Woodruff wrote:The Woodruffs of the site? Displaying your ignorance again, stahrgazer? At least try not to be an utter moron, please. Good Lord, a very basic reading of my posts on this site should tell you what a dumbass reference that is. Your inability to think critically enough to recognize the differences between what you're talking about here and what I referred to above is astounding.
I believe you are arguing with Phattscotty, not Woodruff. However, even he won't go so far as to claim your mom shouldn't get care. He just sees the problem as the government, not private companies.
Anyhow, since its "private story" time, I am beyond angry right now. My husband is in constant pain. That is not new. His knees have been "bone on bone" for about 15 years now. He is tough and has a VERY high pain tolerance. I hear about his knees, but few others are even aware. What is new is that he has a fluidous bulb on his elbow and a shoulders that hurt constantly and don't fully function. At times, he cannot lift a few pounds, never mind our 40 pound son. Again, this is no wimp. I know for a fact he is going through pain every day that would lay out many others, even other "tough guys". He did go to the doctor, but as above, the doctor knows we could not afford an MRI, so he told him to ice it.
How did we get to this point?
My husband was laid off. Laid off under conditions that, had he worked for a private company (or state or federal agency), would have constituted "grounds" for a lawsuit. Local governments, though are largely exempt, so...
So we were eligible for COBRA ... at a cost of over $1300 a month. Our income is just barely too high for we adults to be covered by Medicaid. Because the kids have "conditions" they have always been eligible. (before Medicaid just paid the co-pays, dental and eye. Now it pays all). We were eligible for Adult Basic and blithely applied. We waited 45 days before someone finally informed us there was a 2 YEAR waiting list for the program! (in PA about 44,000 adults apparently were on the program) Now its ending completely (February 11 it ends). So, we were told, we were eligible for "Special Care". This is not a direct government program. Apparently, it is private insurance that is subsidized by taxpayers. (found this out later) Blue Cross, the same group whom we have paid for over 20 years. Sounds good, EXCEPT..... you have to exhaust COBRA. So, we qualify for coverage costing $269 per person (went up in Jan, but not by much), but we have to pay for the $1300 for 6 months before we can get it. The real trick is that by waiting, they get to exclude any and all pre-existing conditions. So, this low-cost insurance is fully available as a back up plan to low income people who probably 'barely need it" anyway, that is, people who need it just "in case", not those who are planning on really using it.
The next option is "Faircare". This is open to people with pre-existing conditions. EXCEPT, you have to have been utterly without insurance for 6 months. As far as that goes, my husband's employer is really doing us a favor by not insuring us now. EXCEPT, that plan has a very limited enrollment. So far, there are openings. But, PA just ended the Adult care option, and the governor is looking to allow all of those people to move into the Faircare plans. Maybe we will be lucky. On 12:01 AM, on the 6 month day, I plan to hit the computer and submit applications for my husband and myself. Maybe we will still find openings. If not....
This is the part that makes me the most angry. Politicians keep wanting to trot out these programs, 'Adult basic", "special care", etc and claim that they are "offering options", reasonable options to people not covered by group plans. But, read the small print and you find out that these programs only extend to a very few people. AND, for the most part, are "voluntary" programs put forward by private companies, basically in order to take legal pressure of the companies for nefarious practices regarding the rest of the population.
let me add in one final note. Look at the loss of productivity all this represents. People who are not healthy cannot work at peak. If they don't work at peak, they don't contribute fully to society as they could. I know I have said it before, but my husband is a volunteer Fire chief. There are only 2 other people, one currently disabled, the other often tied in a prison job(cannot just leave when on duty), who have the training my husband has. He responds now. But, if things get much worse, the time will come when he will be in too much pain to be effective. So, in our case, insurance company dirty tricks may truly harm our entire community. That may be a slightly extreme example, but it is definitely not isolated. Everyone may not be a trained volunteer, btu everyone can contribute more when they are healthy than not.
That is another of those "hidden" costs too many Republicans and Tea Partiers try to simply ignore. It is yet another reason why real insurance reform IS cost-effective overall.
