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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Allison
Manassas, VA
Every single day, without fail I learn of a friend or acquaintance who is either uninsured or underinsured --which means dealing with outrageous co-pays and costs for treatment, care and meds that aren't covered.
It's a national disgrace. Let me tell you a story that you won't believe, but every word is true. Briefly, husband is sole wage earner w/ a terrific union job and top-of-the-line union-negotiated medical benefits. He's also a 9/11 survivor (not NYPD or NYFD and not eligible for those benefits) still struggling with PTSD because he happened to be working down at ground zero the morning of 9/11 -- and stayed down their working for five straight days afterward. Wife is very seriously injured in a car accident nearly two years ago in which she was passenger and husband was driving. Wife unable to care for herself or three small children for months. Husband has to take FEMLA leave to care for her because insurance wouldn't cover cost of in-home care. Husband under stress, suffers breakdown on the job, can't work for weeks while under psychiatric care for panic attacks and acute anxiety. Employer does the unthinkable and terminates him for excessive absences, even though each was approved. This means no unemployment benefits (appealed, and appeal denied). The youngest son becomes suddenly ill, requiring expensive diagnostic work, hospitalization, costly meds., constant care. Family sinks every bit of savings into maintaining COBRA coverage ($1600/month -- w/o any income) for as long as they can until finally giving up after six months. Wife still needs surgery, and youngest son is subsequently diagnosed with an extremely rare, progressive mitochondrial neurodegenerative disease that is most likely fatal before age 10.
They rent their home and are still there only because of the goodwill of the landlord. Every month they pick and choose which utility to pay and which to have turned off until it can be paid. Their biggest financial priority now is the dozens of prescriptions they require every month (pain meds, seizure meds, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, antibiotics, etc.), and anything else gets put on the back burner. Extended family helps as much as possible but it's hard to carry the financial weight of a whole family in addition to your own.
They applied for SSI disability payments for their son in October of 2007. Doctors and hospital records are submitted and resubmitted, and their son is finally approved for SSI in April: $241/month. Their food stamps kicked in a few months ago: $500/month for a family of five. It looks like the children will be eligible for some form of SCHIP, but their youngest son's illness complicates eligiblity because he requires a continuity of care and highly specialized docs that aren't in the plans that serve their county. So they're on medicaid while it gets sorted out.
This is an American Family In Crisis, and there are more every day. As Bill Clinton so famously said, these are people who worked hard and played by the rules. Nobody ever expects this will happen to them, or someone they love, but we are all a catastrophic illness or job loss away from financial ruin and and unimaginable worry and heartache.
We have to stop tying health insurance to employment. Employers no longer want to carry the financial burden, and COBRA is a joke. I mean, seriously, we expect people who lose their job to pay upwards of $1000/month to maintain coverage, and then only for 18 months?
We absolutely need universal health care, single-payer preferred. Call it socialized medicine if you want, but anything is better than the mess we have now. And I laugh every single time some doomsdayer predicts that this means we'll lose the opportunity to choose our own doctors, or that there will be delays in treatment (read: rationing). What fantasy land are these people living in where this isn't already the case, and can I get citizenship? This is the reality for many insured Americans, especially those with HMOs, who can only see a list of approved in-plan docs, and need preapproval for every last thing.
I'm putting this story here in hopes that it makes some small difference, somehow.
*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.
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