking the biggest fight for their very lives.
I recall the woman who came to us from Florida, she was a known cancer patient and during the examination decided she needed an MRI. Rather than have the patient go back to Florida and then return for the exam at a later day, we attempted to have her precertified for the exam. The patient was insured by Blue Cross of Nebraska whose standing policy requires a seven-day processing time for preauthorizations, however the patient felt confident she would not be denied coverage since she was a known cancer patient, was already at our location and the exam was being ordered by the doctor as part of her visit to the office. She was wrong, her precertification was denied and she was billed for the procedure.
We have had other patients cancel their appointments with us because although our facility is listed in the top ten medical facilities in the United States, their insurance would not cover their visit to us because we were not considered as “part of their network.” On other occasions our doctors have had to go to bat for our patients and have gone as far as to write directly to the insurance companies that have denied coverage to the patients.
These are not the actions of a docile duck, these are the actions of an unfeeling, cold blooded reptile, much like the politician who would make such a ridiculous comparison and who has done nothing to stop big business from treating the American people like their own personal piggy banks.
I voted for President Obama because I feel now as I did then, that he has the interest of the American people at heart. I have seen nothing to change my beliefs scare tactics notwithstanding and I would be more than willing to pay my insurance premiums to a public insurance plan if it will introduce some serious competition and end the meanness and greed that perpetuates the healthcare industry.
no help, still only denial,,,,i am so ready to -oo00h- can't say,,,, they have raised taxes on cigarettes to get ppl to quit smoking and are raising again next month one more dollar, all so they can better health care,,, well ,,, why not helping those that you and i both know qualify for health care and ssi ( I HAVE EPILEPSY) , AND START THERE!!!! if they use their brains , that alone will close alot of files and paperwork, hours, and overtime pay. stop throwing our case away only to make us keep re applying and using up more of their hours and our money. if i was in jail, i would get treatment and maybe even come out with the SSI that i know AND THE STATE of LOUISIANA knows i qualify for. it is way past time we get our bonuses, our health care, not the kind the think we should have to cut down the budget, if that is so , then why don't they put us on their insurance policy, SHAME SHAME SHAME ON LOUISIANA, BOBBY JINDAL, SENATORS AND CONGRESS MEN WHO REPRESENT US. THEY OWE ME, I HAVE MEDICAL BILLS TO PAY,,, YOU KNOW WHAT,,, THEY HAVE MEDICAL BILLS TO PAY. SHAME SHAME SHAME,,,,,WHERE IS MY RECOVERY MONEY****NO I WILL NOT APPEAL, TAKING TOO MANY TAXES AS IT IS NOW,****welcome to the white house, just not mine. don't send ppl to knock on my door to support your plan or any including jindal's office. i will light up my cigarette and while they blow smoke one way at me i will blow mine in their face. then they can run back and use their good ole' high price insurance you help to provide for them to get treated by their doctor from smoke inhalation. i have no insurance to use to get treated for the smoke they blew up me. your office never responds to my e-mails of concern, ABOUT MY HEALTH PROBLEMS BEING AN EPILEPTIC TRYING TO GET PROPER CARE, so don't ask me to support something YOU WANT!!!!! WHEN YOU CANNOT TAKE THE TIME TO SUPPORT OR CONCERN YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING I NEED. until then, that shows me how much my state, gov,city, and the U.S. cares about me , i WILL KEEP SMOKING. YOU TAKE 2,497.2 MG OF MEDICATION ***EVERYDAY***AND BE TURNED DOWN FOR SSI AFTER THEY QUALIFIED YOU FOR ABOUT 17 YRS, AND NOW SAY YOU DO NOT, MY BOYFRIENDS EITHER MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY OR I AM NOT CONSIDERED DISABLED ENOUGH. WELL I HAVE ALREADY HAD TO HAVE 17-19 STAPLES IN THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY HEAD FOR ALMOST 6 WKS A FEW YRS AGO DUE TO A SEIZURE. I HAVE ****EPILEPSY******NO CURE******WHY DO I HAVE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THE MONEY MY BOYFRIEND WORKS FOR, HE SUPPORTS ME AND MY KIDS, THAT IS MORE THAN MY COUNTRY IS DOING FOR ME. SUCH HYPOCRITS, ALL, YOU PAY MY DEBT. OF OVER 9,000 IN JUST E.R. MEDICAL BILLS ACCUMULATED SINCE BEING CUT OFF OF SSI, AND TELL ME I DO NOT MEET THE NEEDS, REQUIREMENTS, NOT SEVERE ENOUGH, OR THE WORST TO ME MY BOYFRIEND ****NOT MY HUSBAND****MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY. THEY OWE ME BACK PAY, CURRENT PAY, COVERAGE OF ALL PAST AND PRESENT MEDICAL BILLS, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN TURNED OVER TO AN ATTORNEY REP. THE HOSP. ,,,, IS THIS THE WAY MY COUNTRY, MY STATE, THE TWISTED LAWS AND LOOPHOLES HELP ME,, WELL, NO WONDER SO MANY PPL ARE ON ANTI-DEPRESSANTS OR COMMIT SUICIDE, WE CAN'T GET HELP. TOO OLD FOR ONE THING, OR TOO YOUNG FOR THE OTHER, BOY, BOY, I GIVE IT TO THIS COUNTRY, YA'LL PLAY IT GOOD, AND I DID NOT SAY MANAGE , I SAID PLAY. THAT IS ALL WE ARE , A GAME, SOMETHING TO SHUFFLE AROUND SO LONG AS THE PERSON WHO GETS IT CAN HURRY UP AND PASS IT TO SOMEONE ELSE, SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO CONCERN THEIR SELVES WITH OUR PETTY PROBLEMS,, WHAT ARE WE –COOTIES– WELL, THEN DON'T ASK FOR OUR TAXES.
I AM SO TIRED OR THIS TALK TO OBAMA BULL. WHY HE DOESN'T TALK TO YOU OR ME. HE TALKS TO ALL THE POLITICIANS OUT THERE THAT SHOW UP OR TUNE IN. WELL, I AM NOT A POLITICIAN. I DO NOT WANT TO PAVE THE PATH FOR MY LIFE WITH HIM DRIVING. AND ANOTHER THING, DEAR OPRAH, DO NOT PRAISE OBAMA, HE HAS NOT YET ONCE EVEN TRIED TO RESPOND TO MY E-MAILS OF CONCERN FOR MY HEALTH, NO MATTER HOW SWEET OR RUDE. I AM BY NO MEANS RACIST. MAKE NO MISTAKE. BUT LET'S GET IT RIGHT, HE MAY BE THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, BUT HE SURELY IS NOT –MARTIN LUTHER KING JR–!!!!!!! BY THE WAY, HAVE A GOOD DAY.
no help, still only denial,,,,i am so ready to -oo00h- can't say,,,, they have raised taxes on cigarettes to get ppl to quit smoking and are raising again next month one more dollar, all so they can better health care,,, well ,,, why not helping those that you and i both know qualify for health care and ssi ( I HAVE EPILEPSY) , AND START THERE!!!! if they use their brains , that alone will close alot of files and paperwork, hours, and overtime pay. stop throwing our case away only to make us keep re applying and using up more of their hours and our money. if i was in jail, i would get treatment and maybe even come out with the SSI that i know AND THE STATE of LOUISIANA knows i qualify for. it is way past time we get our bonuses, our health care, not the kind the think we should have to cut down the budget, if that is so , then why don't they put us on their insurance policy, SHAME SHAME SHAME ON LOUISIANA, BOBBY JINDAL, SENATORS AND CONGRESS MEN WHO REPRESENT US. THEY OWE ME, I HAVE MEDICAL BILLS TO PAY,,, YOU KNOW WHAT,,, THEY HAVE MEDICAL BILLS TO PAY. SHAME SHAME SHAME,,,,,WHERE IS MY RECOVERY MONEY****NO I WILL NOT APPEAL, TAKING TOO MANY TAXES AS IT IS NOW,****welcome to the white house, just not mine. don't send ppl to knock on my door to support your plan or any including jindal's office. i will light up my cigarette and while they blow smoke one way at me i will blow mine in their face. then they can run back and use their good ole' high price insurance you help to provide for them to get treated by their doctor from smoke inhalation. i have no insurance to use to get treated for the smoke they blew up me. your office never responds to my e-mails of concern, ABOUT MY HEALTH PROBLEMS BEING AN EPILEPTIC TRYING TO GET PROPER CARE, so don't ask me to support something YOU WANT!!!!! WHEN YOU CANNOT TAKE THE TIME TO SUPPORT OR CONCERN YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING I NEED. until then, that shows me how much my state, gov,city, and the U.S. cares about me , i WILL KEEP SMOKING. YOU TAKE 2,497.2 MG OF MEDICATION ***EVERYDAY***AND BE TURNED DOWN FOR SSI AFTER THEY QUALIFIED YOU FOR ABOUT 17 YRS, AND NOW SAY YOU DO NOT, MY BOYFRIENDS EITHER MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY OR I AM NOT CONSIDERED DISABLED ENOUGH. WELL I HAVE ALREADY HAD TO HAVE 17-19 STAPLES IN THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY HEAD FOR ALMOST 6 WKS A FEW YRS AGO DUE TO A SEIZURE. I HAVE ****EPILEPSY******NO CURE******WHY DO I HAVE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THE MONEY MY BOYFRIEND WORKS FOR, HE SUPPORTS ME AND MY KIDS, THAT IS MORE THAN MY COUNTRY IS DOING FOR ME. SUCH HYPOCRITS, ALL, YOU PAY MY DEBT. OF OVER 9,000 IN JUST E.R. MEDICAL BILLS ACCUMULATED SINCE BEING CUT OFF OF SSI, AND TELL ME I DO NOT MEET THE NEEDS, REQUIREMENTS, NOT SEVERE ENOUGH, OR THE WORST TO ME MY BOYFRIEND ****NOT MY HUSBAND****MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY. THEY OWE ME BACK PAY, CURRENT PAY, COVERAGE OF ALL PAST AND PRESENT MEDICAL BILLS, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN TURNED OVER TO AN ATTORNEY REP. THE HOSP. ,,,, IS THIS THE WAY MY COUNTRY, MY STATE, THE TWISTED LAWS AND LOOPHOLES HELP ME,, WELL, NO WONDER SO MANY PPL ARE ON ANTI-DEPRESSANTS OR COMMIT SUICIDE, WE CAN'T GET HELP. TOO OLD FOR ONE THING, OR TOO YOUNG FOR THE OTHER, BOY, BOY, I GIVE IT TO THIS COUNTRY, YA'LL PLAY IT GOOD, AND I DID NOT SAY MANAGE , I SAID PLAY. THAT IS ALL WE ARE , A GAME, SOMETHING TO SHUFFLE AROUND SO LONG AS THE PERSON WHO GETS IT CAN HURRY UP AND PASS IT TO SOMEONE ELSE, SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO CONCERN THEIR SELVES WITH OUR PETTY PROBLEMS,, WHAT ARE WE –COOTIES– WELL, THEN DON'T ASK FOR OUR TAXES.
I am one of the lucky ones who now has quality and affordable health insurance (thanks to my union) but felt compelled to send a comment. When I first started out working as a young women, health insurance wasn't really a huge issue for me. But as I got older and got married while still working for this particular company, health insurance was indeed a necessity. My coverage consisted of a $312 monthly deduction from my pay and a $500 deductible for each covered person (that was myself and my spouse), that's right $500 had to come out of our pockets, each, for any doctor's office visit, before the company would cover any portion of a hospital bill. Did I mention that they only covered 60% of the bill, with the employee being responsible for the other 40%. Well my husband and I started a family, which means more money being deducted from an already small salary. But suprise, they did not even offer well baby care in their list of items covered with the health insurance. We ended up with a 40 something thousand dollar hospital bill, that we needed to take out a loan to repay, which set my family back financially for a while. It put a tremendous strain on my household. So please, please, pass the the healthcare bill. I would hate for another American to go through what I went through. This is America, EVERYONE should be covered.
it seems that alot of people are unwilling to accept the fact that a knew president has been elected by 2/3 of the voters in this country. if you cant respect him, you can at least dry up your tears and shut up. he represents democracy, you dont.