Lucky To Be Insured in George Bush's America ..... another reason why we need Single-Payer

[RedEarth]

Lucky To Be Insured
By: Jane Hamsher Friday August 31, 2007 12:28 pm

I'm sure happy that the American Cancer Society has decided to spend its $15 million ad budget telling people there is a healthcare crisis in this country.

It's about time. I'm one of those lucky people who has insurance. And Blue Cross has decided to deny the $4000 test I had last fall which determined I had invasive breast cancer as "not medically necessary." I am, of course, fighting it. Meanwhile, I'm being harassed by phone calls from a company called Grant & Weber. They are a collection agency that "specializes in healthcare accounts receivable resolution." Which means basically terrorizing sick people and threatening them with financial ruin who can't afford healthcare in George Bush's America.

Vultures

http://firedoglake.com/2007/08/31/11321/

By: Jane Hamsher Saturday September 1, 2007 6:00 pm

I guess I just assume everybody knows how horrible it is to get sick in George Bush's America. I dashed off that post yesterday about the medical collection vultures at Grant & Weber because they had just called to hound me and I was pissed, I didn't expect it to reverberate. But that's just the very small tip of the iceberg.

Click on the Blue Cross claim at the left. This was the bill from just one (count 'em ONE) of the three surgeons who operated on me in January. Notice the part that says "it is your responsibilty to pay..." Notice the "denial message." Notice that my deductible ($2500) has already been satisfied for the year, as has the total $11,000 out-of-pocket for 2007 (although the claim form doesn't mention that). Which also had to be satisfied for 2006. Now multiply this by all the tests, four months of chemo, expensive drugs that Blue Cross doesn't consider "necessary," and the two more surgeries I have to have this year. And I am someone who is counted as "fully insured" in George Bush's America, although I think Eve has it right when she calls it "death murder by spreadsheet."

It's not like the disease isn't bad enough on its own.

http://firedoglake.com/2007/09/01/welcome-to-my-world/

[EVDebs]

1. By the grace of God I lucked out and got an insurance coverage at work

...just in time for kidney stones (passed a 9 mm stone after two months of on/off agony) and got inguinal and umbilical hernias fixed (after ten years w/o insurance).

Single payer should have been put in back in '48 with Truman. But corporations and greed got in the way it seems.

[tavalon]

2. Yeah, coverage is something of a Chimera,

between the deductibles, the "maximum out of pocket" per year and yes, the lifetime limits for coverage! The insurance companies are gaming it any way they can. Hey look, you have insurance! Well, sort of.

[Snarkoleptic]

3. Welcome to the Bush economy...

The unemployment stats are misleading, sure I'm working, but-
Half the pay, twice the commute, no health insurance, no 401(k).
My wife had a $400 doctors visit last week.
Not looking to be a strong Christmas...sorry Walmart.
We're going low tech and have a nice Holiday with family.