It really is hell to think that something is wrong w/ you, but you can't go to a doctor to check

[LeftyAndProud60]

To get a cough and not know why. Little things like that. And all you want is a doctor to check you out. It really sux not having health insurance. And waiting 12hrs in the ER at the country hospital is almost worse than not know what's wrong with you. In a country that suppose to be so great, you would think HCR is something both parties could come together and fix. It's jsut sickening to know HCR is probably done for another 10-20yrs.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. I agree...

But I still see the same doctor that I saw before I lost my insurance. They give a discount if you pay cash. Obviously, it's not ideal, but I was really sick a couple of weeks ago, couldn't breathe, so I called and they told me to come right in. I've been very fortunate.

[jotsy]

2. Yes it is! And it better not be.

My stomach went really wacky last spring, I believe it was something of an intestinal infection. I remember searching for info online trying to diagnose for myself if I really needed a doctor, or if it was something that would work itself out. Still not back to the way I was, but have symptoms under control as long as I don't eat like a teenager. My big question when it first came up was 'did something go wrong, or is this just a new state of my being. My answer seems to be the latter, but I would sure like to know from an expert why.

Universal, single payer health care, IMO is a constitutional obligation. I don't believe the pursuit of profit should be applied to the practice of medicine.

edited b/c I'm tired and making too many boo boos.

[ChicagoSuz219]

4. If it was really painful, like appendicitis...

...it may have been diverticulosis. Google it. Feel better.

[ChicagoSuz219]

3. I didn't have insurance for 5 years...

...due to a pre-existing condition. My health went downhill & I couldn't afford doctors/hospitals. It was very scary.

I eventually wound up on disability and now have Medicare. I fight for the 47 million people who don't have insurance, including my daughter.

I don't understand the mindset of people who can't just be grateful that they have insurance & not want the same for others. I've been there. I get it.

Rwanda donated money to Haiti. They get it, too.

[FedUpWithIt All]

5. Welcome to DU

It really is hell.

Hope you feel better.

:hi:

[JoeyT]

6. Agreed

I've been postponing going to the doctor because I wanted to wait and see if a pre-existing condition was going to lock me into poverty when it was combined with a mandate. Still waiting. Still not sure.

[kudzu22]

22. I think not

Obviously don't know what the final bill, if any, will look like. The ones I read prevented insurers from rating up people with preexisting conditions, or at least capped it. Besides, even if there is a mandate, it would be cheaper to pay the fine than the premium.

[dkf]

7. Is it really impossible to find a doctor who will take you without insurance?

Or do you not have the funds?

[LeftyAndProud60]

8. I went to a private hospital a couple yrs ago and got a bill for 3000bucks for blood work.

I went to the county hospital a couple of yrs ago and waited about 10hrs and still didn't see a doctor. Apparently I have high blood pressure. So it's money and time basically. I remember when I was on my parents plan and it was great. Go in and come out. I miss those days.


Medicare turned me down becuz I wasn't disabled and made a lil too much money.

[LeftyAndProud60]

10. And I got a bill from the country hospital as well, even though I didn't see a doc. NT

[dkf]

18. Isn't a huge part of the problem that there is no transparency by doctors?

My normal cost for a doctor is 150. Blood work is less than 100. That is the charge before the insurance co gets involved.

Sounds like you simply got ripped off.

Bottom line is that providers can charge whatever they want to if everyone doesn't ask and simply pays whatever they decide to charge. There is no other industry I can think of that operates this way.

[eridani]

9. And if you can't afford the co-pay, shitty catastrophic insurance won't help you here n/t

[Juche]

11. If you go, its a pre-existing condition

That sucks too. If you go to a doctor that means an insurance company can consider whatever is found a pre-existing condition, or if you do get insurance and try to use it they can find a way to use that event to rescind your coverage.

[Vinca]

12. One day last week I suddenly had an excruciating back pain.

I could barely walk. It came on suddenly and I didn't know what to think. Since I have a bum hip, I assumed the entire pelvic girdle had gone out of whack and that I was in deep doodoo. Since we're uninsured, I decided to try to get through the night and see what happens. I was as close as I've ever been to asking my husband to drag me to the ER and I've never in my 60 years gone there for anything. So I went to bed and put heat on the back and dragged out a medical book I have. In the morning, when the pain suddenly and dramatically went away and I began to improve, I had my diagnosis: a kidney stone. What fun it is to play doctor. I'm fine now, by the way.

[DailyGrind51]

13. I know the feeling!

I was uninsured for about 12 months, with a history of cancer, until I received a job with great group insurance.

[shadowknows69]

14. Just as bad, being able to barely afford a primary care Dr.

Then having them find things wrong, but you aren't able to get any further tests or procedures because you have no insurance. You also pay more for your visits and meds to punish you for using your own cash.

[logosoco]

15. I've been in this boat for over 2 years

I injured my shoulder working at a day care (lifting a toddler). Figured it would go away, as other injuries always did! This was Sept. 2007. By Febuary I could no longer do my job. Right now, I am having a hard time doing just everyday things. I went to a clinic and saw a nurse. They gave me a cortisone shot. Then they had me get an xray and said it was just arthritis.
Since I am unable to work, I cannot afford to see a real doctor and I probably need an MRI. Even if I could pay that, I wouldn't be able to afford the treatment. I applied for disability out of desperation. It's hard to get a judgement of disability with no medical records.
My husband is floating the whole boat now (which was a little leaky even when I had a job!).
Now when other health issues come up, I just hope I can find something at Walgreens to help me out.
If we had a health care system, I could get fixed up (I hope! this shoulder thing has gotten a lot worse in all this time, hurts all the way down my arm now!) and go back to being a working person who pays taxes! I wish they would see that as a good investment.
Sorry for the long story. But I hear where you are coming from.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

16. Why isn't treatment for your shoulder injury

covered under Workers Comp ? You said it happened at work.......

[logosoco]

23. I learned the hard way here....

you have to report the injury w/in 3 days. I thought this would go away as other on the job injuries did. Now whenever my husband or kids or future son-in-law gets hurt at work, I nag them to make a report.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

33. Experience is the best teacher

This was a tough lesson for you to have to learn. Best of luck to you !

[JAbuchan08]

17. Hell I HAVE health insurance, and I'm afraid to go to the doctor

because if there IS something wrong with me, I can't afford the treatment. Meanwhile a little get's taken out of my check every week...

[iceman66]

19. It is not much better if you HAVE insurance.

Between deductibles, co-pays, general bureaucratic red tape and the fact that insurers these days will look for ANY excuse to deny a claim, lots of people with 'good' insurance are reluctant to go to the doctor.

This is why we need 'national health care', not 'health insurance reform'!

[glowing]

20. Exactly, which is why 75% of the country think a Medicare-for-All soln would

be the best thing considered. Even Pukes think its an ok idea for the most part (the one's who are human still)... most people in this country have been negatively effected or know someone who has been negatively effected by the lack of any health care system. What we have now is ludicrous.. its not really a system... which is why there is such a discrepency in price and care from one place to the next.

[gkhouston]

21. I personally know people who have insurance but can't afford the co-pays.

They live with the worry.

[iceman66]

24. Even when you think you can afford them,

you're liable to find out after the fact that some particular doctor or service was 'out of network' and ends up costing a lot more than you thought.

There are about a million ways to get screwed under the current system, whether you have insurance or not, but I guess all those GOP voters must be OK with them.

[Hugabear]

25. Imagine having chest pains - is it merely chest wall strain, or a possible heart attack?

Do you go to the ER, and rack up thousands of dollars in bills, put your family deep in debt, only to be told that it's nothing more serious than a basic chest wall strain?

[The Midway Rebel]

26. No need to imagine that scenario here!

Serious as the proverbial heart attack!

Welcome to the waiting to die wing of the Democratic Party!

[Hugabear]

27. And it really is a double-edged sword - fucked if you do, fucked if you don't

If you go to the doctor, and it turns out that you really DO have something wrong with you - well guess what, you've just created a nice little PRE-EXISTING CONDITION. Good luck getting any health insurance once they know you have problems with your heart!

[Taitertots]

28. I know someone who super glued half their ear back together

After it got ripped off when he slipped and it caught a jagged edge on his car.

I carried my friend to the clinic with a broken ankle that he walked on for a week, because he couldn't afford health care and just hoped it would get better on it's own.

I've had to decide if my friend dying of alcohol poisoning was sick enough to have to be dropped off at the hospital, which he couldn't afford.

[scorpiogirl]

30. My daughter got a cut on her head.

We took her to the ER and they saw her for 10 minutes and put one staple in her scalp. No insurance, got a bill from the hospital for $1,200 and then the doctor for $400. Sad part was, two weeks later, we took her to her ped to have the staple removed (she snuck in us so there would be no charge), she said we could've super-glued her scalp back together instead of going to the ER. I can see a huge surge in DIY medical practices in this day and age.

[Taitertots]

32. It is 2010 and Americans have to be mob doctors

Or pay $1,600 for one staple you didn't even need.

They probably do the stapling intentionally to maximize profits when they know other cheaper methods work just as good.

[quinnox]

29. I know

I've been in the same boat, but you really should go to the doctor or get insurance and have it checked out. If it is something serious its better to catch it early. Just go to the doctor in the emergency room if you have to, its better to be safe. If they charge you and you can't pay they just write it off anyway.

[scorpiogirl]

31. I have that same feeling every day.

I'm healthy now (that I know of), but I worry that something will come up to disqualify me from getting insurance at some point. My husband isn't insured either and he has high blood pressure and ADD. His doctor makes him come in every three months to monitor his blood pressure at $75 per appointment before he'll give him refills on his medication. He has given us some breaks, but it's a hell of a decision to have to make when you're barely hanging on.

[asdjrocky]

34. I hear you.

One of the worse things is seeing an ad on TV for a pharmaceutical that you know will take care of a symptom you know you have... and yet you know there is no way to get the pill.

Welcome to America.