I think I pay a pretty decent amount of money for health insurance and since it is required by law you would think that having insurance would be helpful to receive the care you need to live a healthy long life. But that doesn't seem to be the case. My medical bills are going to put me in the poor house. I wish I was joking or being overly dramatic, but I am not.
For those who suffer from long term medical issues, health insurance and medical bills consume your life. If you are not on the phone arguing with the insurance companies to pay for things they should then you are on the phone with the billing department of hospitals/clinics trying to organize a payment schedule and plan for the massive amounts of medical expenses that you have accrued throughout the year.
For me personally, I have a $750 deductible and a $3,500 out of pocket expense to reach before my insurance is really any help. Who has that kind of money just laying around these days?! I know I do not, not with student loans and life expenses.
It has been a rough year, financially. But then again, every year has been this past decade. Every year I keep thinking that this year will be different; I won't accrue anymore medical bills or spend my savings on an Emergency Room visit. Yet, each year something happens and I watch as all that hard earned money that I had been trying to save up vanishes in a blink of an eye.
To make matters worse, when I looked into getting financial assistance with medical expenses I found out that on salary alone my husband and I made too much money, just barely over the maximum amount of income that qualifies for assistance. This is heartbreaking news when you think that every year is going to be like this. Every year I will be shoveling out over $4000 in medical bills. That scares me, and that is just for in network expenses.
How is this affordable health care? I should not be this terrified and stressed about medical expenses day in and day out. I do not even want to open my mail anymore because I know that I will just stress over how to pay the new bill. But I know that because of my health, and the permanent effects cancer and the treatment for cancer had on my body, that this is my life. My life is unaffordable. No one should ever have to feel this way.
I fought like hell to keep my life because I wanted to experience all it had to offer and I have truly enjoyed every day that I have had so far, in one way or another, and I look forward to the many more days to come, but to know that each year is going to possess a financial burden that will always be hard to overcome is honestly disheartening.
As some fellow people in my world have already pointed out, it could be worse. Yes, I am well aware that the expenses could be worse if my insurance was different or I had no insurance at all, but if you factor in the rest of life expenses, $4,250 is still a lot of money to spend on an annual basis in addition to the amount that is already paid toward having insurance. I know that it is a lot better than $20,000 or $100,000. I really do not need to be reminded of this. But not only is this an issue for me, but for many more all over. If I could get by without having to go to the doctor, as most of my fiends and family know, I will do whatever I can to avoid going in, but there are many appointments that I cannot avoid. Each one comes with a rather lengthly list of expensive tests. If I knew this would not be an annual thing then I probably would not worry as much or mind, but it is not something that I cannot think about.
Being a very money conscious person the way it is I tend to not do a lot of extra things that cost money and out of respect some of my friends have excluded me from their activities because they do not want me to feel obligated to spend money. That just makes me feel left out and lonely, two things that I have already spent too many years feeling while going through cancer treatment. If you cannot afford to do anything and your life basically consists of going to work and coming home, is that really a life? Are you really experiencing what life has to offer or are you just existing, barely?
For those who suffer from long term medical issues, health insurance and medical bills consume your life. If you are not on the phone arguing with the insurance companies to pay for things they should then you are on the phone with the billing department of hospitals/clinics trying to organize a payment schedule and plan for the massive amounts of medical expenses that you have accrued throughout the year.
For me personally, I have a $750 deductible and a $3,500 out of pocket expense to reach before my insurance is really any help. Who has that kind of money just laying around these days?! I know I do not, not with student loans and life expenses.
It has been a rough year, financially. But then again, every year has been this past decade. Every year I keep thinking that this year will be different; I won't accrue anymore medical bills or spend my savings on an Emergency Room visit. Yet, each year something happens and I watch as all that hard earned money that I had been trying to save up vanishes in a blink of an eye.
To make matters worse, when I looked into getting financial assistance with medical expenses I found out that on salary alone my husband and I made too much money, just barely over the maximum amount of income that qualifies for assistance. This is heartbreaking news when you think that every year is going to be like this. Every year I will be shoveling out over $4000 in medical bills. That scares me, and that is just for in network expenses.
How is this affordable health care? I should not be this terrified and stressed about medical expenses day in and day out. I do not even want to open my mail anymore because I know that I will just stress over how to pay the new bill. But I know that because of my health, and the permanent effects cancer and the treatment for cancer had on my body, that this is my life. My life is unaffordable. No one should ever have to feel this way.
I fought like hell to keep my life because I wanted to experience all it had to offer and I have truly enjoyed every day that I have had so far, in one way or another, and I look forward to the many more days to come, but to know that each year is going to possess a financial burden that will always be hard to overcome is honestly disheartening.
As some fellow people in my world have already pointed out, it could be worse. Yes, I am well aware that the expenses could be worse if my insurance was different or I had no insurance at all, but if you factor in the rest of life expenses, $4,250 is still a lot of money to spend on an annual basis in addition to the amount that is already paid toward having insurance. I know that it is a lot better than $20,000 or $100,000. I really do not need to be reminded of this. But not only is this an issue for me, but for many more all over. If I could get by without having to go to the doctor, as most of my fiends and family know, I will do whatever I can to avoid going in, but there are many appointments that I cannot avoid. Each one comes with a rather lengthly list of expensive tests. If I knew this would not be an annual thing then I probably would not worry as much or mind, but it is not something that I cannot think about.
Being a very money conscious person the way it is I tend to not do a lot of extra things that cost money and out of respect some of my friends have excluded me from their activities because they do not want me to feel obligated to spend money. That just makes me feel left out and lonely, two things that I have already spent too many years feeling while going through cancer treatment. If you cannot afford to do anything and your life basically consists of going to work and coming home, is that really a life? Are you really experiencing what life has to offer or are you just existing, barely?
