If I had insurance, I'd be in the hospital right now

[ott]

I've got a nasty case of pneumonia that relapsed on me a few days ago. I was treated two weeks ago but it wasn't enough to knock it out.

Actually though, if I had insurance I would have gotten that CT scan my doctor recommended a week ago and would have been on my way to recovery now.

Insurance company denied me about 6 months ago because of acute asthma, that's cost me all of $25 over the past two years on a single rescue inhaler.

Doc wanted to put me in the hospital today but we arranged I come back for daily antibiotic injections and 10 days of oral antibiotics. The X-ray Friday will determine if I'm recovering well enough for outpatient care, screw myself financially for the next +6 months with a 2 or 3 day hospital stay, or, basically, die.

I'm not trying to bitch about it. I'm thankful I at least have the options I have. It's just screwed up that I would have caught this in time and probably had no more symptoms than a nasty cough if I was living in a more (prosperous)? country. One that provided health care or at least wasn't so corrupted by the insurance companies to make it attainable.

I would be better off in Cuba right now.

Temp: 101.2
Last medication: 1050 mg of aspirin an hour ago.

[southerngirlwriter]

1. I am so sorry.

I wish there was something I could do. If I had money I'd tell you to go to the hospital and have them send me the bill.

Hang in there. :hug:

[mhr]

2. Out Of Work For 44 Months, Out Of Insurance 44 Months, If Sick, I Die

Thanks GW Bush!

[Indiana_Dem]

9. Let met share this story--

My husband was laid-off 4 weeks ago from a plant closing after 9 1/4 years there. He is 56. Always worked in a factory. The job before this was 23 years in a factory that shut down. No qualifying for retirement in either job loss. Missed it by 8 months this time and 3 years the last time. Last week, by my networking through my co-worker whose husband hires custodians for the local school system, I managed to help him get a part-time school custodian job to get his foot in the door until a full-time position opens within the system. Some other full-time custodian was fired the same week. We thought it might be a miracle! So he was asked to take this other guy's position for a month until bids for the job could be filed and considered. We live across a field from where the school where he was working is. He decided to walk home one night after working there on his second day. As he was walking home in the dark, he slipped on some ice and now he has 2 broken ribs (from what the x-ray girl said). He's been working for 3 days now with broken ribs without knowing it. He is too afraid to miss this work for fear of not getting a position. Doctor's appt. is tomorrow (today) after he gets off work. If this isn't bad luck I don't know what is. He won't get unemployment yet due to the waiting period (he took his last 3 weeks of vacation after he was laid-off so there was no unemployment those weeks and we stretched that over the 3 week period) and now he has to show he is working part-time so he may have to wait another week or two to get an unemployment check!!! Oh it's just a mess right now!!!!!!

[Bundbuster]

3. "I would be better off in Cuba right now."

Beyond a sad commentary on America 2004, it would make a loud rallying cry against those who oppose universal health coverage in the ONLY "First-world" Western country without it!

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, ott - it reminds me of the long-running TV graphic about a single mom either paying the rent or feeding her children, although your choice is even worse.

[The Traveler]

4. My wife the herbalist is asleep

But when she wakes up I will ask for her recommendations. One thing I know she will recommend is lots of black tea with lemon juice ... as bitter as you can handle it, and plenty hot. Turns out the medical community just recently figured out that black tea is a natural antibiotic. Keep those fluids up.

We have insurance, thank god. But your situation makes me angry, and I know too many other people in the same boat. There is no excuse for this. We, as a society, suck. This has got to change.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

5. I hope you get better. Meanwhile...

here's some rotten news:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4363789/
This is a crime. When are we going to do something about it? When are they going to listen? What do people in Europe think of this? Barbarians!
I just got knocked down to part time and I don't have insurance either. I know how you feel.

[pansypoo53219]

6. i wish i could send you some of my homemade

chicken soup.
i too, don't have insurance and now i won't get it it because of a new pre-existing condition. so i either have to move to canada, or wait for single payer.
luckily milwaukee has an indigent health care system. for now. but we have a shit head retardican county-exec.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

7. lightin' a candle...

[Shanty Oilish]

8. For later

(For now, have someone fuss over you, stay warm, drink fluids, play good music.)
For later, check out medical benefits that may be available to you. Low cost med insurance, health plans. Look into disability status due to asthma, and if your doctor is the only thing in the way of getting you benefits, find another doctor who'll get you qualified.
If you can still work and don't mind changing jobs, shop around for a job with medical benefits.
If your income is low enough, get in touch with the county assistance office and ask them about low income med plans and medical assistance. Call Social Security and find out about disability benefits.
:donut:

[Exultant Democracy]

10. Feel better soon

I didn't have health insurance for a few years and I know how much it sucks. The funny thing is that for some reason when I do have health insurance I never get sick, but as soon as I am off a plan I either injure myself or get sick.

[Lorien]

11. Insurance often doesn't help

I had vascular surgery this past year, and was assured my insurance would take care of it (my leg was numb and I was in danger of dying from deep vein thrombosis (sp)?). Just two days ago I got a letter from a collection agency demanding about $3,000 in payment for the surgery. I told them before hand that I was maxed out in debt from 6+ months of unemployment, and that they had better be CERTAIN that the insurance would pay before treating me, because I have nothing.The doctor's office says that it's between me and my insurance company, but why send the bill to a collection agency first? I still have NO money with which to pay them, and my credit is now ruined (it was perfect prior to the unemployment). The other leg needs surgery too, but I'll just have to hope for the best and avoid long plane flights. I really don't know what I'm going to do.

Hang in their Ott. Screw yourself financially if you must. We need you here in the land of the living.:hug:

[Piltdown13]

12. My sympathies. Our health access system in the US stinks.

And with the employment numbers as they are, more and more people are going to be in your shoes. I know; I almost went there myself recently. (My university dropped the voluntary insurance plan that students not employed by the school could buy into, leaving as the only school-based option a basically useless catastrophic plan -- I doubt the limits would cover even one major accident or illness.) I had to seek out individual major medical on my own (to tide me over until we get the voluntary plan back), and, boy, you better never have had anything whatsoever wrong with you, or they'll ask for all your medical records and then rate you up, give you riders (what happened to me), or turn you down (again, my sympathies...there but for the grace of God...).

In any event, I hope you'll be feeling better soon!

[Dogmudgeon]

13. Been there, done that

You have my sincere empathy and best wishes.

I have no health insurance; my job went overseas two years ago, and as a programmer, you can guess how much I've worked since then. (No, I can't get retraining money or extended unemployment benefits because most IT people are exempt.)

I have medical problems -- most of them related to having had cancer when I was a teenager. It is now impossible for me to get any work whatsoever. I've been asked in two interviews (for jobs which I never got) if I'd be willing to forgo company-paid health insurance.

The good news is that antibiotic therapy for pneumonia is very effective. Yes, there's a chance you're in a bad way, but the prognosis ought to be good, even if you waited longer than advisable to get treatment. Good luck!

If I didn't have a sick mother and elderly grandmother to take care of, I'd move to Toronto tomorrow.

--bkl
What the hell has happened to our country?

[Interrobang]

14. Stories like these make me so sad...

I wish there were something I could do for you folks, but I'm unemployed and broke, and the Canadian gov't takes a dim view of "OHIP bigamy."

Here's an interesting angle you can pitch at your Rethuglican family/bosses/pols: Canadian industry actually has a competitive edge over US industry because employers don't pay medical costs, or very few, which helps keep overhead down. Socialized medicine IS good for business! :)

Do you suppose a "Million Gimp March" on Washington might help?