Letter from an Uninsured Woman
It is easy to ignore the uninsured if you have insurance. But Donna Smith, who appeared in Michael Moore's SICKO, makes it a lot harder to turn away. She gives an eloquent personal statement about what it means to face the world without any back up. Her essay begins:
I am the one. 47,000,000 and one. As 2008 dawned, I joined the ranks of those people in our nation who have no health insurance coverage. For the first time in my life, I have no way to seek medical care in this nation. No government program will cover me, and there is no private insurance available to me that I could afford.
In my family, I am the only one now uninsured. Children who make more have good policies and coverage, and even children who make much less qualify for some government help.
My husband is covered by Medicare and by the supplemental plan we carry for him. But I am many years away from qualifying for that program. When I picked his prescriptions up from the pharmacy yesterday, I was grateful to pay just $50 for his portion of that bill.
I have already begun weaning myself off the prescription medications I have. I do not think I can ever get away from the thyroid medication I have taken for many years, but I told the pharmacist to put back another medication last week when I learned it would cost me $30 without coverage. I stopped using the Advair inhaler for my asthma almost three weeks ago, and I will just use the rescue inhalers I have left. And no more cancer checks or preventive care of any kind now until I find a way to secure some coverage.
I heard presidential candidate Mitt Romney say last night that a high percentage of those without health insurance can afford the coverage and just choose not to buy it. I do not believe that. I heard him talk about forcing people to take personal responsibility for their health care costs and coverage. I have done that for all of my adult life. In fact, I made sure all of my six children and my husband never went without coverage, even when some of the children's biological parents remained absent from any effort to support their offspring.
Larry and I came together 32 years ago, each bringing two children to our marriage and each having full custody of those children. We then had two kids together. We worked and had a home and put food on the table for many years before the tsunami of health concerns swept through our lives. By then, thankfully, most of the children were raised. They were spared the front row seats in the collapse.
I remember when my dad was dying from pancreatic cancer almost 13 years ago that I cried out to him as he lay in a coma, "Daddy, please don't leave me here alone." My dad was brave -- a World War II vet who worked hard and gave me a marvelous childhood and a deep faith in God and in the goodness of my country. The loss of his presence in my life has been painful. And the loneliness continues, perhaps deepened now by the realization that my life and the value of my life has been reduced to what an insurance company actuary says and not what I worked for and not what I have achieved.
In the living room, Larry is asleep on the couch -- thank God, he rests. He has gone through so much in the past few years with his health struggles. I cannot sleep well at all now. I wake. I think about the "what ifs" and I worry. I think about 2007 when we appeared in 'SiCKO,' testified before a Congressional sub-committee, and rode a 1980 school bus on a grassroots tour to promote real reform that would save our fellow Americans from our fate.
At a meeting of Colorado health care reform activists yesterday, I heard good and committed folks discussing how to keep political pressure on leaders who don't grasp the depth of the problem. I'll admit, I felt diminished sitting there. I felt like a yoke that weighs on society and on a system gone so wrong. Others can argue from a position of strength and confidence in their positions, and I must argue from a position of weakness and personal fear.
Last night I also listened as presidential candidate John Edwards sought to infuse more passion to his position by saying he understands the plight of the working and middle class in this nation. He proudly pointed out his father in the audience and acknowledeged that his family gave him the opportunity to achieve what he has as an adutl. He said he wants special interests out of the equation in deciding our national agenda. I'm for that, but I don't see how we can do it when so much money buys so much influence. But somebody has to start somewhere.
So, the journey Larry and I began 32 years ago together with hope and with intensely responsible and committed work will wind down with a very different outcome than we had imagined. We hoped for time to enjoy life and enjoy each other when the back-breaking and mind-numbing work of raising up six children ended. Instead, health concerns zapped that dream and re-routed our plans.
And Daddy left me here after all. But I am not alone. I may be uninsured and unprotected and devalued by the current system. But I am a fighter to the end, and I will continue my life's work to inform every American who still doesn't get it -- presidential candidate or not -- that I am not in this boat because I wanted to be or because I choose to be. I need and want a lifeboat -- the boat I paid for, I changed thousands of diapers for, I cooked meals for, a rode commuter buses to work for, I went to church for, I started cold cars for, I earned my college degree for, I bought insurance for, I paid Congressional salaries for, I fought for -- and that my father risked his life for.
I want what working hard for in America for all of my adult life should have afforded me: just a little peace of mind and to rest next to my husband without terror. I want to know that if I get sick I can go to the doctor. I want a mammogram (now overdue by months). I want the asthma medication that makes me breathe easier. And I do not want the high and mighty judgements of those who never wanted for any of those things.
But most of all I want my now struggling, sometimes cranky love of my life to never, ever think it was his failing that we ended up at this place. I want him to sleep so that when I rise up fighting again in the morning, he has the strength to stand by my side until this battle is won.
Comments (42)
Elizabeth Warren is probably one of the most important posters on here.
Yet I notice that she hardly ever gets her stuff replied to.
Funny. It's so much more fun to slag or praise Obama, or to endlessly recycle the Israeli Palestinian issue from the safety of a continent away.
But when it comes right down to a vulnerable woman who is where you could be with a bad break or two... suddenly, the gazes are averted, and we all pass by in silence.
Cowardly, doncha' think?
Of course, who am I to say such a thing, sitting here in the safety of a viable social network and socialized medicine up in Canada?
January 7, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was thinking the same thing when I saw the Warren post sitting there with zero comments, but the thing is I seldom have anything worth adding. We worked out butts off to get some Democratic candidates elected in our district in 2006 (progressive being beyond reach) but once put in office they have taken the safe Republican-lite path. The best I can see is to keep working to get a good President in office who has some hope of whipping Congress into line. Not sure what else I can do.
sPh
January 7, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Demand more. Demand better.
January 7, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Silence and tears.
What can I say. The woman's circumstance is too close to my own. I am choked by both rage and sorrow. It is unlikely that anything will be done to remedy the health care situation in time to help so many of us.
January 7, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree Warren is one of the best here. But it's not comment generating material and you can't measure value by comments. It's thought provoking stuff. Great on it's own.
January 14, 2008 12:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree that Professor Warren is one of the most important posters here. :)
I never noticed that she gets few replies.
All I will add here is thumbs down to Mitt Rommney and thumbs up to John Edwards. He has my support!
Bonnie
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PaperMachePupArt/
January 7, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Warren is one of those people here who writes about the actual plight of the poor, the destitute, even the working and middle classes. The pressure of mortgages, credit card debt, inner city support, health care... she and those like her talk about concrete heartbreaking things, but I find their posts are almost universally overlooked. I dunno, maybe I'm wrong.
Thumbs up to John Edwards. Thumbs down to every Republican candidate, each of whom seems to be a raving maniac.
January 7, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
My heart goes out to Mrs. Smith and the others who are in the same position. But Why are we only complaining about the cost of health insurance? Why is there no hue and cry about the ridiculous costs of a medical education so that there would be more doctors/PA's and--if we believe the supply-siders--the cost would go down. Why isn't anyone complaining about the cost of going to the doctor--what are doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics doing to lower the costs and PASS ON THOSE COSTS TO THE CONSUMER? Do they really need all of those grandiose new buildings? Why don't more health care providers post their prices so we can "cost compare"? When was the last time your doctor offered a price reduction?
And what about the declines in real wages for almost 80% of the population? If wages had kept up with the cost of health care, housing, child care, food, education and transportation would Mrs. Smith be in this position? If wages had kept up--and our manufacturing base hadn't been allowed to leave--the employers portion of our health care might have remained the same.
We need access to information. We need to know how much our health care costs so we can compare and use the "power of the purse" to make some headway with the cost of this.
January 7, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I, too, am one of the 47 million uninsured Americans. It's been over two years since I've had insurance... medical, dental, vision, or life. Two years of no medical checkups, no preventative care, of no anti-biotics when I get strep throat, no x-rays when I thought I broke my leg, no dental checkups, no new eye exam or glasses, nothing. I've been lucky, I may have a few cavities to deal with, and maybe some glaucoma, but seem to be healthy. That could all change this afternoon, though.
There are millions of Americans who work hard and yet do not receive any feasible opportunities for health insurance. I've been pretty much stuck in contract positions for the past 5 years, ever since losing my job due to the ILWU port strike in 2002. Contract employees are not usually offered benefits until after a year of service; unfortunately, most contracts are only for one year. And after that year of contract service is up? Not surprisingly, the placement agencies all of a sudden cannot find work for you.
And so, you move on to another agency, and another year-long wait for benefits that you probably won't receive.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Come visit PROJECT: Lucidity
Where everybody knows your name...
unless you use a pseudonym
January 7, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric:
Thank you for sharing your story with us. Really. I honestly believe that if we can unite and elect a Democratic president, then help for you and each of the 47 million Americans without health insurance will come. I really don't mean to sound hokie or idealistic (not that there's anything wrong with that :)), but I honestly believe that a Democratic president and Congress can produce 21st century health reform. Keep faith Eric, and for heaven's sake stay well.
Bruce
January 7, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bruce,
Thanks for the kind words. We're currently working on a state-wide universal single-payer model, I believe something like MA. It's still very grass-roots, and hasn't really pushed past the initiative stage, but many of us are hopeful.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Come visit PROJECT: Lucidity
Where everybody knows your name...
unless you use a pseudonym
January 7, 2008 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone else's story that I would suggest: Real Live Preacher (aka Gordon Atkinson). About five weeks ago, he posted a very well written piece on his own travails in getting insurance for not only himself, but also for his family.
I think something that will trend are the citizens who have been rejected by insurance companies because of previous mental health treatments. As Zoloft, Prozac, Wellbutrin, and a host of other drugs have been fashionably advertised on print and screen, there will be more opportunities for insurance companies to reject "pre-existing conditions."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Come visit PROJECT: Lucidity
Where everybody knows your name...
unless you use a pseudonym
January 8, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is blindingly obvious that we need universal, single payer health care coverage in this country. It is tragic that we have almost zero chance of ever getting what we need.
Of all of the harm that Reagan did to this country, his encouragement of greed has to have had the longest lasting effect. From that day to now, no politician who has any desire to be reelected can even hint at a tax increase. And, things like universal single payer health care coverage require tax increases.
Hoppy in Sacramento
January 7, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: From that day to now, no politician who has any desire to be reelected can even hint at a tax increase.
Forgetting something? Bill Clinton, 1993, handily reelected in 1996.
January 9, 2008 6:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is a very beautiful piece!
I'm an "overseas American".
I live and work in Spain, where we have universal health insurance that covers everyone in the country free of charge, with huge discounts on medicines and totally free medicine for those over 65.
My wife had two hip replacements in the space of a year. The operations were perfectly done and everything, operations, hospitalization, medicines and the ambulance that brought my wife home, were totally free of charge.
I read what Donna Smith writes and it breaks my heart and makes me very angry. If Spain can have such a wonderful system, why can't the United States, that is much richer than Spain, have one too?
We all know why, don't we?
We are not one country.
We are two countries.
One of our countries is very large, struggling to get by and the other is very small, but very rich.
The rich don't really care if the poor die for lack of care and the poor are imbeciles if they think that rich people are going to write big checks to bankroll politicians that will tax the rich to provide medical care for the poor. To get that medical care the poor are going to have organize themselves and fight for it... dollar by dollar and vote by vote.
Any politician calling himself "progressive" and facing such a situation, who wants to "pour oil upon the waters", is nothing but a Judas goat.
What is fundamental is that working Americans develop a militant class consciousness. Rich Americans already have one.
If working Americans look up to rich Americans for solutions they will only get remedies that favor the rich. How deluded can people be, how alienated from reality can people be not to see something as obvious as this?
Those who are satisfied will call this "populist demagoguery". Why shouldn't they? What is tragic is if those who are in Donna's situation or in jeopardy of being in Donna's situation call this "populist demagoguery".
Militant class consciousness is why European countries have welfare states and why a case like Donna's is unthinkable.
http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/
January 7, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
deleted
January 8, 2008 4:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
To get that medical care the poor are going to have organize themselves and fight for it... dollar by dollar and vote by vote.
On July 9, 2004, in response to Dennis Kucinich's endorsement of Kerry-Edwards, Ralph Nader wrote an open letter entitled: "Dennis, We Thought We Knew You!"
the first paragraph of that letter:
Dennis Kucinich has decided to endorse the Kerry-Edwards Campaign. Of course, since Dennis is a committed, life-long Democrat this is not a big surprise. But, in doing so he also urged Nader supporters to join Kerry-Edwards saying: "There is a place within the Democratic Party for everyone, including those who may be thinking of supporting Ralph Nader." Sorry, Dennis, but most Nader supporters would find it very difficult to support the Kerry-Edwards ticket.
another paragraph of that letter:
Kerry-Edwards does not promise health care for all. Forty-five million Americans don't have health insurance and more can't afford to keep it. The U.S. spends more on health care per capita than any other country -- 25% of our expenditures go to duplicative overhead caused by health insurance-based health care. John Kerry does not replace this system with a universal healthcare program; he builds on this faulty system by paying the catastrophic care health system health insurance costs of businesses -- but tens of millions will remain without health care under his plan.
To get that medical care the poor are going to have organize themselves and fight for it... dollar by dollar and vote by vote.
January 8, 2008 8:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
How does Spain handle long-term care for the elderly? We never hear anything about that in the discussions about health insurance.
January 8, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Valdron asked the question of why some of Warren's posts get little comment. Sometimes there is nothing more to say than she has already.
We are in a peculiar time of history, that will probably become a permanent condition in the US and some countries, where someone's life may depend on a few discretionary dollars. Think back to the time of our founding. The Father Of Our Country could not have bought any better health care than the rudest soldier in the Continental Army. He could have eaten better and more often, he could have been warm and sheltered, but he could not buy an antibiotic, or lifesaving surgery, for all the gold in England.
But now it is often just a question of bucks. We are not talking about food and/or shelter, or better clothes, or land, or schooling, but simply not dying before one's time.
We have to decide if this is a fitting issue to leave to the (unfree) market. Some things are beyond price, among them defense of territory. If threatened with invasion no one would be arguing for letting the market figure it out. Could we maybe decide that defense of our citizen's individual lives is also beyond price?
January 7, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
.
sPh
.
By the way I agree with your point ;-)
January 7, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I exaggerate for effect, I guess.
January 7, 2008 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
People who could afford *real* doctors in Washington's day were sometimes worse off for it than people who relied on grandma's herbal tonics. Washington himself was bled to death by his physician seeking to treat a respiratory infection in the then-standard manner, by blood-letting.
January 9, 2008 6:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
A special thanks to Elizabeth Warren for yet another important piece about working-class life in America. I remember seeing her on NOW with Bill Moyers almost five years ago, and she has consistently articulated exactly how the middle class and working poor are being fleeced by the Powers That Be, and she has done so with grace and class.
I feel that way about her work because I have no insurance, and a family, and I have worked endless hours at jobs that are NOT entry-level, only to fall further behind. The game is so completely and absurdly stacked that many of us at or near the bottom do not for a minute believe the Democrats can fix it. The best they can provide is a little more breathing room, (which shouldn't be discounted when you can't breathe), but systemic change is probably beyond reach.
Obama's "Audacity of Hope" is very apropos, because it seems an audacious thing to do in light of the grim realities that crowd the door.
I think any nation that could REELECT George W. Bush (or at least make the vote close enough to steal) is indeed beyond repair. How much hope can there be for such a place?
So I hug my child (SCHIP) and try to have a few laughs and ignore any nagging health concerns. Leaving the country is not an option, and believe it or not, I love this country and don't want to leave. Watching it transform before my eyes into a Fascist-lite parody of itself has been particularly painful, but I still love it and always will.
January 7, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
As the Christmas holiday season is just freshly past, I have known for many years that this country is full of stone-hearted Scrooges. And oddly enough, I watched the 1948 version of Oliver Twist just the other night.
If ever a man understood what we are facing today, it was Charles Dickens. America is full of Malthusian attitudes about the "excess population" and their need to "get on with the dying."
It is this aspect of English culture that is most ugly and is the one that infects America most virulently. Based on a completely false premise no less.
My conclusion about all this is that there will be no substantive change in America until it collapses which is nearer than many think. We are facing a world-wide depression that will make the the 1930s look like a picnic. We have reached the Hubbert peak on global oil supplies which means everything will get very costly before the local economies get going again. This part is a good thing but it will mean very high food prices until local growing is done, but the growing season will also be dependent on weather patterns which are being severely altered.
As far as I'm concerned, the national political scene is no longer relevant to me. They are going to do what they do and they don't care who it hurts or what it costs the rest of us. We are on our own to fend for ourselves.
It's time to start re-building local community and re-vamping our local economies to meet the basic needs. That will be the only way we can face the challenges to come.
My only fear is the declaration of martial law in the U.S. That is the only thing I am truly afraid of. Makes the words "Give me liberty, or give me death" actually mean something.
********
- We do not act rightly because we have virture, we have virtue because we act rightly.
January 7, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've got catastrophic insurance - and am waiting with white knuckles for Medicare in 2 years and 2 months.
Something is terribly wrong with a society where people's arguments against healthcare are based on keeping things good for themselves and penalizing anyone whose financial or health circumstances or work situation leave them falling through the cracks when it comes to healthcare - and much else I might add.
I'm hoping that Obama can lead people to agree to sacrifice for the common good. In order to make changes we need someone who can call for that and cause a groundswell of citizen support. Many will disagree with this, but as I see it, something has to change within the electorate first and that will set a fire under the legislators. I want healthcare for each and for all. I want new priorities within our society.
Argue with me if you want. But it's not going to change my view of how change comes about. And I'm in the "change business."
January 8, 2008 7:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't fool yourselves. No country on the planet has figured out health care.
The elephant (not the republican kind) in the room is cost control.
No nation can afford expensive technolgy applied to all- especially nations with aging populations. We should NOT be prolonging death with technology. It is wrong!
Hence we must implement both rationing and prevention. The latter will help fund treatment when it is needed. Both of these must be implemented ethically and always with compassion.
Dr. Rick Lippin
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
January 8, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Re: No nation can afford expensive technolgy applied to all- especially nations with aging populations. We should NOT be prolonging death with technology. It is wrong!
Ebenezar Scrooge checks in (apparently before the Christmas ghosts' visits). Fact is we already afford healthcare for a large majority of our citizens. How much would it cost to provide coverage for the remainding 15% or so? Most of them are young and healthy so I'm guessing they would be net payors into the system, if only by minor amounts. As for prolonging death, I agree there's a debate we should have about the use of extreme means of keeping the moribund alive a la Terri Schiavo. However it's been my experience with dying relatives that nobody wants such measures used and when they are it's generally because the patient failed to make his wishes known and some relative cannot bear to let go.
January 9, 2008 6:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
The decision as to what treatments go to whom should be made on their ability to actually benefit from it, and there are programs out there (APACHE) which are designed to do this prediction very well.
Therapy that only prolongs death is not good for anyone; the patient, the family, or society. But age alone as a factor is not enough; there are many 70 year olds who live active, vital lives.
Jan
January 11, 2008 8:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am 56 years old and will be getting a divorce in the next few months. Since my coverage is through my wife's work, I will be forced to go the Cobra route for eighteen months.
After that? Who knows. I am considered medically uninsurable after a bout with Hepatitis C, though cured.
I feel for this woman. I will be there sometime next year. There is no "free market" in life as divorce and job decisions are skewed by access to medical insurance.
January 8, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
At the risk of sticking my nose into a personal matter, why not separate instead of divorce? I've known couples who have done that when they wished to break up but one had a serious health condition and required insurance. You could also demand continued health benefits as part of the divorce settlement.
January 9, 2008 6:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
The US ranks 19th out of 19 countries in their rates of "amenable mortality," defined as deaths that are "potentially preventable with timely and effective health care".
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=640980
ecotourism
WeGoEco.com
January 8, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am very sympathetic to the woman who writes the letter you feature in this post. I too live in Colorado, except I have insurance but only because I am paying close to $10,000 a year for it. At least I am insured although I am burning through my savings, which leaves me depending on the genoristy of family members. I could not get health insurance except through the Colorado risk pool, though I am healthier now than I've been in many years. I too have given up using Advair for my astha unless I am having a serious episode. Even so, m three main prescriptions for hypothroid, PCOS, and hormones have a monthly price tag of $70/month on top of a $2000 deductible and over $500/month in premiums that have increased over a hundred a month in the past year. The total comes close to rivaling my mortgage. Then I read yesterday on a local news site that Colorado state legislators say they can't do much of anything to address the healthcare crisis.
The major burden I now struggle with caught up in this crisis is financial. For so many, including the woman who wrote the letter referenced, the issue is one of survival. What kind of country have we become that our government and its representatives (and would be representatives like Romney and the other indifferent Republican candidates for presidennt) would deny its hard-working citizens affordable access to basic health care and then turn around and blame the victims of this outrageous situation? I hardly recognize this country anymore.
January 8, 2008 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you Valdron for noting Elizabeth Warren's work. I also agree that it's high time for simple health insurance for everyone in the country.
And to Hoppy's list of Reagan-inspired ills, I'd add the tolerance of "creation theory" as the equal of the theory of evolution. It turns out that the idea that a lie is as good as the truth hasn't been so good for our kids.
January 8, 2008 10:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I find myself astonished at the depth and breadth of this issue, of the pressing and desperate need... and at the same time, of the seeming indifferenceof society and government.
January 9, 2008 7:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Glad to got to this. Thanks.
January 11, 2008 7:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Tears well. Bile raises.
I incorporated to provide insurance for myself and my family. On the plus side, my family had health coverage. On the negative side, Between the shift in tax structure and insurance cost, my Balance Sheet showed a healthy LOSS. Last month, I started working for someone else. My wife had to take a job to cover the shortfall in income. I am one of the lucky ones.
Health is one of our nation's great commons.
Health is a human right.
Healthcare makes ecomonic sense in increased productivity/GNP terms and limiting long-term/chronic care/emergency services costs.
Protecting a multi-billion dollar industry makes no sense in the long run.
Government serves a purpose.
January 11, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
There must be millions of stories similar to this one. My own story is very similar. I was 56 years old when my company downsized, just 12 days before 9/11. I thought I could just go out and get another job but my age had apparently caught up with me. At first I collected unemployment, which paid me $210/wk, but Cobra wanted over $400/mo for insurance. It was a joke. I found out much later that sometimes you can call the company that used to insure you yourself and talk them into continuing coverage with you paying them directly for your monthly premiums. It costs a lot less than going thru Cobra.
Later I was forced to do consulting work part time as a self employed contractor. Between that work and part of the monthly expenses coming from my son who had moved in temporarily as he moved back to my area from another state, I was able to scrape by, but I had been diagnosed with a debilitating disease, COPD, and it was just about time for life to get tougher.
I'm finally on disability, and although I don't have enough to make ends meet, at least for me there is a reasonable gap. Things are more difficult once I fall into the Medicare donut hole about Sept., but if I do some light consulting work every week for the rest of my life, I may have enough for the drugs I need, including Advair, which is so good that I can't imagine going without it. Whenever I forget to take a dose of Advair, I start to feel worse, so I consider it one of the main drugs I use. But Advair alone costs about $150/mo. I got quotes and did a cost comparison of my medications. What I would pay $883.53 for at Walgreens, would cost me $519.28 at Walmart. I'm hoping not to fall into the donut hole so early now that I know that. Still, my copay for my drugs will likely be $156/mo this year again, and that's just for drugs. I also pay $39 each time I visit either of my specialists (I had a quadruple bypass while I was waiting for disability to go thru.) Certain tests also cost more, like CT scans, and dental work or regular vision care I have to pay out of pocket entirely.
Obviously, with COPD, I will not be able to do work for the rest of my life. At some point, I will not be able to do much at all, and I don't know how far off that result will be. But I do know that if the status quo continues, I will at some point have to rely on the largesse of family members to make it from one month to the next financially. I'm hoping for a new plan, and I'm hoping we have the good sense to make it a single payer plan, the ultimate in portability and usefulness.
January 11, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have you tried Canadian Pharmacies? I save a lot of money getting my daughters meds there, not as much now that the dollar is weak, but they have generics there we don't have here, so it's a LOT cheaper then what I pay here.
The ones in Winnipeg are usually pretty good.
CSPAN junkies visit http://spannerbackup.ipbhost.com
January 12, 2008 4:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
How are you getting them, workerbee? I ran into trouble with Ca pharmacies because the drug companies would limit their supplies or threaten to cut them off if they sold to the US.
"To save your world you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?" W.H. Auden
January 13, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I originally contacted them over the internet, and now I just call/fax to their 800 number. I did a little research and the online pharmacies out of Winnipeg were supposed to be the most reliable.
It doesn't hurt that my uncle lives there, and could go check them out if there was trouble.
I haven't had any problems in the 2-3 years I have been doing it, but I suppose it's a risk I take. Note also that you need to plan ahead as they can take longer (up to 10 days) to get to you, and you can only fill about 3 months worth at a time. The only oddity I've noticed is that sometimes I have to sign for them, and sometimes I don't. They come through the U.S. Postal Service, which is reassuring somehow. Just make sure you deal with a reputable company. If they're from Winnipeg I'll alert my uncle.
:P
CSPAN junkies visit http://spannerbackup.ipbhost.com
January 13, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
If everyone's paying 4,5,700 bucks a month NOW for health 'insurance', it'd make a lot more economic sense if EVERYBODY just paid 200 bucks a month for 'healthscare' and they went ahead and called it a TAX. It's where they're going with this anyway, so hurry up and get it over with. Don't twist the knife, just levy the fees and do it.
January 14, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Capitalism, Binge Lending and Spillage
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As the big boys say in Alcoholics Anonymous, "I've spilled more booze than you've even thought of drinking." Likewise the shear waste and uneconomic spillage in US capitalistic practice is an unseen, mind boggling sum of money.
Having personally inked $$ billions of loan deals and met folks destined for both the White House and for jail the most important thing I would like each voter (and economist) to know is:
"The gross dollar value of the rank waste and economic inefficiencies in 'big boy' capitalism is more than sufficient to many times fund both Social Security and Medicare shortfalls."
When the corporate and financial types declaim that there isn't enough money to pay reasonable taxes and/or to provide a broad safety net for the disenfranchised folks in our society tell them to shut their greedy yaps. Offer them the following deal.
"You make sure the poor can eat and get medical necessities and we'll let you continue to take a small bite out of all the capital flows that wash around financial centers, including embezzlement like bonuses and commissions for your daily toil and for your latest bubble-like ponzi-smacking get-rich fiasco(s). But, be aware of our recognition that the Pound Sterling and the Euro, currency representatives for the full-out 'Socialism' of Europe, are hands down taking the Dollar to the cleaners. Significant change is needed and the broom is in your hands."
"For the moment!"
January 25, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink