Cancer at 23: How Health Insurance Failed Me

[Brewman_Jax]

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/103044/cancer_at_23%3A_how_health_insurance_failed_me/

From the article: "I'm too young for this," I thought. It wasn't the first time that those words had crossed my mind in the past few months. I thought it when I was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer. I thought it when the company I was working for began facing financial problems and my paychecks were bouncing. I thought it when I learned I would be dependent on a prescription drug every day for the rest of my life. And I thought it again when I got the bill. In spite of having insurance, I had been billed in full for my surgery and two nights in the hospital. The total was $20,759.89. I was 23 years old.

I had never felt healthier when I found out I had cancer. I was seeing an allergist in March of 2007 to get a refill of my asthma medicine when she noticed a large lump in the center of my throat. I was immediately sent for an ultrasound and a biopsy. The tumor was more than five centimeters wide and had apparently been growing there for months. The consensus was unanimous: It had to come out.

My first thought was, "I can't afford this." I was making an entry-level salary in the publishing industry and barely scraping by as it was. I didn't know much about cancer, but I knew it wasn't cheap.


This one of my major issues, having parents that didn't age well and require stacks of prescriptions and a younger brother with a spotty employment record and big gaps in coverage between jobs. The health insurance system as is sucks because insurance is in the business of making money, not paying it out. The USA doesn't have a health care crisis, it has a health care PAYMENT crisis.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Sounds like my story

Only I was 18 and the goody was in my head.

I have never been able to get private health insurance -- I'm always "up-rated" to a ridiculous premium level.

I'm 50 now and have spent most of my adult life with a potential time bomb ticking in my skull and NO INSURANCE. My inability to get appropriate treatment has meant that my health got worse and worse until I became disabled a few years ago. Nearly all of this could have been avoided with more aggressive care and treatment, but during that era, the fate of the Republic itself was at stake -- any help whatsoever was viewed as Socialfm Moft Foul.

After lo these many years, the state is picking up the tab for my healthcare now -- and it's still denying me treatment -- just not so much.

--p!

[TZ]

2. I agree. I have a chronic condition and I have insurance

And I'm fighting them tooth and nail to get them to actually PAY for my medicine (interferon) which I'm going on two weeks now without (supposed to inject once a week) because they want to look at my medical records before authorizing it (btw, this isn't the first script of this...I've had like 3 refills and for some reason NOW they decided to be difficult--and I CANNOT afford to pay $2,000 out of pocket for it)

[Coyote_Bandit]

3. I once found myself in a very similar situation

Thankfully I did not have cancer. But I was young and employed and I did have need of health care. One day while at work, just after the lunch hour, all employees were informed that effective midnight that day we would no longer have health insurance. What I learned from my experience was not to rely upon employer paid health insurance.

The US government does povide some of its citizens government funded access to health care. All you have to be is native American, or a veteran or a government employee or pensioner, or young or old or a survivor of the social security disability system. The rest of us are less than equal to those privileged few. I'm not saying there aren't problems with these systems but access to a flawed system is better than being excluded from or bankrupted by health care.

I've long thought that some public interest group would be well advised to bring a federal suit against the government and its agents under the Constitution claiming Equal Protection violations resulting in denial of the basic rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Unfortunately, I am not aware of any such effort. Most of these groups appear to spend their time and resources litigating policy language.

The health care proposals of the current crop of candidates are all severely lacking. Even the best proposals fail to help many people who are truly in need of health care. I do not expect that to change during my lifetime.

[Delphinus]

8. Prisoners get health care, too, I think.

Pretty sure, anyway.

Interesting thought there about the federal suit ... need to *really* think about that one.

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. I think you're right

Prisoners get a minimum level of health care. Apparently, robbing the corner liquor store will get you health care while being a responsible citizen gets you bankrupted and leaves your medical needs untreated.

[Brewman_Jax]

4. Having to fight for medical items

or finding that "they don't pay for (insert item here)" when you supposedly have coverage makes no sense. That's what it's for. Re-constructing the whole system may be what's needed.

[hunter]

5. My wife and I have both been thrown off the private health insurance bus.

McCain's $5000 is nothing.

Health insurance companies will do anything to dump and avoid patients with certain "pre-existing" health problems.

Any individual health insurance policy my wife and I could afford is at best useless, and in most cases fraudulent.

McCain's "health plan" only makes the current situation worse. Maybe more Americans would believe they had decent health insurance, but that illusion would soon be shattered for anyone suffering a serious accident or illness.

[LeftHander]

6. Sillys U.S. Healthcare is only for the healthy and or wealthy.....

If you are sick and poor....you stay sick...

You think you deserve Cheney-Care?

How personally irresponsible of your to think that you could be allowed to cause a dip in 1/4 ly profits.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. At the very least, we ALL deserve "Cheney-Care" . Good enough for them, should be good enough for

the rest of us.

[bobbolink]

9. You have my sympathy.

However, I know from experience that we are still at the stage of telling our stories.

We aren't yet angry enough to start DEMANDING health care.

We will get health care when we DEMAND IT... not a second sooner.

[old mark]

11. They always talk about the US healthcare "system" - We don't have

a system, we have a patchwork of businesses that are in it for maximum profit at the expense of the sick.

The entire medical delivery process in this country is defective.

Just saw something today that the US has a greater infant mortality rate than 28 other countries. I didn't investigate this, but the standard response that our "system" is expensive ,but the best, will not fly.
It is expensive and not even close to the best.


It needs a complete overhaul, right now.

mark