Posted by ClearSkies on December 4, 2007, at 8:12:10
A slightly adjusted perspective on my personal health care crisis with the denial of prescription coverage, psychiatric and headache care denied as well. I have now joined the ranks of a growing percentage of the population living in the US whose healthcare has been threatened by circumstance.
My stance is no longer to feel panicked by this change in fortune, but to accept it as a change in my fortune. Perhaps I will be able to secure part time employment in the future and get this coverage back. Perhaps I will have to put money aside and pay for these necessary expenses out of pocket. I can certainly explore more cost efficient ways of buying my prescription drugs - via mail services, or through secure international pharmacies with my doctors' prescriptions. I can approach my doctors and ask if there are less expensive drug therapies that will work as well for my various health conditions. I will explore these possibilities.
I have had to change my approach to this problem from feeling like a victim to feeling like this is my new reality, because that is what it is: any alternative insurers we try to get coverage from is likely to make the same exclusions and denials or coverage that the original insurer did, because the companies share information with each other (so I'm told). So, it's fruitless to try to hide my medical history information since I've already given it once.
It's possible that we'll find another insurer who will have a waiting period for these lapses of coverage - sometimes periods of several years - in which case we'll have to suck up and pay those expenses out of pocket in the meantime until the periods expire. We'll have to see what happens. In any case, I've had to take my mind (and body) out of this siege state of total panic, because I wasn't able to function, worrying about the insecurity of my situation. The fact is, I'm now just like thousands of other people now. People with comfortable living circumstances who cannot, for any amount of money, get the medical insurance coverage that they need.
The state that I live in did NOT pass parity legislation for mental health this year - there weren't enough votes. I am not eligible for any state or federal assistance programs due to my spouse's wages. I also don't qualify for assistance from any of the pharmaceutical companies for the same reason. I don't yet know if I'm constitutionally able to work in a part time capacity, but I'll address that at a later time, and if I do so, I'll also get coverage for my spouse at that time. I don't think that fear is a good motivation for seeking employment, and I think that any potential employer will be able to smell it a mile away, wafting off of me.
But at least I'm in acceptance of the situation, and I have a comprehensive understanding of it. I feel better having that knowledge. My spouse is also reassured that he couldn't have done anything different - this outcome was inevitable, according to everything I've read and the people I've spoken with.
CS
poster:ClearSkies
thread:798694
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071204/msgs/798694.html