How many here have health issues you cannot address, with no insurance?

[Joe Fields]

I've been on this site now for seven years, and during all that time I have been pretty closed mouthed about my private life. The healthcare issue has changed that for me, as I feel I must weigh in with my own family's dilemma. I still won't get into specifics, but I will say this: both my wife and I work. My wife works as a night clerk at a motel. I work as a deliveryman. Although I am a writer, this is our current suituation, at least until the economy improves, or I gain a large audience.

The simple truth is that, even though my wife and I work, we cannot afford decent healthcare. All three family members have health idssues. My wife had a heart attack six years ago and required a quadruple bypass surgery. We couldn't even afford the medications she needed to recuperate properly. I cannot tell you how low a man feels, when he can't make enough money to take care of his ailing wife properly. Nevermind myself. I've had seven major surgeries in my life and need two more, but have to suffer with a great deal of pain, because I can't afford health insurance. Even if I could afford insurance, who would cover me with a pre-existing condition?

And then there is my son, who needs surgery on his knee, but he can't afford insurance, either.

I am not looking for sympathy. I do not want to see any words of sympathy for me and my family here. What I DO want, is for you to sound off and let the world know that you, too are pretty much in the same boat, and that we plead for help from this administration, in the form of a public option.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Heh, well ...

I have health issues I can't address *with* insurance.

[Joe Fields]

2. So, so true, and that's a huge part of the issue that needs addressed.

[JenniferJuniper]

4. I met a woman last night

who told me about a skin growth she has that is believed to be cancerous. She wants it removed but is trying to get the doctor NOT to have it biopsied because her COBRA period will be up in a few months and she's afraid of getting labeled with a pre-existing condition.

I'm sure there are endless stories out there.

[RoyGBiv]

6. My problems are dental ...

I've seen/heard very little discussion of this.

Even good dental insurance doesn't help with much. My dentist wants 5 grand up front to fix my problem, and I don't have it. I've shopped around, which in the context of health care is just stupid I think. I could get a dental student to do it for about 2 grand, and I'd just have to live with the possibility his/her training hadn't left him with enough skill not to permanently disfigure or kill me. Plus, I'd just have to suffer without pain meds. Insurance won't pay for those at all ... not necessary.

It's pathetic. My dental problems are affecting my heart, and my medical doctor has warned me I'm shortening my life by not having the issue addressed. I asked my doctor if he had 5 grand to loan me.

He laughed.

[JenniferJuniper]

8. I've had dental insurance forever and forever it has sucked.

I'm convinced there is no such thing as "good dental insurance".

Dental should be a part of the health care in the same way cardiology and obstetrics are.

For what it's worth, back in 1953, my 12 year old mother (who had serious gum disease already) started seeing a student dentist because her family could not afford to get her treatment any other way. When he finally retired last year, she had been his patient for 55 years. So sometimes the kids are alright. And honestly, I've heard so many horror stories about experienced dentists that you are might be better off taking a chance with a student. At least they are likely to have very good eyesight!

[RoyGBiv]

9. Well, you have a point ...

A significant portion of the reason my problem is so bad is I am suffering from what amounts to PTSD from an experience with a dentist from when I was younger. I've been terrified of them ever since, to the point I have bona fide panic attacks when attempting to go. Someone has to take me, or I just can't do it without breaking down in what feels like a heart attack.

I had a dentist extract a tooth that was abscessed without anesthetic. It was horrifying. I screamed so loud that he actually had patients get up and walk out of the office. Some waited until I walked out, blood streaming down my face (I had gotten up and ran the moment the tooth was out), and screaming. It was like something out of a bad movie.

He'd been in practice for 10 years.

[Mamacrat]

15. Are you me?!

I've had a similar situation, although not as bad. I had a tooth filled without Novocaine when I was very young. I squirmed and cried, and the doctor yelled at me. I had another who was just dishonest. I finally found my current dentist and I never want to change. I've been with him for years. He is not covered as much as he'd be if I saw someone in our PPO, but I just won't do it.

[RoyGBiv]

16. Possibly ...

It's actually deeper than that one incident. That was just the last straw, the one I kept coming back to in psychiatric counseling.

When I was a kid, my mother went through a moonbat phase and took me to see a holistic dentist. He didn't use anesthetic either. He "hypnotized" me before filling a cavity, and when I quite clearly told him I was fully aware of everything that was happening just as he was about to put a drill to my tooth, he called me a brat. I left his office with a half drilled tooth, in extreme pain, and no pain killer.

Another dentist I had, directly after this, was drilling into that same tooth to try to fix the previous damage. I was on laughing gas, which I discovered did not work well on me. I became combative. The dentist got annoyed with me, quit working, turned on a stream of pure oxygen, then forgot about me for 15 minutes. Pure oxygen is not good for you. I won't horrify you with the details of what happened.

I've been told repeatedly I'm just a whiner. I don't really care. I know what I've experienced. I know I have a low tolerance for pain. I know I have had doctors treat me as though I'm their own personal medical experiment chosen from the lot off the train from Warsaw.

And now I can't afford to fix the damage done and will quite likely die from an infection that makes its way to my heart sometime in the next few years.

[AieinAristuein]

10. I didn't have dental insurance and the damn dentist

was charging me full price for everything. Even when I paid her cash on the spot. I asked why she wouldn't let me pay the same price as medicaid and insurance companies paid her and she refused. She told me she couldn't stay in business if she let uninsured patients pay that little.

That just isn't fair to uninsured patients. Because I don't have a lobbiest working to negotiate my prices.

[RoyGBiv]

13. She was lying ...

Of course, you knew that.

But, it still sets up an interesting argument.

She was implicitly claiming that the uninsured must pay for insured people so she could stay in business. IOW, poor people have to pay for wealthy people.

Nice logic.

[dflprincess]

19. Dental insuance usually works differently that medical

my insurance pays whatever it thinks the dental procedure is worth, but I'm responsible for paying the difference between that and what the dentist charged (still better than paying is all out of pocket). Though, my dental insurance has a $1,200. annual cap, still better than nothing but you can't get a whole lot of dental work for that amount.

[AieinAristuein]

26. That is often the case

But people with medicaid do not have to make up the difference nor do patients that go to an in network dentist. Most dentists in my area never become innetwork for any insurance other then medicaid.

Screw her, she isn't my dentist any more

[glinda]

31. You are right. They do not talk about our situations.

Not at all. Will we fall through the cracks???????We dropped our dental because they would not cover my thousands in surgery even though I have no choice.

[uberblonde]

11. Go to Mexico.

Or Peru, or Costa Rica. Good dental work is so much cheaper in other countries, it's a real eyeopener. Even with paying airfare and a hotel, you'll still save money. Google "dental tourism."

[rrneck]

3. Yep.

I hope I don't get hurt as well. If that happens, I'm really done for.

[Richard D]

5. Yep

I'm actually thinking of going to India to get them done. Save way more than it would cost me to go there.

[gauguin57]

7. My insurance premiums (I pay for private insurance) are so expensive I can't afford to go to the doc

So ... I probably do have some health issues (I've felt sort of lousy for months) ... but I can't have any illness or condition get into my records. I've been turned down for insurance once before because I had been to the doctor for a few stress-related conditions (plus a higher-than-"average" BMI). If I ever have to apply for health insurance again (not that I'd get it ... once you're past 50, they just hope you lie down and die -- and they jack up your rates to make sure it happens!) ... or if I get a new job and they want to see my medical records ... I can't have any pre-existing conditions on my records or I'm screwed.

Our health-care system is seriously eff'd up. I don't know what planet these anti-reform people are LIVING on when they talk about what great health care we all have!

[treestar]

12. Mental health not covered

Depression.

I wonder if the public option would cover that. Don't even know.

[lbrtbell]

14. Medical AND dental problems

When I had insurance, a test revealed a potential problem with my heart. Now that I had to move to another state, and my insurance didn't move with me, I can't finish my testing. That was my personal reason for wanting a good health care reform bill to be passed. My second reason is that everybody deserves good health care.

[tnlefty]

17. !!!

:hug: Years ago, I was the one who was ill and the treatment lasted for 2 yrs., and BCBS of TN damned near bankrupted us with their denials, then 2 yrs. later after an audit the charge backs. It was very difficult, depressing actually, to have a young family and to have scraped and skimped to put money into savings and to realize that I was the reason our savings were being depleted.

My 3 sons and I aren't covered for physicals, so none of that even applies to the deductible, so we just don't get them anymore.

There are so many stuck in the hellhole of private for profit insurance.

[Lisa0825]

18. I have COBRA paid via a severance deal for one more month.

Even with relatively good coverage, I have only felt like I could afford the copays, tests, and prescriptions for one of my health concerns at a time, an eye problem I developed 8 months or so ago. I haven't been to a dentist in about 12 or 13 years and I know I need to go back, but I know I will need a fair bit of work, and I can't afford the eye meds and follow up appts plus dental copays which are way more expensive. I also need to see a dermatologist about a new issue. But even on what I thought was a decent middle class salary for this area, I don't feel like I can manage multiple copyays all at once.

[dflprincess]

20. We should also be asking

How many here have health issues you cannot address, with insurance?

More and more of peope are getting coverage (either through employers or individual policies) that have deductibles and copays so high that they still can't get care. (And the public option in HR3200 is set up like this so even if that passes, it won't guarantee that you'll be able to afford care.)

[Joe Fields]

29. That is probably the REAL question...

[DawgHouse]

21. My 23 yo son had a reaction to sulfa

The sulfa allergic reaction was misdiagnosed at the walk-in clinic (dr said he had the flu). Two days later, he was much worse so we took him to the ER. ER recognized that he was having an allergic reaction to sulfa and treated him with various meds. This fixed him up a bit, but two days after that, he passed out in the bathroom and broke his ankle. Back to the ER...

He's having surgery on Wednesday to repair the ankle.
His employer has denied FMLA (paperwork was completed improperly by the doctor) and because of their stupid attendance policy, he has now accumulated enough points that he's losing his job. This means he's also losing his health insurance.

Single Payer NOW!

[bvar22]

22. Here.

Can't afford insurance.
Wife a cancer survivor.

[girl gone mad]

23. I have a pre-existing condition..

that I will probably never be able to get treated.

Fortunately, it isn't life threatening in any way, though it does cause pain. If I was born in any other western industrialized nation, I would have had it treated years ago.

[alfredo]

24. If it wasn't for the PostOffice I wouldn't have been able to get insurance

for my wife and I. We are both uninsurable. I entered the Federal Employee Health Benefits plan. I also have VA.

I'm now disabled and retired. My union insurance (part of the FEHB plan) is still active.

I really didn't want to get a "job", I liked having my own business, but I could not get health insurance. My Crohn's and my wife's reoccurring brain tumors make us poison in the eyes of the insurance companies.

[Creena]

25. von Willebrand's disease

I'm working a on letter to send through Move On regarding my issue with health insurance. I posted what I have so far here, if anyone has any comments.

I'm so incredibly lucky to have a tiny bit of coverage through my county. It took a number of social workers and visits with health services to finally get that set up. Before, I feared every small bump or scrape. At least with the small coverage, I'm able to visit a PCP and the ER if issues arise.

I need my wisdom teeth pulled, but the vWD is especially bad with dental work. I need an oral surgeon, hematologist, and supply of clotting factor for emergencies. The county insurance does not any bit of this, so I still have my wisdom teeth sitting in my mouth...sideways. They do cover emergency extractions, so I suppose that is a small comfort.

[Jakes Progress]

27. Wife and I okay. Premiums up, coverage down.

But our grown children and their families live in constant fear.

This is what the conservative moguls want. They want us in fear and too afraid to make waves. They want us to settle for the crumbs they offer and then pay for them.

It will take a revolution to right the shit that the neo-conservative movement has piled on our nation.

[lala_rawraw]

28. yes

[Texasgal]

30. here's my story

My husband found out just before we got married ( ten years ago ) that he had hep c. He went on the therapy which was 900.00 a month WITH his insurance BTW... and was able to go into remission.

We don't know how long he had the HEP C but his liver is shot. We guess that contracted it in Mexico for dental work when he was a child ( he came from a very poor family ). So, while on HEP C therapy he lost his job of 22 years, he was very sick.

He tried getting other jobs with the city for instance, but he could not pass the physical that was required (his liver enzymes are too high ). After taking odd jobs and just jobs to get him along he found a good job job, but his current insurance will not cover anything liver related. NOTHING. He knew this of course, but he needed a job. If we could just purchase private insurance for him on our own we would... but NO ONE will sell him a policy!

He needs a liver transplant, but you cannot even get on the donor list without verifying that that you have the means to pay for it. Of course we could never afford the 100,000.000 procedure on our own. So, we do nothing and he maintains. I doubt he'll ever get a liver.

It's a crock that he pays for his insurance and cannot have coverage over the ONE thing he really needs. It's ridiculous!

[Joe Fields]

32. yep...

[gleaner]

33. I have ....

Multiple Sclerosis and Diabetes. I also have a form of Osteo Arthritis with an elevated Rheumatoid factor, so my joints are rapidly deforming and I am usually in pain.

My husband had MRSA last year and barely lived thought it. He had to have heart surgery and a pacemaker because the bacteria had destroyed his Aortic heart valve and killed some of the muscle at the apex of his heart. His lungs, kidneys and bone marrow were attacked by the bacterial and he has to live with the damage for the rest of his life. His liver was damaged and his body cannot process waste products. They go as ammonia into his bloodstream which can cause coma and death if he does not take a special medicine for the rest of his life. He lost his ability to walk with the onset of the MRSA. He walks now only short distances with a walker after physical therapy. His blood platelets remain so low that his blood has great difficulty clotting. He is anemic and tires easily. He spends a lot of time in a hospital bed. I am his only caretaker.

We do have health insurance but it didn't do that much for us. The hospital had to keep appealing their decision to deny my husband's care when he was at his sickest. The stress did not help his recovery or my MS. If we did not have insurance we would literally be dead, but we are getting closer to that point with insurance and that is one of the most alarming things. Financially we are ruined. Our mortgage has no equity. That disappeared when the housing market dropped, so we have no way to pay the amounts not covered by insurance. Sometimes it is difficult to buy food or the medicine we need to keep my husband alive.

So while Obama is out there honing his bi partisanship, we are trying every way we can to survive; simply to survive. I can imagine how much worse it must be to have no insurance at all. We all nee the pubic option now, not months down the road or to be sold out yet again while the President makes new Republican friends.