After fighting a cold for a week, and coming home with a 103 degree fever last night*, ingesting all sorts of over-the-counter drugs that made me more crappy and agitated than the awful mood I started with, and finally deciding that the only thing that helped calm the shivers and sinus pressure was a blessed Hot Toddy, I conceded and went to the doctor today. This time I had insurance.
If I had any questions about my belief in a higher power this would have been enough to swing me: Chef grabbed the day’s mail and there were my insurance cards. I popped them out of the plastic, put them in my wallet and went to Urgent Care where a doctor was happy to help me. Happy to help me. Then I picked up drugs at the pharmacy that were tailored to my illness and actually addressed the symptoms I listed. In all I paid about sixty bucks.
Today was an eye-opener in contrast to the bullshit I’ve put up with in the last year without insurance, a year when I’ve been sick more often than probably at any other time in my life (excluding pregnancy, the other extended period of time I navigated the system insurance-less). One, I got home relieved instead of additionally worried and upset about how long it would take me to pay off the bill. Two, nobody gave me any crap about how I was going to pay, and there were no negotiations with the billing department about the discount I might receive if I scurried around to pay a certain percentage up front. Third, nobody outright disrespected me, which meant I didn’t have to lodge a complaint about care quality with a major bureaucracy that doesn’t care anyway.
It’s been about six hours since I got the first dose of meds and I feel significantly better, but not. I can’t wrap my head around just how screwed up our healthcare system is — I just can’t — and I have a $500 bill sitting here on my desk from my last trip to the doctor that I pay off in fifty dollar increments every two weeks (tell that to the credit agency). So on one hand, good. I finally got my heath insurance. On the other hand, no. I’m still the same person, working the same job, with the same need for care as the next person, no more or less deserving of quality care at a reasonable price than any other poor bastard that goes to see a doctor.
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* Ethan, the doll, was more than happy to help me. Considering the shape I was in, and considering that he’s just a little boy, I’m surprised he wasn’t scared. He helped fetch my medicine, covered me up with several blankets, and put himself to bed after kissing me on the forehead and asking if there was anything else he could do. I sure as hell wasn’t that sweet of a kid, and knowing I’m that fortunate makes me cry a little. Maybe it’s the fever, maybe I really am a sap.
Or maybe Ethan is really that awesome. Rock on, E.
How about both?
I am a firm believer in the hot toddy. I really do think that they make everything better and do about the same thing that cold medicine does (only hot toddies taste better).
I was raised on a cough syrup my parents made themselves; lemon, honey and bourbon. My mom would heat it on the stove, and pretend vigorously that the alcohol “cooked off.” If it had, I doubt I’d have been manufacturing coughs, dipping my fingers into the stuff, and going on to drink straight bourbon in high school. Frankly, I suspect that was a far more innocuous treatment than anything I can buy from the chemist/drugstore. And it tastes fantastic.
You are no sap–Ethan really is a sweet kid with a big, caring heart.
Lauren, over at the feministe self-promotion thread, I’ve linked to two blogposts I’ve recently written about the US health care system.
As I wrote in my self-promotion comment in that thread, seen from the outside, the US system is good-damn awful. I can’t imagine what it feels like from inside it.
Glad to hear that you are doing better, and that you are now covered by insurance.
Ethan sounds totally cool. Also, I love his name. Ethan was one of the names my husband and I picked out for our second son, but we went with Aaron instead. That way he could wear his older brother Andrew’s monogrammed hand-me-downs.
Also, I totally agree with you about the health care thing. Andy — a.k.a “Leads with his Head” — has caused me to spend much time in emergency rooms. (Luckily nothing serious, but two broken arms, some stitches, and one terrifying concussion.) Because of that, I’ve seen close up what a mess our system is. Lots of people, most of whom have jobs, end up at the ER for routine care because they can’t get insurance and therefore can’t get in to see a regular doctor. I know all of you know that, but it’s so depressing to actually see it. Even if you have insurance, you can still get screwed by the system. Andy broke his upper arm six weeks ago. The insurance company was happy to pay for me to go to an orthopedic surgeon to have it set, but they weren’t going to pay for the brace that he had to wear because the surgeon wasn’t a certified vendor for the brace. They wanted me to go to the medical supply place approximately 75 miles from home to buy the brace, then return with it for the doctor to apply. Fortuneately I have a job and credit cards and could pay for the $190 device. I put in an after the fact claim that will be paid to me by the end of this month. The whole process has cost me out of pocket $300, not counting the $100 ER copay gracefully covered by the establishment where Andy hurt himself. Insurance paid $3,500.
Imagine for a minute that you don’t have insurance with your job and you don’t qualify for Medicaid. Your kid breaks his arm just like mine did. Where do you come up with that kind of money? Do you just not get the kid’s arm set? Ugh.
Don’t hospitals have to treat emergencies like a broken arm?
I don’t think our hospitals here in Tippecanoe County turn that many people away–or else I am grossly uninformed.
Like you, I just spent about a year without medical insurance for me and my younger son, and (after changing jobs) I now have medical insurance again. It is a huge relief. I just did my taxes and added up my unreimbursed medical expenses for 2006, and it was around $3500 and that was with no major illnesses or accidents and no regular checkups. About half of that amount was for premiums for was for the series of short-term policies I picked up to cover catastrophic events. The deductible was pretty high on that so it never actually covered any care, but there was some comfort in knowing that if something major happened I wouldn’t have lost my house.
I would have much preferred to purchase a regular plan with that $3500, but because I have a pre-existing condition, no one would insure me at any price. I consider myself fairly intelligent, but I was overwhelmed at trying to figure out the system, so while there may have been some way to get around that I couldn’t seem to do it.
The really irritating thing about my care during that time was trying to get my medication. I was able to get a prescription discount card which helped offset some of the cost of the medication. THe problem was, to get the prescription you need to see a doctor. I could only afford to go to see a family practice doc (which cost about $120). I would always get chastised that my condition needed to be followed by an endocrinologist and medications should only be prescribed after a battery of very expensive tests. I would say that I didn’t have the medical insurance to cover those, so they would write the prescription, offer no options for me to get the required tests at lower or no cost, and then look at me like I was a loser who wasn’t getting myself or my kid proper medical care.
I just took my son in for his 4-year old check up (6 months late). While he was uninsured, I took him to the doctor when he absolutely needed it, but we didn’t have the luxury of check-ups as long as the daycare considered his shots up to date. It was nice to get him back on track with preventive care.
I’ve been unfortunate enough to have to deal with life without medical insurance as well. I think the absolute worst part of that whole ordeal was when my bipolar husband went to a community mental health resource and they told him he could only get meds if he was suicidal.
Pisses you off, don’t it?
Don’t hospitals have to treat emergencies like a broken arm?
I don’t think our hospitals here in Tippecanoe County turn that many people away–or else I am grossly uninformed.
They will treat anything, but then they bill you. If you can’t come up with payment arrangements they send your bill to a collections agency, then to the credit agency, then they try to sue. Hospitals are still businesses.
Part of the reason the St.E. debate is so important is that it’s a not-for-profit hospital, and once the partnership with Home Hospital was underway anyone who could apply for “indigence” status — and did not qualify for Medicaid, i.e. they absolutely could not pay for the bill — was then sent to St. E. and received their care under grants, reduced prices, or for free. When my ex ended up in the hospital for two weeks with pnemonia and a collapsed lung, he was switched to the NFP hospital and came away with a $2000 bill instead of a $20,000 bill. That’s a huge difference, and one reason why hospitals like St.E. are so important, even if I despise their stance on reproductive health choices.
I think what E has is called empathy, a rare trait these days, and rarer still in someone so young. Let’s chalk it up to your excellent parenting skillz.
I’m glad the card showed up right on time. Hope you’re on the mend.
I am a financial counselor at a not for profit hospital. If you have any questions about having your bills paid or getting funding or anything really, just let me know and I will try to answer them as best I can without being in breach of the privacy clause in my contract