The state of our medical care, in America, has come to a ‘head’. We have two political parties who do nothing more than squabble with each other, playing with the lives of Americans. The chronically ill are entangled in a spider’s web, flailing about helplessly, as we’re entangled tighter and tighter, waiting to be eaten alive (by insurance and pharmaceutical companies). I think anyone who reads the news knows, before our recent election, we were told one thing and now, that seems to be changing…daily. ‘Nothing will be changing, we just are getting rid of Obamacare’ and ‘We will cover pre-existing conditions’ to the most recent ‘Pre-existing will not be covered’. Think about just that, the not covering pre-existing conditions. IF that does become our truth, Mike and I are sunk, and I’m sure we are not alone. I know we’re not alone! The last time we were in a situation of needing to buy our own insurance, we were told we were ‘high-risk’ customers now. Interesting, as it was the same company that had been covering us. It was going to cost over $1800.00 a month, which was more than was being earned at the time! Thankfully, Mike found work before we were forced to pay that utterly ridiculous amount.
Another year and yet, ANOTHER change in our insurance companies! In these 43 years of marriage, I’ve lost count of how many different companies we’ve had, I would guess at least one dozen. Each one with their own requirements and deductibles. Costs are astronomical for the ‘average Joe’ (us) and it appears the ‘benefits’ are more on the side of these companies, not us. Our medical communities are in burnout. Mountains of ‘red tape’ paperwork keep doctors buried and away from treating patients. Doctors are closing or limiting their practices due to the cost of Malpractice Insurance (‘everyone’ wants to file lawsuits, just watch T.V. ads!), slow reimbursements from Medicare, and new requirements to provide insurance if you employ ‘x’ amount of employees. Mike lost his GP of 10 years when he decided to become a ’boutique’ physician. These doctors have said, ‘Screw all this’! They take no insurance and you pay a set amount (up front) for ‘x’ amount of visits. This type care is for the wealthy only. We may feel a sense of ‘comfort’ by being insured, but at what cost and to who?
Is a change in your medical insurance ever a good thing? Maybe for those employed by a ‘Top 10 in the USA’ company or those earning a great salary, it might be. Mike and I are just living our lives, ‘one day at a time, one bill at a time, one prescription at a time’. We live a modest life, a fairly solitary life, just doing our best to be good people. I know we’re not alone in a life such as ours, there are millions of people in our situation, struggling through life. I realize also, that many of you in other Countries, have very different Medical Systems than ours and even more Countries, with no coverage at all. I’m simply saying, I had absolutely NO say in this matter and the new insurance has coverage that not only costs more but covers less! So, who’s side are they on? It’s a business, they want to make profits. Don’t we all?
Here’s an example of how our new insurance pays. Last week, I refilled a prescription as usual. With our last insurance, the medicine cost $20.00 (how I budgeted it with a manufacturer coupon). And with our new one? $116.00…Yes, one hundred sixteen dollars, more than 5x what we budgeted! Oh, and they don’t ‘accept’ coupons. I was forced to go without that medicine for 3 days, waiting for our next check. DEEP sigh…I take seven prescriptions, this was just the first one I’d filled. Needless to say, we’re going to have to rework our budget as we begin the process of refilling each one…I’ve already received letters from the insurance company with their ‘suggestions’ for alternate drugs. I don’t have a problem with saving money, I need to save money. It’s that their suggestions are medications I tried and no change or had a reaction to it. The representatives I talk to, know nothing about me or my conditions, they are just reading a ‘script’ about ‘this condition or that condition’. Sigh…
*Continue reading Part II
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