I'd like to have some. I can afford to go to a doctor when I am sick but I'm really afraid to go unless I already know what my problem is. And I'm afraid to go for a regular check-up. Why? Because if it turns out I have a disease, then I'll never be able to get health insurance. Early treatment is critical for most serious illness, but once you have a diagnosis you're unable to get insurance if you didn't already have it. So, I have simply avoided doing anything that might reveal that I have a health condition. Stupid? Maybe, but not under the insurance system that we have had up until today.
A year ago I tried to get health insurance for myself and my husband. But he was turned down by every company I tried, because he has been diagnosed and treated for depression. He wasn't being treated at the time I was applying for insurance. He wasn't having a depressive episode. And when he has been in treatment, it hasn't been particularly expensive. But because of it, he was turned down for insurance by all the companies I could afford.
He could have gotten insurance through the high risk pool run by the state we live in. But that is basically a joke. Although it is available and they will take people with extremely high risk health conditions, the cost is astronomical, and we couldn't even begin to come up with a budget that would have allowed us to purchase it. Not unless we gave up electricity and all food but rice and beans.
Today the health insurance reform bill was signed. I don't know very much about how it will directly affect us yet, but I do know that my husband won't be turned down for coverage any more. I don't know what it will cost, or how well it will actually cover our needs. But at least we won't be afraid to go to the doctor anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment