liz_marcs ([info]liz_marcs) wrote,
@ 2009-08-12 23:11:00
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Current mood: contemplative

Americans Only: Uninsured and Underinsured
This is Part 1 of my project, which I'm calling, "It's time for a little truth, baby."

All Americans who are uninsured and underinsured should post their stories in the comments below.

I also invite all Americans who've found themselves unceremoniously dumped from their insurance plan, or who were unable to get insurance for love or money.

All of you, please comment here.

Commenting is set to allow for anonymous comments and comments left by people using OpenID.

As I explained in the "home post," I will not be responding to any comments. I am just collecting stories for other people to read and make up their minds about Health Care Reform in the U.S.

The only thing I'll be doing is monitoring to make sure no one threatens the use of violence against anyone else posting.

Once again, pass the link to the post around to friend and foe alike. And keep in mind that all comments are public, so with that in mind be judicious about your personal details.

Have at it.


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Uninsured for most of my life
[info]kyuuketsukirui
2009-08-14 08:02 am UTC (link)
Thankfully I am in good health. To my knowledge, at least. I could have some disease and not know about it, since I haven't had a physical since I was a kid. Frankly, as long as I'm feeling okay, I'd rather not know, because if I did have cancer, what could I do about it? I certainly couldn't pay for any treatment.

When I was a kid, my mom and I didn't have insurance (I never even heard of such a thing until I was out of high school). My mom took me to the pediatrician she'd gone to as a child. I hated him then, but looking back, he did a wonderful thing. He was an old man with a solo practice, a tiny office with no nurse or receptionist, just him. He worked with poor families exclusively, none of whom had insurance, and he charged what was probably just enough to pay his bills. A visit was like $20-30 (this was the late '70s and '80s) and he let us pay in installments. He treated my mom, too, on the rare times she got sick, as well as the parents of other kids who came to him.

When I was eighteen my mom got a job with insurance (before she had been self-employed, a fulltime babysitter) and for a couple years I was on her plan since I was still living with her and going to school.

Then I got married and couldn't be on my mom's insurance anymore, but I also had insurance through my university, which I took advantage of a couple times. Then my husband got a job with insurance and I was on his plan, but he lost that job in less than a year and hasn't had a job with insurance since.

That was maybe four years of my life total where I was covered on someone's plan. I'm self-employed, so there's no way I can afford to pay for insurance on my own. There have been times when medical care was a huge blow to us and we have never even had any major problems!

But a doctor's visit, just the visit alone, is $100. If you need x-rays, another $100. A couple years ago a cut on my ankle got infected and it cost $500-600 for a couple visits, x-rays, shots, and anti-biotics. This was after they gave me a discount for not having insurance.

There are free clinics in the area, but they don't do urgent care, so I can't take advantage of them when I need them (I could go and have a physical, but again, if they found some problems, what could I do about it?). I live in fear of having to go to the emergency room, because it'll all be over then. Emergency room costs are exhorbitant. That $500 at the clinic for my foot will look cheap.

My partner and I are both transgender, but there's not really much we can do about it at this point. She is buying hormones online, but testosterone can only be prescribed by a doctor, so no hormones for me.

Currently she has limited health care through the city college, where she's going back to school. She was able to get a prescription for blood pressure medication through them, but their services are very, very basic.

That's not even touching things like dental and vision. She recently had to pay over $600 for a root canal for an abscessed tooth, and that was having it done at the dental school which is supposedly a discount. Because my teeth are good (no cavities!) I haven't been to the denstist since I was eighteen. I'm thirty-three now. As a child, I probably went to the dentist under ten times, and that's counting times the dental van came to my elementary school and gave cleanings. Both my wife and I wear glasses, which has been quite expensive in the past, though thankfully with the advent of all these cheap glasses sites on the internet, it's not as bad now.

I am very, very thankful for my good health. I really don't know what I'd do otherwise.

Edited at 2009-08-14 08:07 am UTC

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