About a year ago, I tried to get health insurance. I'm poor, because the only job I've held for the last 18 months has been as a substitute teacher at my alma mater. Even with the fact that I did not have to pay rent to my parents, because of the irregular hours, I was still making very little money. $400-$500 a month if I was lucky. However, despite being dirt poor, it seemed important to me to try and get health insurance. I knew I wanted to go to graduate school, but if a major medical emergency came up and I was uninsured, I would be forced to declare bankruptcy and my dream of school would never happen.
After entering my information on the internet, I was given a few quotes, most of which were well over $150 a month. I then called the cheapest of these, which would have cost $125 a month and would have only covered one annual visit and $10,000 emergency care.
And then I was rejected because of my weight. I guess my medical history included PCOS, and combined with my weight made me "high risk." Even though I never sought treatment for my PCOS and I'm otherwise in perfect health - great BP, normal blood sugar and cholesterol. Basically, fat people are ineligible for health insurance.
Now I might be in trouble. Six months ago, I did something to one of my teeth that caused blinding pain for about 24 hours, then sort of went away. Or at least wasn't as bad as it had been at first. I started brushing my teeth three times a day and gargling Listerine 3 to 4 times a day, hoping to stop anything from getting worse. Well, it worked for 6 months, but about 48 hours ago the pain became so acute that even Extra Strength Excedrin every 4 hours hasn't done much. Last night I was literally unable to sleep due to the pain (I finally collapsed fora couple of hours around 3 pm).
I now have to use part of my student loan check to see if I can get a root canal on Monday (I refuse to have an extraction done if I can possibly help it) before I leave for Boston. Hopefully I will still be able to pay rent and buy a bed when I'm done. The thing is, though, I will do just about ANYTHING to make the pain go away.
But it would have been nice if I had insurance to cover this.
Has anyone else had the problem of a lack of insurance?
I've managed to maintain my health insurance over the past few years, but it isn't easy. I'm actually a perfect candidate - no preexisting conditions, no family health issues, no odd medical history - so I qualify for the cheaper plans. Even so, it's quite expensive. Right now I'm getting insurance through my university's group plan, and it still costs $150/month. And it doesn't include dental. So I'd be in the same position as you're in anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhen can we get us some of that socialist health care?
Good luck! You're going to need your teeth in good working order when you come visit - we're going to eat a lot.
Oh, I feel you on this. For several years, I was working part-time, going to grad school and living off student loans. I had minimal or no insurance, and luckily I didn't have any medical emergencies. But I lived in constant fear and stress over getting sick. The health insurance industry is an awful thing.
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