A fellow grad student had to get her own health insurance after she was dropped from her parents' plan. She is 5-feet and weighs 125-pounds and was denied for private health insurance for being too fat.

Ugh, health insurance. I tried getting mine privately. Now, being a young woman, any plan with "maternity" covered means paying more than my monthly rent! BUT, if I got a plan with NO maternity, they didn't cover any birth control except pills (which wreak havoc with me. I don't like them)! WTF?? Don't they realize that a one-shot 900 bucks for a mirena that's good for 5 years is WAY cheaper than years of pills at 80 bucks a month OR paying for my baby?

No sense it makes.

I was denied when I applied for private health insurance two years ago, because I have been treated for manic depression in the past. Because I was denied I was able to sign up for insurance that is specifically for people who are "high risk," like I apparently am. It's expensive, and doesn't have particularly great coverage, but I'm too anxious to go without. I'm in my mid-twenties, very healthy, and completely mentally stable these days. My insurance is $300/month. I don't even want to think about what I'll be paying when I'm 40.

I quit my job as at a customer support call center because it stifled my personal growth. I wanted to pursue a career as a street mime in Cleveland. Since I wouldn't be able to afford health care like I had at my job, I just went door to door in my neighborhood and gave a bill to 25 of my neighbors. Each of them only had to may $15 each month for the policy I wanted. I explained that they would be helping me to express my creativity, and since they had jobs and health insurance they shouldn't mind.
I was shocked the first month when no one sent me their payments on time.

I don't see anything in Miriam's post about asking her neighbors to subsidize her coverage. Beyond that I can't speak for her, but in her place I would want a plan from which I couldn't be barred for arbitrary reasons, and in which the money I paid in would actually go for my care if I needed it, instead of fattening shareholders, executives, ad agencies and PR firms and all the other bloodsuckers currently living off the for-profit system.

Health insurance concerns are holding back so many people from their potential. It gives employers too much power over their workers-- it keeps people in crappy jobs because they need the insurance. It stops people from going back to school because they can't afford COBRA or private-pay. It stops people from taking a risk on their awesome business idea because they can manage the other sacrifices needed when a business first starts, but health care costs put it over the edge. And that's if you're lucky enough to get insurance at all.

You had it bad enough, Miriam. Imagine being a single mother, or married to a partner who is also self employed. Imagine how much more your private policy would cost now. Or wanting to have kids some day but living in a state where providing maternity coverage isn't mandatory so it's not available at all, at any price.

Republicans want to paint this as a responsibility issue-- make the sacrifice, pay for insurance and you'll be fine. They totally ignore the reality of the situation. A lot of people want to be responsible and they aren't even given the option. They can't get covered at all. You cannot honestly claim we live in a meritocracy when factors like this hold people back.

I didn't pursue starting up a company of my own for precisely this reason. My own health is actually pretty good, but my potential partner had a lot of preexisting issues, so the company idea sort of died before it got going. I wonder how many small business gets derailed that way these days, so much for Big R's worshipping of the entrepenurial bent...

What we need is Canadian-style single payer national health insurance [Canadian Medicare].

We are NOT going to get that from President Obama - if we're lucky, the insurance companies will let him give us Massachusetts-style mandatory insurance, a law that makes you buy insurance, but does not give you the money to pay for it.

Which is even worse than what we have now.

Yeah. Health insurance. Just one more of the things getting ready to kick my, what I thought was, very comfortable ass.

I'm offered it through my job - the bosses will pay half. And it'll still cost me about $55/week out of my paychecks. This, while paying [a relatively cheap!] rent of $1100/month (plus electric and cable), $200 a month in student loans, and trying to afford a car(only got license about three weeks ago), when I've been quoted at over $300/month for insurance for that (plus car payments, up to another $300/month!).

It's basically come down to choosing between a decent car and my health.

And I tried shopping around privately, because my boss said they'd still reimburse the 50% if I found a better plan. So far, I have not. Even seen things where it was over $400/month, with a $2000 deductible before they'd even start paying for any of your stuff. It's truly ridiculous.

Not to rub it in, but I love living in Canada for this and so many other reasons.

Yeah, as soon as I graduated my comfy parent's insurance was gone. It's been a year now. With student loans and living expenses, I just can't afford to pay for any health insurance. It makes me very nervous.

I have a friend with Type I diabetes whose mother died when she was 15 and her dad's never been around, nor paid child support. Needless to say, she hasn't been able to get health insurance except through a job since she got kicked off of Medicaid at age 18. Absolutely NO ONE will take her. The stress of not having health insurance - and the bills - has been one major reason she hasn't been able to successfully complete even one semester of college.

Really, the only way she could get insurance to cover herself is if she had a baby. Not to suggest that women with babies don't need insurance - of course they do - but I find it crap that the government offers health coverage to women who have babies, but not to women who want to pursue their educations.

Miriam,
I was denied health insurance when I became self-employed, too. One of the reasons they cited was that I had problems with my gall bladder in the past; namely, that I'd had it removed.

It was REMOVED! Non existent. Not covered by insurance because it doesn't exist anymore.

Gall bladder problems are pretty common - and removing it has little effect on the body after the initial surgery. So this wasn't like I said I'd lost a lung or a limb, and they were going to have to continue to treat me - which they should know, given their industry.

Anyway, it did take them 6 to 8 weeks to 'decide' to deny me.

Also, @ FlamingBiatch: I guess my state is one of those that mandates pregnancy be covered - so the health insurance quotes were much higher and I wasn't able to opt out of it if I didn't want it. And as someone who only has sex with women, I thought there was little chance I'd become pregnant. I didn't want the pregnancy coverage but they wouldn't let me opt out - as if I didn't know what I really wanted or weren't allowed to have that choice.

The best thing would be Canadian-style healthcare, I agree. We should also support the bill that points out the disparities in costs for health insurance coverage for men and women and says insurance companies cannot charge you based on gender.

And I agree with Allegra: That makes me so mad! The message is that our only value in society is as baby machines. Other than that, the government doesn't really care if we're healthy. Single people who aren't disabled, elderly, or females making babies - we can all just go screw ourselves.
I think the reasoning behind this is, if you're single and not old or a mom you should be able to make enough money to figure it out. We all know that isn't the case, what with pay disparities and unemployment not to mention UNDERemployment and the rising cost of health care.

I have had cancer so most companies will not consider covering me at all. During the campaign I decided I wanted to blog about the cost of insurance so I did a little research. The only company that I was willing to find that would cover me at all had premiums that started at $1,400 per month, had a huge deductible and a 50% co-pay. Not going to happen in any way so I've got to make sure I have a job, no matter how crappy it may be, that has health benefits.

I've been lucky that I've been able to be covered by COBRA but come this August, if I can't find a job with coverage I'll be screwed. I'm on antidepressants and such so I know I can't get coverage privately.

My boyfriend has not been so lucky. He's been without insurance for 2 years. They picked the stupidest things to deny him for. And a few companies would cover him (for an astronomical fee) but wouldn't cover any preexisting conditions. He's had a problem with his wrist that prevents him from doing a lot of the things he wants to do. It is in constant pain. Seeing him go through this and not being able to do anything has made me so angry.

Whenever I see people complain about how public health insurance would be a bad thing I know they've never had to deal with the utter bullshit health insurance companies put people through. We're dealing with people's lives here. People should be punished for getting sick or injured. The US's health policy is "don't get sick," and it just doesn't work that way.

Ahh, the utter bullshittery that masquerades as health care in this country. My family of four has never been without health care insurance-until about 6 months ago when the economic shit hit the fan. Private insurance? LULZ.
My husband: denied (presumably due to seasonal asthma) our 16 y.o. otherwise-healthy-as-a-damned-horse: denied (he has asthma also, which has been completely controlled for years now with medication). Myself? HAHAHA! Deniedeniedenied! Take your pick as to why: I spent a few years on antidepressants, saw a therapist, gained a bit of weight. Blah blah blah. Basically, I'm a 40 year old woman.
However, they did send a lovely letter stating they would be 'happy' to insure our youngest, so that was sweet of them.
No, much better to deny coverage to people with mild/controllable issues so they can wait until a medical crisis brings them to the ER for untold thousands in what should have been avoided through cheaply preventable maintenance.
Pompous clown tools like Bosworth_Focke are not only deluding themselves, they are incredibly logic and mathematically impaired.
Newsflash, buddy-if you think your whiny ass is paying for the unwashed masses now? Juuuuust wait. The hundreds of thousands of people that are being denied health care/ are without jobs/being forced out of their homes? Not exactly a situation that is conducive to good health. Good luck with that in the present situation.

I just dont understand how they can do this. I dont. Not to mention the fact that if you just plain dont have any money you cant get health insurance but also if they think something is already wrong? I blame capitalism and I dont give a shit if people think thats wrong or not. Everything is a fucking profit in this country. It really frustrates me. I dont have health insurance and I just dont even want to try. Really. And I am going to graduate school soon and I have no idea how that works. It's ridiculous.

How is it "arbitrary" for an insurance company to take your medical history into consideration? Past treatments and conditions bear directly on your risk level, and provide likely indicators of how much covering you will cost the insurance company. Does the insurer not have the right, maybe even the obligation, to make this due diligence before entering into a business relationship with you?

So, I work with a non-profit that works with teenagers. Last week, we worked with a group of about 150 kids, 30ish of whom were cancer survivors, all under 18. One girl from the cancer survivors' group addressed the large group to explain why they were on program this week, why some of them use wheelchairs, etc.

She has a prosthetic leg; her left leg was amputated when she was 14 after 2 years of battling with a type of bone cancer. She's 17 now and cancer-free, and will be in college on her parents' insurance for the next 4 years. She spoke about how scared she is that no insurance company will accept her after that insurance runs out, given her history.

She's a brilliant, inspiring young person who will most likely be punished in the future through our "health care" system because she got cancer when she was 12.

Anyone who can know that there are people like that out there and still preach that ours is a good system is an idiot or a monster.

*(On a side note, if anyone living in NY State is looking to buy their own health insurance, and, you know, didn't get cancer when they were pubescent, Healthy New York is more affordable then other plans I've found. It basically covers regular doc visits and ER, so no frills, but it's $175/mo.)

I work in an industry that purposely keeps workers at part-time status to avoid having to pay for health benefits.

I was once denied coverage because, 15 years previously, I had an eating disorder.

I get the chills every time someone suggest outlawing discriminatory insurance practices. Do you have any idea what you're asking for?! The exact same rights that let an insurer deny you coverage for any reason or no reason at all is the same as that which let's you choose who you deal with in your own business decisions, such as deciding where to work. Or should Wal'Mart be able to draft people into it's workforce during the holiday season in the same way you're proposing to draft the owners of insurance companies into serving your medical desires?

Welcome to my world. For every GOP @$$hat that crows about "freedom", there couldn't be a brighter line for me between freedom to pursue one's career dreams and health care chains. I have a chronic disease that will require a transplant, so I couldn't leave my job for any reason - even the fact that the stress and long hours make it worse. At least I am one of the lucky ones. Covered and alive.

I am an Ecex with a non-profit. I have only ever worked for non-profits and have never been in a position where health insurance is offered. In Nov. I became pregnant with my 3rd child. My husband lost his job in Jan. His company was too small to be covered by Cobra. In the state of Ind. insurance carriers can extend converage to individuals who lose their jobs for up to 18 months (at a minimum of 102% of original plan). However, there is no mechanism in place to enforce this policy!!!!

Tyr to get health onsurance as a 40 year old pregnant woman! They laugh you out of their fucking office! Call your pro-life republican reps and see what they can do for you since you "chose life." You get a dumbass canned email thanking you for contacting them.

Yeah, the private market sucks...but count your stars if you are healthy...and pray you never ever get sick (unrealistic, I know, but it's what the insurance industry demands, lest they find a "reason" to retroactively revoke your insurance). I recommend watching the Frontline documentary Sick in America (u can view it online)...Talks mostly about the private market, especially people who are either ill or had some "pre-existing condition" (aka: a pimple back in 1989)...not to mention some other incredibly sad cases...juxtaposed with footage of insurance company C.E.O.s trying to justify all this shit.

I don't mean to "overshare" but, I wasn't so lucky myself after I lost my job because I needed an emergency surgery...despite me having worked there for years, my employer decided it was easier to to just fire me rather than let me take the paid medical leave that I had qualified for. So, yeah, 4 surgeries in 3 years later...3 years after loosing my job and insurance, I finally get approved for disability benefits. I was basically forced into disability because my insurance was pulled right from under me, immediately after I had surgery and needed critical follow up care. I couldn't afford the Cobra payments, but I also had to forgo much needed medicine that would have prevented further debilitation (obviously I couldn't get insurance in the private market).

So yeah, basically this country and the insurance industry is causing American's to get sicker and sicker. From their point of view, they would rather have you die or become permanently disabled (and let society pay the price in social security, medicare, emergency hospital bills for the uninsured and underinsured) than give you the "privilege" of health care...and not to mention the loss of productivity and contribution to society when someone losses their life or ability to work due to lack of insurance. It's a really f-ed up and cruel system. I don't mean to whine, but you could say that a lack of insurance is what caused my condition to worsen so much to the point of disability (and I'm only in my 20s). I'm just thankful the emergency room is required to take you if you are life-threateningly sick...otherwise I would be dead...but that's more than some of the people in that frontline documentary can say...I'm thankful to be alive. But it really torments me to know that these insurance companies are knowingly and deliberately letting people die or become permanently disabled in order to make a buck. Health care should not be a for profit industry. And the government? What can I say about the government...they just let all this happen and give the insurance industry whatever it wants...despite most American's being for a single payer system.

I have a friend who works as a nurse in an ER, and she says that the employees have regularly getting memos saying there are cutbacks being made at the hospital "due to the economy". I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly don't want to have an emergency, go the the ER, and not be able to be seen for a day because there aren't enough people on staff to take care of everything.

in a perfect world, shouldn't hospitals be unaffected by the "economy"? this profit-based society really kicks my ass sometimes...

sicko, anyone?

I haven't been insured since I was fourteen ten years ago, and before then I never went to the doctor, except when very young to get shots and such, because of the co-pay. Basically, I just hope for the best and sometimes end up paying a sh!tload out of pocket for antibiotics and a clinic visit because of a earache that kept me up for days making work at my minimum wage job (at the time)pretty difficult.

Anyway, I probably could have afforded insurance if I really wanted but..

A)would have had to given up all my disposable income and worked even more while going to school full-time if I could even have gotten the hours, all for something I have been doing without for most of my life, and

B)End up paying a whole lot more than those with insurance through their job (even if the job payed zero of the premium) because they are able to negotiate cheaper and better coverage due to large contracts and

C) Probably have any large legitimate claim denied to a bogus pre-existing condition or any other reason they can make up (work contracts usually cover pre-existing complications so denial of coverage doesn't happen as much). There have been large class action lawsuits for such shenanigans by insurance companies where what they pay in settlement is actually much less than what they made by denying legit claims. I read one news article where a woman was denied coverage after paying years on a private premium because she neglected to write she had had a irregular period for a short time a long time ago and the claim had nothing to do with her reproductive system.

Basically, I'll be happy if this admin can make it so someone buying insurance on their own has a fair chance to get a descent price (something comparable to what a business pays), are guaranteed coverage for all claims unless there can be concrete proof someone intentionally lied (and then refund all the premium they paid to get essentially no coverage minus any bit they actually used like doctors visits OR pay the claim with maybe some added cost to adjust for what the premium would have been were the application filled correctly), and that there is something for those with some medical history so they can get covered, and some help for those who truly can't afford it on their own.

Plus, the largest demographic of the uninsured are young and healthy so having mandatory insurance with the above stipulations would lower insurance costs for all, as well as decrease the burden on ERs.

"The bottom line is that we have no protections against the arbitrary and discriminatory policies of the health insurance companies."

Right on Miriam. This is an important point so many people seem to forget when they're defending our health care system. We are not protected. These for-profit corporations are not interested in caring for us - they are interested in maximizing profits. For-profit corporations are loyal to their shareholders, not American citizens. Also, many people who defend our system say that "socialized medicine" would be the ultimate government control. Actually, we are under control right now - under the insurance companies' control. They tell you who you can and cannot see, where you can and cannot go, and ultimately, if you receive any treatment at all.

The Massachusetts model (which was mentioned earlier in this thread) terrifies me. That will only make things worse for those who are struggling with health insurance costs and those who are uninsured.

I am uninsured because I can't afford it. My employer's health care is too expensive, so obviously a private plan is out of the question, and I don't qualify for any kind of public assistance as far as I know.

I just try to get by and pray I don't get sick. The last time I had no choice and went to the emergency room it lasted about four hours and I was billed over $900. I tried to seek public assistance and after finding out I didn't qualify for anything, I called the Billing department of the hospital and asked them if they could refer me anywhere that could help me with the bill and they replied, "We're not a charity. If you cannot find assistance elsewhere, you will need to pay your bill. We accept Visa, Mastercard..." Also, I overheard a nurse refer to me as a "customer" while in the emergency room.

Sorry for such a long comment, but this issue is so important and the single-payer model (every single other industrialized nation uses some form of this) is being often ignored and occasionally demonized right now. Even President Obama has shunned this model after Nov. 4, when he supported a single-payer health care system earlier in his campaign. Politics, fucking politics, and money, fucking money.

Thank you for sharing your story here, Miriam. Even though you have been lucky, writing about your experience is an important, personal critique of the way our system works. I think it's important from a feminist perspective as well - our broken system negatively affects millions of women's access to reproductive health care. Thank God for Planned Parenthood - it's the only type of health care I have right now.

I'm without health insurance at the moment, and have been since I lost my full-time job last year. I'm a grad student, but since I'm taking classes online instead of in a classroom (this is at the University of Illinois, and my degree, classes, teachers, etc. are exactly the same) and I don't pay on-campus fees, I'm not eligible for health insurance.

I tried to get insurance from BCBS of Illinois that I'd had between undergrad and my full time job. They would cover me, but somehow in one year my premium had doubled. In that year I had actually become more healthy than I was before.

They also said I wouldn't be covered for anything gynecological related except pap smears/basic exam because one of my doctors had used "menstrual pain" as a reason for a visit in the past. Now, I don't know about most of you ladies, but every once in a while I get cramps. I have mentioned it to my doctor when asked about pain, but with the qualifier "just normal cramps." So now the insurance company thinks that's a sign of future uterine difficulties and refuses to cover me for things like cervical cancer. Great.

In the end, I haven't been able to find coverage that I can afford that will cover me for the important things: cancer, major deadly diseases, bad accidents, long-term hospitalization. That's what I need health insurance for. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available.

As of July I'll be covered under my parents' insurance again, until I turn 26 in October. Hopefully I'll have a full time job by then that gives me some coverage, because otherwise I'm back on the list of the uninsured.

I went back to school at 22, and chose the field for two reasons: I liked it, and I knew I would, with a little luck, be able to get a job that would provide me with health insurance. I can only be on my parents' plan until I'm 25 (it's a very good plan- I'm very blessed), and I needed it for my epilepsy medication (despite being seizure-free for over five years).

Midway into the year-long program, I was struck by a car. Among other things, I broke my leg, and am still having issues with mobility over seven months later; I will, later on in life, develop osteoarthritis in my knee. I'm 23- even if that takes 20 years to happen, I'll still be at an age where I need to be working.

The field I was going into- the one I have training in?

Carpentry.

Ha.

So, now I can't work in the field I went to trade school for and have gone from almost certainly uninsurable to completely and utterly uninsurable.

Go me.

It seems like everyone has their own version of a healthcare horror story. It's depressing, but I should say that it's heartening to think that for the first time in a long time, we have a chance to get some major healthcare reform in this country.

I work with an alliance of youth groups working on the healthcare issue, and we're looking for stories of young people affected by the healthcare crisis. All the comments on this post are JUST what we're looking for!

Check out our site to learn how to personalize your story and get it placed as an op-ed in local media to change public opinion:

http://fundingourfuture.campusprogress.org/2009/04/fed-up-with-our-pain-in-the-a-health-care-system-we-want-to-hear-from-you/

Health Reform is a hot debate in this country right now, and both Houses of Congress are in the process of drafting legislation for it as we speak.

Register at www.speaknowforkids.org and make sure kids aren't left out of the mix!