Posted by Racer on July 15, 2001, at 2:46:05
Urgh!
I'm uninsured. Have been for years now. This isn't pleasant. For one thing, I've had an ingrown toenail for about eighteen months now, and it hurts, but there's also the expense of medications, etc.
So, towards the end of May, I applied for health insurance. The first company denied me outright based on the fact that I take anti-depressants. That, for any of you who want to blow raspberries at them, was Healthnet.
Blue Cross turned out to be the only company willing to consider me at all. It's been six weeks now, and they are still writing for more and more medical records from doctors who've seen me maybe once. Mind you, I was hospitalized a few years ago for mononucleosis. I was also hospitalized for depression, involuntarily. And I've had shingles, and have arthritis, and am partially disabled by carpal tunnel syndrome. Oh, and did I mention I smoke cigarettes?
The only alternative right now is a temporary policy which I can only get if I've never been declined by another insurance company. Of course, that temporary policy won't cover the cost of drugs. That's $300 per month, about. Am I working? You're joking, right? My job doesn't come with insurance. Or a living wage, for that matter.
With all the debate about health care and the uninsured in this country, wouldn't you think someone would look into whether people who need some sort of medical care could get medical care? Whether the insurance companies were willing to cover people who need coverage?
Just to put this in perspective, I don't qualify for Medi-cal, Medi-care, or any of those programs. No doctor in the area where I live was willing to see me without coverage. The local clinic is well meaning, but not particularly helpful. The last time I went there, not only did they screw up my billing, the doctor saw me for the usual three and a half minutes and decided that it was shingles. I told them that part when I made the appointment. Besides that, the doctor prescribed medication for it which has not been the favored treatment for several years now. I'd rather see a doctor who has a little more up to date information, and time to discuss things like the frequency of outbreaks and how to avoid recurrence.
Thanks for listening. I'm frustrated beyond belief, and I'm frightened that I'm going to die unnecessarily soon because some asshole in underwriting decides they might actually have to pay out for me to see a doctor now and again! Or worse, that I'll die the way my father did: because a doctor decided my life wasn't worth vigorous treatment and it was just as well to go through the motions without actually doing anything.
poster:Racer
thread:7447
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010706/msgs/7447.html