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E-mail
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WHY THIS SITE?
Read about the the hideous overcharges
that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center inflicted on me because I was uninsured.
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We ask:
What do you fear most and more often:
(1) Losing your life from a terrorist? or,
(2) Losing your health insurance?
Here are some of the comments we've received.
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I live in absolute fear due to health insurance issues.
One year ago, I lost my job. Two years ago, my husband lost his job.
I cannot find suitable work and am now attempting to be self-employed as an independent contractor. I'm basically in
survival mode . . . watch my savings go down, down, down while I try to get back on my feet and decide how long we can last, how long we need to last . . . and just how much longer the money we have
to live on will last if I add paying for astronomical healthcare premiums to the long list of expenses . . . essentially, I can stretch a few more months of living expenses for shelter, food and
electric out of it if I gamble with our lives by foregoing health insurance.
My husband has gone without health insurance for over a year. I am in the process of trying to apply for surgery and
hospital coverage so at least we are somewhat protected from something "catastrophic" but the huge deductible and huge co-pay make me question just how good it really is. I'm trying to get us at
least into the underinsured category, I guess. Should that really be a goal for somebody?
The process is not only expensive, but confusing and in many ways humiliating. The only way to get even close to a somewhat
reasonable monthly premium is to accept a ridiculously high deductible . . .meaning there is GREAT incentive to never seek any kind of medical attention unless it is absolutely necessary. There is
fear in GOING to the doctor huge expense and the very real possibility that some condition will cause the premiums for the minimal coverage you do have to go up even further. I am in my mid forties
and never dreamed that after years and years and years and years of paying into health insurance coverage and essentially really only needing it one time since I am a relatively healthy person
that there is a very real possibility that I am facing a time that should something happen, should bad luck occur at the wrong time in life, that everything I've worked for could be wiped out. Our
country and our healthcare crisis require my husband and I to gamble with our own lives and that is truly a disgrace.
I truly believe that the health insurance of those with the power to make real changes for the benefit of ALL Americans
should be taken away until they fix this problem. I truly believe that is the ONLY motivation that will cause those who hold the power over this issue to make real changes. Only when THEY feel
threatened are they likely to look for reasonable and compassionate solutions for ALL - and implement them quickly.
In the meantime I pray every day that something does not happen. I fret over it. I cry over it. I literally can get so
worked up over it that I get sick to my stomach with worry. It's an abomination when pets and animals in our country can get better, more accessible and more affordable health care than a human being
who is uninsured, underinsured, elderly or in a down on their luck patch of time in their life.
Fear of terrorism or fear of healthcare? At least with terrorism I'd be likely to go on to my maker and not need healthcare.
Sick, isn't it.
Beth
St. Petersburg, FL
December 28, 2006
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"#2 - and I already live it. I have only been able to afford health insurance for three non-contiguous years in the
last 10. I don't have any now for three years again. I live in real fear of an accident for which I have go to hospital but cannot afford to, and therefore do not.
If injured by an act of
terrorism does the gov't take care of us or are we on own to provide health insurance during triage. And for those who are insured, are they covered or is it considered an act of god if the
terrorism is done in the name of jihad?"
Deborah (self-employed)
Los Angeles, CA
July 17, 2004
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For me, it's Door #2, hands down. For 14 years since I started my business
I have had off again / on again
health insurance. I got caught last year without it and 2 short emergency room visits cost $5,500.00 and believe me, I did not receive $5,500.00 worth of treatment, nor did they even tell me that my
bills would be so high. If I had insurance they would have never billed them so much. There's a real problem when those who can afford the least get gouged to pay the most. Oh, and by the way, I'm
now being sued by the hospital's aggressive collection agency.
DM (self employed)
Los Angeles, CA
July 18, 2004
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I was certainly touched by Deborah's comments. I find myself in much the same situation. Healthcare, for me, because I
am over the magic 49 is in the vicinity of $560/month and I am healthy!
What is worse, when I go into a doctor's office they try to hit me with dozens of lab tests because I don't have
insurance so they don't have to justify the tests. One doctor I had been going to while insured suddenly wanted to give me 6 tests before renewing my HRT. They never tested me when I was on
insurance, but in order to keep their clinic profitable, theytry to scam uninsured people into paying for these expensive tests. In my case it was pure blackmail: no tests, no pills. So, I just
decided to take soy pills instead and find another doctor. Probably better for me in the long run.
What is even worse, the cost of medical insurance is one of the main reasons companies get rid of people in their late 40s.
So, just when you are no longer receiving company salary and benefits, you lose your medical insurance, too!
Victoria (self employed)
San Pedro, CA
July 19, 2004
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#2 - I'm terrorized by lack of affordable health insurance. I'm 56 years young. I pay $147/month for the privilege of
health insurance with a $5,000 deductible. I can't afford to go to the doctor. In the past 4 years, I've had one mammogram and one pap smear which I paid for out-of-pocket for $321. I went to the
podiatrist and negotiated a deal with cash. I paid $55 instead of the posted $75 for those with insurance.
I have a friend who had a pre-existing condition which was benign. Now she is considered high-risk and is charged
$400/month with a $5,000 deductible. She recently had some tests for a stomach problem and her insurance jumped to $600/month with the same deductible.
I heard that premiums may jump 46% in
which case I would have to drop my catastrophic policy. Paraphrasing a John Kerry commercial -- in the richest nation in the world, it's incomprehensible that 43 million people don't have affordable
healthcare.
I'm more afraid of the system or lack of it than anything Homeland Security can throw in my face.
Karyn (self employed)
Tucson, AZ
July 19, 2004
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The looming problem of no affordable healthcare is completely contrary to the beliefs and practices that Franklin Delano
Roosevelt put into law to protect all Americans. As one of the generation following the baby-boomers, I expect that all of social security will be used up by the time I need it.
First on the
list of high priced monthly bills will be my healthcare. I dread the day that I will no longer be able to afford it. Surely, we can elect a President whom cares for the people and will put in place
healthcare reform to uphold OUR American system.
Janice (President of a Calif. Corporation and Employer)
Los Angeles, CA
July 20, 2004
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....The latter is a lot more frightening to me. Terrorism? Born in Hungary, as a child lived through their revolution in
1956. Then lived in Israel 17 years of my life, through 2 wars and suicide attacks. Never felt any fear; Tel-Aviv is open 24 hours, the streets and restaurants are filled with people, living their
lives, feeling safer than we are here, in Los Angeles....I am here since 1974, now 58 years young, never had any health problems, simply cannot afford to be sick! Since my divorce 20 years ago I have
no health insurance. About seven years ago I signed up with Kaiser, just to have the routine physical exams....I was found to be healthy and never returned.
I am an on-call interpreter,
self-employed with a highly unpredictable income. I can barely pay my rent, utilities, car insurance, etc. My attitude is, that I refuse to be sick, I am healthy....period. At some point I have
fainted at a party (I didn't drink water all day) and they took me to a nearby hospital's emergency room, where I was treated for dehydration and took EKG and couple of tests. (This hospital is
fighting for it's sheer survival, as they are trying to close it down!!!) I've been told, that since I don't have health insurance, I may pay only $140.-,--- as long as I do within 5 days --- and
that will be it.... I have felt very lucky, as I've heard horror stories of patients being billed thousands of dollars for emergency room treatments.
Soon after, I've received another bill
for $632.- from the Fire Department Medical Emergency Department for our trip to the hospital. When I called them, stating that I was not expecting any more bills, they asked me to send them my
income tax papers to prove, that I'm making under $23,000 a year and eligible to wave the above amount. (If I had health insurance, I would have to put out $500.- deductible and God knows how much
more after....)
Prior to all this, I visited a Longevity Clinic (recommended by a friend) for a physical; $300.- later the good doctor
didn't even bother to call me with the blood test results, to inform me, that I have very high cholesterol. I took the tests away from him and found a clinic to follow up, where they treat people on
a sliding scale basis, with real concern and real care!!! (Yet another clinic on the verge of closing, as they are not getting the much needed budget from the government!....) They gave me all the
available tests (pep smear, blood and urine tests, etc; they informed me, that I am eligible for a women's health care program and sent me to Saint John's hospital for bone density test and to the
Women's Breast treatment center for a mammogram.
I was found to be in excellent health (other than the cholesterol, which I am treating now...) I am ever-so-grateful to this clinic for their
human, true caring and I can pay as little or as much as I can afford with each visit. I hope the God, that this clinic will remain open for all who need it and I pray, that I will never need any
hospitalization, or additional treatments of any kind, for anything. Hey, just try a combo of honey and cinnamon, you have no idea how beneficial it is for all diseases!
Terrorists? No, they don't scare me. The government does.
Miriam (self employed)
City (unknown)
July 21, 2004
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To protect your privacy, we will only use your First Name, City and State.
And if you want to tell us whether you are employed, self-employed, a student or looking for work, we'll publish that too. By emailing us your comment, you give us permission to reprint it or edit it for clarity or use just part of it.
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