Lack of Health Care Coverage almost Cost Me My
Life!
Too many Americans can't get the affordable care they need when they fall ill. The number of uninsured Americans is growing, premiums are skyrocketing, and more people are being denied coverage every day. A moral imperative by any measure. Health insurance premiums has double over the past eight years. More than half of all bankruptcies are due to extraordinary high medical bills. Co pays and deductibles are on the steady increase. Many folks that are taking life saving prescription drugs are having to make a financial decision and choose rather to feed their family or purchase medicine. Often they cut in half their medications, against their doctor's advice in order to make dollars stretch.
Which brings me to my point. You see the reason I tried to postpone my heart attack, in the first place (as if one could postpone a heart attack), for at least a couple of weeks, is due to not having any medical insurance. I had only two more weeks to go on my new job before my medical benefits would kick in. I knew that the consequence of having a major hospital stay would be humongous! And it was. The emergency procedures I had underwent to save my life and the 3 day hospital stay, cost over $100,000.00 ( which almost gave me another heart attack) inflated dollars. I say inflated because hospitals charge a higher rate to those who do not have health coverage, so go figure. Therefore this one medical emergency and hospital stay, after the hospital sued me, forced me into bankruptcy.
Some may say it's my fault because I failed to take care of myself. Prior to the beginning of my health problems, I vigorously worked out at the gym at least 3-5 times per week, sometimes more. Both cardiovascular and with weights . How often do you exercise? Heart disease run in my family and that's what my mother died from. What if one slips and fall on the side walk or if you fall off a ladder? What if you were diagnosed with lung cancer through no fault of your own because you did not smoke. What if these ailments hit you inconveniently while you were in between jobs in this very unstable economy? What if your child had a medical problem but was forced off your policy because of they became too old? Oh but there is COBRA? You say. That is true. But how many people that are unemployed can afford to pay an additional $700 to $1000 per month or more for family coverage? And even the COBRA benefits don't last for ever. Unfortunately the health care system is becoming more and more out of reach for the average middle class American. It is time for health care reform today, not 8 years from now. Take a look at an enlightening video...
Sometimes Change can be Controversial. Sometimes Change can even be Painful. Let Us All Remember Why we put President Obama in office and Support Him in not only on his mission of Change for America, but also within Ourselves.
Because "Life is too short!"
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This is a response that I received from my congressman. It may address some concerns:
Dear Glenn:
Thank you for contacting me about your support for health care reform. Your support is very important to me during this intense period of debate.
If the proposed bill is passed, none of the changes it would bring will happen overnight, but many positive changes will come. The proposed bill provides a great deal of funding and support for physicians who want to go into primary care. It would provide student loan forgiveness for these doctors and scholarships for doctors who are entering medical school. Similarly, it would provide loan forgiveness and scholarships for nurses who go into certain fields. This should help ensure that every person in our community has access to a primary care physician. The bill as proposed would also prohibit insurance companies from excluding those individuals whom they determine to have a "pre-existing condition". This will allow many more people to purchase insurance and get the care they need to be healthy.
The proposed bill also includes many provisions to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of an individual's care. There is a pilot program to test the effectiveness of medical homes which could increase the quality of care in our country by ensuring that everyone has a primary care physician or other qualified medical professional who can help coordinate their care with all of their doctors, explain how and when to take their medications and help manage chronic illnesses. The proposed bill contains provisions for another pilot program to test a different payment structure for physicians. There would be funding for comparative effectiveness research (research that compares different medications, equipment and methodologies for a given condition in order to see which of these are most effective) so that you and your doctors can make the most informed decisions possible.
Furthermore, the proposed bill will increase affordability in multiple ways. First, it will expand Medicaid to those with a salary of 125% of the Federal Poverty Line. Second, it will provide affordability credits for those who cannot afford to buy insurance at this time. Third, it will encourage employers to provide health insurance for their employees, and make it illegal to cut the employees salaries to pay for this. Fourth, the proposed public health insurance option will create competition in the health insurance market, and help to drive down costs.
This quite comprehensive bill will bring about many positive changes for the health care system in our nation. Again, thank you for sharing your views and your support with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.
Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.
Sincerely
Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
Click here for my next post "A Young Man Shot 4 Times In The Head"
