These stories come from the real people who live with a broken health care system. Some have health insurance and some do not. Many of these stories suggest potential solutions* that lead to quality, affordable health care we can count on. One thing we all agree on is that the we cannot trust the insurance industry to fix themselves. To learn more about what Health Care for America Now stands for read our Statement of Common Purpose.
We wanted to give you a chance to speak for yourself, in your own voice, about the need for Health Care for America Now. Do you have something to say? Tell us your story.
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Renee
St. Charles, MO
I left my job with group health insurance to work from home to be with my kids. I was cautioned not to because of health insurance, but I decided it was wrong to let something like health insurance stand in the way of my dreams to be home with my kids.
I bought a high-deductible insurance policy from a high pressure salesman with Fidelity (who led me to believe this was connected with the mutual fund company I trusted) - we were all healthy so what the heck. As soon as my oldest daughter had some tests done, they dropped her from the policy claiming that I had provided false information. I had made an accidental error, that was as much the agent's fault as mine, and suggested they just not cover those tests rather than drop her. They refused and dropped her.
Then my youngest daughter had a seizure on Dec. 31, 2005. She had an ambulance, ER visit and tests done. A week later a follow-up and futher tests by a neurologist. This is when I learned that the $3500 deductible was "calendar year" so for the the policy I bought August, I was required to pay the entire first $3500 before they'd pay anything (it was not prorated despite that there were only 5 months left in the year.) Not only that, but the follow up care that occured a week later, in the next calendar year was on a whole new deductible. Thus, the first $7000 was my responsibility so I had to pay for everything, and my insurance company paid nothing.
I went on a hunt for new insurance and was extremely careful, even created spread sheets to figure best and worst case scenarios to compare insurance companies.
I settled on Mega Health & Life and bought a policy because I loved it that there was no deductible for anything other than hospital visits, and that deducible was $5,000. This is a point they pushed really hard. Then it dawned on me that there was no deductible on non-hospital visits because they don't pay anything on non-hospital visits!!!! They just provide a discount. It was extremely misleading and I dropped them and got a refund.
Then I searched further and found it difficult to get my daughter insured - the one who had the seizure. An agent at Assurant told me he could put the family on one policy and my daughter on a short-term policy. It all sounded great until I learned that the short-term policy would not cover anything seizure-related, even though that's the reason I put her on it. Not only that, but any condition she would get while on one six-month policy would be considered pre-exisiting, and therefore not covered, when renewing to another short-term policy with the same company! So if she were to get appendicitis at the end of one policy, I may meet the deductable for the surgery (meaning they pay nothing) then upon renewing the policy, the follow up care in the hospital would not even be covered because it's pre-existing. Again, I'd pay everything and insurance would pay nothing.
Since we had no "medical security" with this lame short-term policy, I went on a quest to get this child covered. No one would cover her. I could not get federal or state insurance because my income was too high. I could not buy her insurance at any price. I was trying to do the right thing and make sure my child was insured and no one would let that happen. Finally, Blue Cross suggested putting her in the Missouri high-risk pool, and she did get in. But her seizures won't be covered for a full year.
Even though my family is pretty healthy otherwise, I spent over $20,000 on insurance and medical expenses in 2006, and around $17,000 in 2007.
The outrageous greed from insurance is one thing, the other is the stress and time wasted. The healthcare system's secondary victims are the parents who have to stress out over whether or not to take their children in to get care out of fear of being dropped from the policy, and the hours of time spent making sure insurance covers what they say they'll cover. It's a nightmare that should not happen in this country.
*Health Care for America Now is not responsible for the content of these stories. These stories are submitted by individuals in the online audience and have been edited in some cases. Health Care For America Now does not endorse any of the solutions or policy positions suggested in the content of these stories. Health Care for America Now is a coalition of organizations that agree to the Statement of Common Purpose.
See our coalition partner list.
Read the Statement of Common Purpose.
