Just who the HELL do I think I am...? (kinda sorta rant)

[Systematic Chaos]

Actually DARING to get sick while I'm one of the millions of uninsured in this supposedly great nation of ours? Here's the deal:

Back in early March, just when I had started my new job as a tech support agent (working in the same facility as my wife Jeanette which is really sweet), the two of us ended up catching a fairly nasty cold. Jeanette got over hers first, but for a couple of weeks she had a really bad cough. It was bad enough that after riding the half mile on our bikes from our work site to catch the bus, she would be coughing hard enough from the exertion to almost puke, and it didn't matter how slowly we took it. The good news is that her cough went away.

Mine has not. It's been two months now since I first became sick, and when I'm at work I have to constantly put myself on mute with customers without warning lest I hack a lung right into their ear. I've been taking the generic equivalent of Robitussin DM (the strongest thing you can get without a perscription just about), and loads of headache medicine because ther are times when I feel like my head is going to pop. It finally got bad enough on Wednesday that I asked to leave work early. Fortunately, the company has just trained a bunch of new people so the call queues are very slow and they are more than happy to give out long lunches and early outs. I explained that due to the fact that I have no insurance yet (and Jeanette couldn't afford it when we were on one income because for the two of us it would have cost nearly $200 EVERY TWO WEEKS to cover us both), I would have to stay out until at least Friday (payday) before I could see a doctor. I don't even care about the missed wages because my health means a lot more to me.

So... Friday evening I met Jeanette at a nearby casino to cash our checks. I'm a very good blackjack card counter, but the four or five times I've played since meeting Jeanette in 2002 I have pretty much had the worst luck imaginable. Something told me that I would have a better go of it this time if I played for a bit, so I sat the two of us down on an empty $10 table, each of us with a $100 bill, to see if we could get anywhere on a 10-unit buy-in. Things went smashingly, and after only 40 minutes or so we walked away with $350 in profit and that more than made up for my lost wages and it allows us a bit more of a cushion for tomorrow's doctor visit. I say tomorrow because we rode our bikes quite a distance to a quick care center that I thought was open 24 hours. Turns out it had already been closed for 3 hours when we got there.

I remember back a number of years ago, when a visit to a UMC (University Medical Center) quick care center was only $75 and you were covered for everything except for any special lab work or x-rays. NOW, these same people want $95 and apparently there is additional billing for damn near everything they do. I called another place that's just up the street from me and they want $150 JUST to see a damn doctor for 15 minutes, just so they can write out some slips of paper that you turn in at a pharmacy to spend yet ANOTHER $100 or more on common medications. Gee, do you suppose it's even remotely possible that we need universal health care coverage for each and every American citizen? It isn't like I'm just trying to sponge and get a free ride. :eyes:

So, I know I'm going to be okay, and all-in-all it's been a pretty nice weekend, but I needed to vent about our lovely national disgrace, that putrescing clusterfuck that I refer to anymore as American McMedicine, with maximum vitriol. At least starting on June 1 I will be eligible for our company's insurance at much cheaper prices, and Jeanette can jump on board when open enrollment starts. But why, oh why, couldn't I have caught a cold a little bit later in the year? Ugh.

[lavenderdiva]

1. Purell....

use Purell. Hand Sanitizer. It cleans your hands as clean as a surgeon's after they scrub for surgery. I used to work for the nation's largest sanitary maintenance distributor. I used to have to train all our CSR's on what did what. Purell is one of the best things you can use to avoid colds. Also keep Clorox wipes around. Wipe down the handle on your grocery cart. Wipe down your phone and computer keyboard. Wipe off your headset. Stuff like that. Places where lots of people touch, cough, or breathe, and might spread their germs.

I am so sorry you and Jeanette have been under the weather and without insurance. I can commiserate with you both, as my husband and I haven't had insurance for many, many years. We can't go to the doctor unless we have a heart attack or something. No preventative care. Its just too damn expensive. I have high blood pressure, and I needed a renewed prescription recently for it. I called my internist to renew it, and he wouldn't call a new Rx in, unless I came in to see him. So okay, we were going to bite the bullet; I needed the Rx. This was back in February. When can you see me Doctor? JUNE!!!!! F---ing JUNE! That was his first available appointment, to me. Now, my mother-in-law goes to him all the time, has excellent insurance, and she can e-mail him, and get in to see him that same week! Hmmmm. This is the woman, to whom I have preached the need for Universal Healthcare for ages, and who adamantly disagrees, as she WILL HAVE TO WAIT TOO LONG FOR AN APPOINTMENT! Now, we don't have Universal Healthcare already, and I don't have insurance now, and I have to wait 4 months for a Doctor's appointment? What is wrong with this picture? Needless to say, she and her husband are both Repubs, voted for *, and STILL think he's doing a marvelous job!!!!

Anyway, I well understand your situation, and am thankful to hear that soon you and Jeanette will both have insurance, and not be faced with this predicament again. Get well soon--

[auntAgonist]

2. hey GG

I sure hope you get to feeling better soon. I'm so glad you'll be eligible for health benefits too! Colds are no fun at all especially when they hang on forever :(

Sending good wishes your way!

:hug: for you and Jeanette


:loveya:

aA

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Update

Turns out that the $150 I was quoted from the place closer to home was only $75 anyway. They made me pay $100 at the entrance and then when I saw the receptionist on the way out to sign my final papers they refunded me $25. They were actually better than our UMC as far as their rates went. Also, my perscriptions were pretty low, considering, at just over $60. I'm to remain out of work until Thursday while this antibiotic does its "thing", and then hopefully by then I'll be able to diagnose a problem with a keyboard without having to stop 20 times to hack into the muted phone. :)

[lavenderdiva]

4. thanks for the update GG

glad to hear that the office visit was less than you anticipated, and that you are on the way to recovery, getting rid of that hacking cough! Take good care of yourself-- :hi:

[auntAgonist]

5. a positive outcome for sure!

I'm glad it didn't cost as much as you thought it would and I hope the antibiotics do their thing and get you on the road to betterdom!

:hug:

feel better my friend.

aA