Your Health Care Stories
- DARTH VADER HEALTH CARE
- LOSING COBRA FOR 2 CENTS
- LIVING WITH CANCER – AND NO HEALTH INSURANCE
- MY CAT HAS BETTER HEALTH INSURANCE
- YOUR STORY HERE
- BECAUSE WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
DARTH VADER HEALTH CARE
Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland was co-chairing a hearing on Health Care Reform when one of her colleagues complained that the plan being considered read as if it was written by "Rube Goldberg, Karl Marx, Ira Magaziner."
"Our current system is a combination of Adam Smith, Darth Vader, and the Bodysnatchers." Mikulski responded. "So I like our plan better!"
You know what she means. We've been reading the health care horror stories you sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
LOSING COBRA FOR 2 CENTS
My own father fell through the cracks about 7 or 8 years ago when he confused the amount of his COBRA premium payment, and lost his coverage over a 2-cent shortfall.
The insurance company was all too happy to cut my dad loose – he had congestive heart failure, Crohn's disease, and emphysema.. His Crohn's left him so ill and weak that he couldn't continue working, so he went on permanent disability and signed up for COBRA coverage with his insurance company. They forgot to include the dental so when that was added his premium payment changed, and that first month he confused the amount due and was 2 cents short. He missed the 30-day window to make good on the shortfall, and his insurance company cut him loose. He was too young to sign up for Medicare at the time so he was suddenly left without access to health care services.
My dad needed to get a shot each week to keep his Crohn's in check, but without insurance he stopped getting them. He couldn't afford it and didn't want to incur debt – that's not uncommon among his generation. So he eventually ended up in the ER, needing an infusion of medicine that cost $10,000 per treatment. Karen - Bethesda, MD
LIVING WITH CANCER – AND NO HEALTH INSURANCE
My 48 year old widowed sister has had cancer two times and lives with the effects of radiation damage on her internal organs. She needs regular treatments for the affects of the radiation damage to her internal organs. But in September 2008 her employer laid her off. …She got Unemployment Insurance, lost her health care - Cobra was too expensive.
In May 2009, still looking for a job AND care taking her Brain Injured adult son (so far he is still ineligible for state help 6 months later) she received the letter to have her health care reinstated at a discount. If not for another family member she wouldn't have been able to afford to do this - it cost two months premium up front.
She is my hero…. My sister is at risk, her son is at risk, the population of people like them are in the millions upon millions. They are the "silent voices" that need to be heard by our President, by Congress and by the people who would deny the basic service of health care. Our bodies do not exist in a bubble and neither should the health care industry. Maria - Minneapolis, MN
MY CAT HAS BETTER HEALTH INSURANCE
My company pays in excess of $500 a month for health care for me. I have a Health Savings Account (HSA). I have figured out that this works out OK if I only go to the doctor every other year. I have to pay about $1,200 out of pocket before my insurance picks up any of the health costs.. So far, I have paid all of my health care out of pocket, with no contributions from insurance. Once I meet my out of pocket maximum ($1,200 out of hospital, $2,200 in hospital), the insurance only pays 60-80% of costs. I need cortisone injections in my knee for arthritis and will need a hip replacement.
I recently purchased health insurance for my cat--for about $15.00 a month, her preventative care, immunizations, flea medications, sick visits and prescriptions are all covered. Hospitalization is also mostly covered. I want my cat's health care plan! Carol - Dallas, TX
YOUR STORY HERE
Real life stories can have a real impact in the health care debate. Do you have a story to share with Secretary Sebelius? Please submit your health care stories here.
And please share your story with us here as well.
BECAUSE WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
Watching the painful news from Iran, as peaceful demonstrators asking for honest elections and a more responsive government are met with violence and brutality, I've noticed how many are women - even more noteworthy in a country in which women's lives have been so constrained. Two very smart recent newspaper columns make the point:
"It is no accident that the two main challengers to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian presidential campaign promised to repeal some of the laws that discriminate against women," Anne Applebaum wrote in The Washington Post on June 23, "Regimes that repress the civil and human rights of half their population are inherently unstable."
"The regime may keep Ahmadinejad in power, but it cannot erase women's memories of Rahnavard's pledges or the video of Neda's murder" says Trudy Rubin in The Philadelphia Inquirer on June 24. "Nor can it overcome the women's vote without massive fraud that undermines its legitimacy. In this election, Iranian women have come into their own."
Read Anne Applebaum's full article here.
Read Trudy Rubin's full article here.
Sincerely,
Ann Lewis