Guaranteed Healthcare

I recently left my job with medical benefits to be a stay at home mom. I do have a thyroid condition, in which I take medicine for daily - I see my doctor every 3-6 months for blood work, these visits when not insured run anywhere from $150-$400 depending on how many tests are run. I am unable to be added to my husbands plan until October, so we opted for the "extended coverage" on my old health insurance.

We received this letter stating it would be $365 (no time period or how long this would be valid for) I tried calling the number and was put on hold for about 25 minutes and then I gave up. We both read through the paperwork and thought it was a great idea (we also figured the billing cycle was per quarter most insurance companies do that.) Boy were we wrong, about two weeks later we find out we are expecting child number two. We are both thrilled at the news and did not worry about the fact of the health insurance, because we opted for the extension.

That day we get a letter in the mail from COBRA Services saying we owed $706 for two months worth of service. I called immediately and asked what was the meaning of this. They told me that the price quoted that I agreed to pay was a per month fee and that if I read the contract closely it stated that on there. I replied I would have remembered that amount per month. The woman told me to turn to page 3 about 3/4 of the way down and it said that the fee would be 102% I responded but that doesn't say per month or anything. Well did you call? I told her about the being on hold forever and she told me that it was my problem. I told her I'm not paying $706 for something that I was mislead into purchasing how do I get out of it. Sighing the woman said well you have to write a letter about saying you don't want it.

I hung up the phone and told my husband what she said. He said well just work it out, if we have to pay $75 a month to the hospital for the rest of our lives we will do that. With our first child (with health insurance) it costs $2000 to the doctor and another $3500 to the hospital and the health insurance covered 80% of the birthing costs. So I had started having cramping and spotting (never a good thing when you are pregnant) and knowing how much it would cost to see my doctor ($375 plus and Ultra Sound to check on the fetus) I just rested kept my feet up. I know I should have gone to the doctors but who can afford that, especially when I have to see my doctor in three weeks for blood work for my thyroid. I was trying to hold out for that appointment... we have bills to pay.

Well long story short, I ended having a miscarriage (I had one in October, it happened exactly the same way) everyone is telling me you need to get checked out, you need to go to the doctors to see if everything is okay. Why so he can give me more medicine that messes my body up and causes miscarriages. So if I had health insurance would it have changed the outcome? I don't know... maybe/maybe not. Am I concerned that I still haven't seen a doctor yet? A little. I see my doctor in two weeks, I have been working for a friend part time so I will be able to pay for the visit in cash and hopefully this time I won't end paying LabCorp twice (there's another joke, but that story is for another day.) I don't understand how we can be so "civilized" but yet 1/2 the people in this country are getting screwed left and right by the health care system. I don't qualify for State assistance "we make to much and we own our home." I guess my thing is why the hell should I be punished for leaving my crappy job (that stressed me out so bad that I miscarried in October)and deciding to stay home with my child.

Why can't America get it's act together? How come I go to the doctors and they want to give me more pills, I want to stop taking the synthroid I take now (I don't have a thyroid anymore.) Why is it always a pill? Why can't we teach preventive medicine? Why can't we teach people, if you eat crap your going to feel like crap - so don't sue McDonald's over your stupid choices or the doctor because he gave you the pill you asked for because you saw it on TV and you had those symptoms. I think health insurance companies are the scum of the earth - it is a business and they don't give a damn about anyone except the profit margin, so there stockholders will be happy.

When I left my job I knew it was going to be hard with no health insurance at least for a couple of months, but when something like this happens you question the whole reason why you left... and that is sad because I worked in the hospitality industry and that job truly drives you to drink! Well thank you for listening to my rant. There are some things that I'm sure will never happen in my lifetime and one is universal health care... it is sad but so very true.