This is a guest post by Ron Rambles at www.ronrambles.com. I am convinced that if more people knew folks like Ron and the obstacles he faced with health insurance, they would have a different opinion of healthcare reform in America. Like I have said all along, reform is about allowing hardworking Americans the opportunity to purchase affordable health insurance. As Ron found out, the whole medical/pharmaceutical market place is far too distorted and complicated for most people to get quality information and make good decisions. Ron played by the rules and got screwed. This shouldn’t happen to anyone in the U.S. – Kevin Knauss
The whole healthcare system in the U.S. can make you want to scream and to say to hell with the entire mess.
Give Obama credit for laying it all on the line. Do we continue to allow millions of Americans to dodge responsibility of contributing to the health care solution? Do we not allow our elected officials to make changes through our legislative process? Does America cow tow to 5 unelected out of the mainstream judges … usurping the power of the people?
One of the most important aspects of the Affordable heath care act of 2010 is beginning in 2014 ..pre-existing conditions will be covered. It’s a blight on all Americans that we allow insurance companies to pick and choose their insurers…grabbing up the profitable Americans with glee, but shunning other Americans that may not be quite as lucrative to their bottom line. The obvious and quite fair solution is to mandate all Americans to pay for health care. If we allow younger people to skirt responsibility…we are creating a generational divide that is both morally wrong and makes covering pre-existing conditions economically unfeasible.
Many of us out their have been denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Here’s my personal story. I moved 3 years ago ..leaving my job up north for a new life in Florida. I took cobra between jobs so I could keep my insurance intact. I got a job after two months..but there was a 150 day waiting period to get on my new employers insurance coverage. So, I paid 600 a month for individual coverage for a 7 month period. Once I got accepted on the new insurance plan..I cancelled my cobra coverage. I went to my new doctors in Florida and they reviewed my medical needs. In turn they asked for approval from my insurance company to cover what my previous insurance company was covering. I received one of those ..thanks..but sorry..were denying coverage based on pre-existing condition. They said I could reapply for coverage after a 12 month waiting period. Bottom line is I was unable to get the pharmaceuticals required to treat my condition. After several months ..I was really feeling the effects of not having the proper medication..it wasn’t good. I asked my physician what I should do..and he had no advice. I pressed him..asking if I should purchase the medicine illegally Thur the Internet. He looked at me and said he could never recommend that..at the same time shaking his head yes…sending me a signal that it might be the best way to go.
Feeling boxed in with no good option, I took a calculated risk and purchased the generic form of the drug needed Thur the Internet. I not only felt like a criminal, but also knew it was something of a risk due to a lack of quality control. My pills came from India..but it was labeled as the drug I needed. I searched the web trying to figure out the proper dosage,etc.It’s amazing that I had to be my own doctor and take these kind of risks. Well the upshot is the medicine I received was degraded and who knows what was actually in them. I had a terrible reaction after a few weeks..and had to go to the emergency room… bad things were happening to my body. I was told to discontinue the drug immediately..and that it was a good thing I went to the emergency room, because it was not uncommon to see this condition turn fatal. So, I survived but it was very scary. Then I had to wait another 9 months before my new insurance would cover the medicine. It was a very long 9 months…unnecessarily exacerbating my condition. I finally got the doctors and medicine required…and I’m doing fine.
We all contribute to social security and medicare..whether were 18 or 25 or 55. We all will be consumers of health care…why would we exclude anybody from the responsibility of taking care of our collective health? It should be a given that we all need to pay for health care..young people cant duck responsibility…and make their parents and grandparents pay..and if the younger people get sick…we all get to pay for them anyway. Lack of coverage for pre-existing conditions is everybody’s problems . ALL Americans need to be part of the solution…and yes..even those 5 unelected judges …this is everybody’s problem..and were all part of the solution!