My husband got rejected today

[a la izquierda]

I'll start by saying that I feel very, very badly for anyone that doesn't have health insurance. I do know how that feels. I don't want to rub it in anyone's face, but I do want to vent a little.
So, in Oklahoma, believe it or not, we have state subsidized health insurance for those people who make below a certain, mandated, amount of money. Last year, my husband qualified for it, based upon his, and my income. Even though I have my own insurance, both of our incomes are calculated into the equation.

Anyway, fast-forward to this year. My husband is an unknown "dog whisperer." He's no Cesar Millan, in that he doesn't believe that what he does is special. He works at a dog daycare facility, but has a reputation as being one of the best dog people in the area. He has many, many clients who wouldn't bring their dogs to the facility if he didn't work there. That doesn't matter, because he doesn't have employer sponsered insurance; his boss won't spring for it, even though the state pays a portion of it. So, last year, he applied for the Oklahoma insurance. We qualified. It's good for a year, and it's good for the basics. But you must re-apply each year. I did his re-application this year, and lo and behold, we were denied because we made too much money. My husband got a $.50 raise in January (because he'd have quit otherwise). This is what caused us to make too much money. We make about $34K per year-I'm a grad student. I make just above poverty wages, and I only get paid 9 months of the year. Again, I realize I'm very lucky...this is just my situation. Please don't vilify me for it. I grew up desperately poor, so I sure as shit know what it's like to be worse off.

My husband, as of April 1, will have no health insurance. He is 36. Adult onset Diabetes is hereditary in his family, but luckily, he's in phenomenal shape. Strokes are also prevalent (his brother had one at 38). He's a mountain/road biker. I will not let him ride until he gets new insurance...which may not be until I graduate and get a job or he changes jobs.

Fuck the Democrats and Republicans who have stalled, stymied, blocked and lied. I would give up my US citizenship, unapologetically, to assure that the love of my life has insurance.

[Gman]

1. It's aggraving, but he needs to give back the raise

the raise wasn't worth near what he lost.

[a la izquierda]

4. How sad is that?

I was thinking that today. We don't need the raise. We need the insurance.
He's applied for jobs at other places...we'll wait and see. We're extremely fortunate in that we've got lots of contacts in the university. I'm a grad student...but we've got lots of well-placed friends.

What the fuck is wrong with this country? When can I get citizenship in a country that gives a fuck about its citizens?

[stopbush]

47. I think you're right that he needs to get a new job.

I wouldn't give back that raise. Put the energy into finding a new job instead.

BTW - there's a lot that's wrong with this country, but the fact that you're able to go to grad school is one of the things that's great about this country, and something that puts you in the fortunate category, considering how many people don't even get to go to college these days. Many people in your situation would quit grad school and look for a job that their undergrad degree would qualify them to land, just to earn money or get health care. You should stay in grad school - you won't be there forever, and that degree will pay big dividends for both of you down the road. I'd toss the health care challenge into your husband's court until you graduate, and I think that means moving forward on his finding a job with benefits, even if it's a full-time job that's out of his current field. Again, it would solve an immediate problem with a temporary solution.

[glowing]

2. Yep, me too.. I would totally give up this country for sanity and rational thought and

guaranteed health care.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. How wrong is their decision!

Unbelievable.

You are a courageous loving wife!

I salute you.

K&R

:hug:

[a la izquierda]

5. Thank you

It's tough. This man has given up much for me. I'm doing what I can to get him a job in the university...any job...so he can have a decent wage, plus good benefits. Too bad I'll move him again in a year.
:)
Thanks for the hugs. I've had a really rough day. His own, REPUKE FAMILY, doesn't give a crap about this. His sister-in-law said that since I chose the career I did, I deserve the life we have (which, incidentally, is a good life). She's an anti-intellectual, Beck-loving, knuckle-dragging buffoon.

[roguevalley]

6. I hug you, honey. Take two hour walks everyday if you can. I lost

75 pounds and my diabetes doing that. And know you are loved.

[a la izquierda]

7. thanks...

you made me cry :hug:

[Hello_Kitty]

15. I've been taking long walks lately.

I've been unemployed for months now after being briefly employed last year. Nearly 2 years of being out of work has caused me to give up luxuries like the gym membership. So I put on the ipod, or sometimes I don't if I want to take in the ambient noise, and walk around the the circumference of a nearby park. I haven't been doing it long enough to lose weight but it feels great and I look forward to it every day.

[Dappleganger]

8. I am so sorry.

:hug:

[Greyhound]

9. Wouldn't actual healthcare be better than insurance? n/t

[Bette Noir]

17. Yes, but her husband needs insurance now, not in the mythical future.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

10. Could you guys afford $815/yr apiece to purchase an insurance policy?

Let's see what this senate bill does for, eh?
Assuming you both make a combined $34k/yr lets split that amount in half and enter it into the calculator as "single at a $17k/yr salary".
The cap% would be 4.8% and you would pay up to $815/yr apiece for insurance.

So, could you and your husband afford $1600+ per year for insurance? That's about $136/mo.
Well, guess what? ... it doesn't matter if you can afford it because theres a mandate.

[sandnsea]

11. Ours was that much last year

And on income less than the OP's, I was delighted to pay it. It sure beat $1,000 a month in medication, plus all the doctor bills that went along with that.

[Schema Thing]

13. lol, if you're trying to make the Senate bill look bad, you're failing.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[4lbs]

27. Hmm...

My health insurance that now covers only 70% of my costs and has a $2000 deductible, costs me $400 monthly. That's $4,800 per year. This is a 25% premium increase from last year.

Under the Senate plan, coverage will cost me about $250 monthly (based on my $60K annual salary) or about $2900 per year.

That's less than I was paying even before the premium increase.

So, my insurance costs will decrease 37% and I'll get better coverage.

I'll take it.

[a la izquierda]

29. We actually do make just under $34K...for now...

we could afford the mandated costs, but only if we moved to a smaller place (we already live in a tiny house that we rent for very cheap and sold both of our cars (our car insurance is $70/month). We've already given up cable and other luxuries. I'd rather do that than have my husband get some illness and die.
ETA: I don't know what's going to happen when I get (IF I get, I mean) a real job). Then I have $100K of students loans to pay back too.

[Walk away]

12. Maybe he can drop a few hours every week and use the time to...

do a few dog walks on his own. He should be able to find a client easily. That way his pay check will go down and he can get his insurance back. He can also get his own business started.

I am a long time local DW too. When I was walking 15 dogs a day and some weekend work I made $75,000 a year and still had time for volunteer work at the shelter.

You never know, soon he may have plenty of money for an accountant, taxes and health insurance. There is a great dog service in my area called "Gotta Go Out" Instead of day care they create packs with latch key dogs and run them through dog friendly parks and dog parks all day. These three young guys are the business and they are super fit. I think they charge $50 per dog per day and they take out five or six dogs at a time. Everybody is happy, they've been doing it for about six or seven years.

I don't think we can depend on our representatives to what we want them to.

[mnhtnbb]

25. $50/dog/day! Yikes! Doubt he can charge NJ prices in OK!

[Walk away]

34. Maybe not but at even half that it's a pretty good paycheck...

People who work all day and have to leave their dog inside love these guys. I had a lot of clients who I walked four days a week and then in the middle of the week they went for an all day run with their "pack". They were the most mentally healthy latch key dogs ever. A Wednesday run got them to the weekend in great mental and physical shape.

I think they have a website...I'm going to look for it for you. If your husband has a weekday off and you live in an area where folks commute to work it's worth a look. It's doesn't cost anything to start...you only need one client. It's not for everyone but if you have serious experience with dogs and you know how to set up a pack and be a pack leader, it's a great day.

[Walk away]

35. Maybe not but at even half that it's a pretty good paycheck...

People who work all day and have to leave their dog inside love these guys. I had a lot of clients who I walked four days a week and then in the middle of the week they went for an all day run with their "pack". They were the most mentally healthy latch key dogs ever. A Wednesday run got them to the weekend in great mental and physical shape.

I think they have a website...I'm going to look for it for you. If your husband has a weekday off and you live in an area where folks commute to work it's worth a look. It's doesn't cost anything to start...you only need one client. It's not for everyone but if you have serious experience with dogs and you know how to set up a pack and be a pack leader, it's a great day.

[Walk away]

40. It's called wanna go out...here is the link.

<http://www.wannagoout.net/index.php>

This is the perfect business for a real dog person who wants to start something up with almost no overhead. You can begin with one dog and one day. If you are ever interested then you can contact me and I'll give you info on insurance etc. as I have my own dog service. I cater to small dogs and do day care, training and socialization. There are a trillion little dogs around here but you are in big dog country.

[ashling]

14. My wife and I went to grad school together

I am 56 and my wife is 49. We went back to school together. We were both graduate assistants and had health insurance under separate plans. She graduated last year and, since I had not graduated yet, she switched to my plan . . . we paid her part out of pocket, but that was OK. She adjuncts at 3 different colleges & so has no insurance.

I graduated in December and termed out, so now we are on COBRA.

I am finding it hard to find any positions due to my eyesight. While I was in grad school I had some retina issues and underwent 6 or seven surgeries (some were laser), but the insurance ws pretty good and we managed.

Now I have preexisting conditions out the wazoo (also had neck surgery, heart issues, et al.)

[Master Yoda]

16. This is terrible, and your defiantly not alone.

It boggles my mind how we can spend more money on our military than every other country combined, and still not provide health care for our citizens. Something is grotesquely wrong here, the control that profit has over this nation is disgusting. We need single payer, no question.

[lildreamer316]

18. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[renate]

37. welcome to DU!

:hi:

[gleaner]

20. We are not here to vilify you.....

You have all my sympathy and concern for you and your husband. My husband of 56 years nearly died two years ago of MRSA and his body was so badly damaged he will never be completely well again. I understand the fear of that loss very well, and I can see how much pain this is causing you.

If it helps, you are in my heart and have all my good thoughts and good wishes. If there is anything I can do for you or you need to just vent, please feel free to do it. I'm a stranger to you, but I still care very much what happens to the both of you and I have had for so long so much repulsion for those fools in the White House and those who blindly support them and further their aims that I can't help but wish the people responsible for this mess a quick sit on a sharp corn cob. Take care of yourself and your husband.

[a la izquierda]

30. Thanks

:)
I'm going on a long bike ride today and he's going to mountain bike with his buddies...while I still let him. Then I think we'll use one of our Christmas gift certificates and go out to a peaceful dinner. I couldn't sleep all night I'm so stressed, and this in the middle of trying to finish my dissertation.
I've never felt so much disgust toward these stalling, idiot, good-for-nothing politicians in my whole life (I'm only 32, but still).

[gleaner]

52. You're welcome ...

Even if you are only 32 remember that living through the last nine years has been like enduring three lifetimes of abuse. You're entitled to the way you feel. A night out sounds like a good way to wind down and some exercise and relaxation will help you sleep and bore into your dissertation so that the two of you can get to the good life I am sure awaits you on the other side of this mess. Again, take care.:fistbump:

[Vinca]

23. New Hampshire recently introduced a state-sponsored,

"affordable" plan for the self-employed and small businesses. As soon as I got wind of it I was in touch with an agent. The cost for my husband and I, who are both self-employed, was quoted at $1,600 A MONTH with the usual deductibles and co-pays. Unless we were self-employed as gold miners, there is no way in hell to afford prices like that. It's really nuts. Average working people are getting so screwed in this country and the majority of people in Washington (making their $174,000 a year with bennies)couldn't care less.

[midnight]

24. Our elected officials have no problem allowing us to subsidise there health care, they just don't'

want us to have that same option.

[northernlights]

26. insurance is not all it's cracked up to be

A young woman where I work has a rare blood disease requiring periodic cleaning of excess iron from her blood for the rest of her life. Before she came to work here, she worked at a small bagel shop, where she was quite well paid, considering the job and our location, but had no health insurance. Maine paid all her health care expenses. Then she was offered a job where we work, with a cut in pay but where employer-sponsored health insurance was an option. So she took the new job, thinking she'd be better off. She now is far worse off than she used to be, both financially and care-wise.


At one company where I worked, I listened every day -- ALL DAY, EVERY DAY FOR A YEAR -- while the person in the next cubicle fought with the health insurance company to pay for his wife's diabetes treatment. I honestly had no clue when this guy actually found time to do his job.


30 years ago I had no health insurance. I took risks; I paid for everything out of pocket. Like ALL families, mine has its own genetic risks. Then I thankfully got a "good" job with health insurance...Harvard Health, the "best" in the area. I got seriously ill. I lost >20% of my body weight, had blurred vision, serious insomnia, a recurring golf-ball sized lump under my arm, and more. The doctor, who was rewarded for not doing tests, told me it was all in my head and told me to buy sleeping pills! The best health insurance offered in Massacusetts basically told me to go eat shit and die. I ended up paying for my care out of pocket -- paying for it twice, actually.

Don't think health insurance will help you, because it will not. Don't think the government will "make" the health insurance companies honor their end of the contracts, because they will not.

It's a scam. The whole thing is a fucking scam.

[Flatulo]

28. It took me 5 years to get an MRI for crippling back pain.

I literally could not walk or sit up. They sent me to physical therapy, but I was in searing agony and could not even drive to the facility.

I finally paid for the MRI myself. When I finally got the results, they told me that a lumbar disk was ruptured, and paper thin. There is no treatment short of spinal fusion, which they will not pay for. It's cheaper to put me on pain meds and anti-inflammatories.

Fuck health insurance. My doctor is a good guy, but his hands are tied by the HMO.

[axollot]

46. You dont want that surgery hun - I'm in the exact same position -

I've had chronic pain for 10yrs, Fibromyalgia and neck problems. A car accident paid for my 1st MRI 8yrs ago that showed some disk deterioration.
Fast forward to now.
Needed to update my records for the pain management that I go to, he helped me make sure I received SSDI (just received) because we knew I was beyond being able to work. He fought my insurance to allow me to get an updated MRI for my neck with NO LUCK!! My mother paid for it 2 weeks after my approval for SSDI. (Doc negotiated for me to get 1 @ $275.00)

The results are that they all ruptured and would require fusing from c-4 through c7! And my lower lumbar is in constant pain....cant get the MRI, insurance (Florida Medicaid) keeps saying no. Rinse repeat.

I've never met a single person happy with the fusion surgery tho. There are some new techniques, much less invasive - that should get a little cheaper over time that has me interested. For now, I do a lot of stretching for lower back and have a machine for mild traction that I do on my neck - that helps the headaches a LOT. And copious amounts of opiates. They do not make me a zombie thankfully. In fact, maybe because it eases my pain I have more energy. Still working full or part time isnt an option for me. Took me 3 years to get approval for disability they denied me over and over until it went to trial.

Now trying to navigate the water of Medicare is actually a little harder than Medicaid! :banghead:

Cheers & good luck
:hug:
Sandy

[wolfgangmo]

57. Fusion is old school.

There are new devices (articulated disk replacements) that are FDA approved (and that have been in use and studied in the EU for about 20 years so the literature and research behind them is solid) that do not fuse the spine but still allow it to bend. The problem with spinal fusion is that it transfers the stress to the adjacent joints thus causing them to deteriorate faster than they would have normally, ie.e they wear out.

Ask you doc and if s/he hasn't heard of them then get a new doc.

[axollot]

62. I've heard of them. Was talking to a poster that said they needed

this surgery. It was one of the procedures I was referring to in my post that had me interested in getting done once it was done more in the US and could get my insurance to pay for it.

Thank you tho!!
Cheers
Sandy

[wolfgangmo]

56. I own a medical clinic and you are so right.

I get to watch insurance companies screw over patients every hour of every day. They don't even come close to honoring their contracts. They don't even try. What they do is break them constantly and then sit back and wait to see which sick patient has enough energy, time, or help to fight them.

If anyone here honestly thinks that mandated insurance with a few regulations that have no (complience and regulatory) teeth is going to make them stop breaking the law with impunity, you really need to see a doctor.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

31. This country will never admit that another country might just have a better idea.

Say.... something like Universal Health Care that civilized countries have.

That aside, I just wanted to comment on your husbands' cycling. He's facing a double edged sword with no insurance and a poor family history of health concerns.

I have seen both sides of the sword. I was struck by a car 12 years ago which has left me with a lot of neurological and muscular problems.
However, I also have a horrid family history of early onset heart disease and diabetes. I continued to cycle after the accident because I knew that it was one of the best defenses against heart disease that I had. I still managed to have two MI's, but I probably never would have survived them without the cycling according to the Cardiologists that I have seen. Both MI's came after extended periods of little or no cycling brought about by physical or emotional problems which made it too difficult to cycle regularly. It's a hard decision to make with the factors facing the two of you, but please make sure that your husband does something to take the place of the cycling or else continues to ride if it's something that he feels safe doing.

I don't mean to stick my nose in where it doesn't belong, it's just that I think that the two MI's that I had were due at least in part to the periods of inactivity and I don't want that to happen to your husband.

I'll remove my nose now and just add that I hope that things work out for the both of you. It should never have come to this point in America, but yet here we are.

:toast:

[Honeycombe8]

32. You can't get cheap ins. through your college? For both of you?

Do you pay for your own insurance, or is it provided to you?

When I was in college, the college offered a pretty bad, but still-it's ins., policy that was affordable for students. I didn't buy it, so I don't have experience with how good or bad it was. I'm assuming it was pretty bad and only protected against catastrophic illness, and then only up to a point.

In any case, the new bill should be providing a subsidy for people in your situation. That's what "they" say, anyway.

But of course, you'll be getting a full time job soon, right? And of course, as I told a coworker of mine recently, whose husband had a job that didn't provide insurance for him, not to mention his family...as I told her...maybe it's time to ask your husband to look for a job that provides insurance. The husband maybe needed to realize that he was grown up now with a family to take care of; it was no longer like he was in his 20's and could just get a job he liked, no matter the pay or the benefits.

All of us have to think of these practical things, when choosing a vocation and looking for a job. Sometimes, we get what we get, and there's no choice. That's the time, I think, to think about choosing a different vocation. Your husband is thankfully still young enough to get training and experience in a career/vocation where benefits are the norm. This is not the case for so many middle aged people who were laid off last year. They truly are up a creek. No one would hire them in a new vocation (they could hire someone much younger, like your husband!).

[Flatulo]

33. Those college plans max out at $50,000, or about 1 week in the hospital.

After that, it's bankruptcy time.

[wolfgangmo]

58. Wow - the cognitive dissonance of the unaware and oppressed.

THis is not a personal comment but rather a general one about a position you espouse that many in this country share. It is fallacious, to wit ...

"...maybe it's time to ask your husband to look for a job that provides insurance. The husband maybe needed to realize that he was grown up now with a family to take care of."

Maybe it is also time that we stopped accepting the libertarian John Wayne fantasy that we are all live alone on an island and that we are responsible to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, after we find an animal, kill it, skin it, tan the skin, make leather, make boots and then ... We are not self sufficient animals who live in isolation from each other.

We are, in fact, part of a community, a country that was once great and can be again if we decide to stop accepting the position that we have to settle for the crumbs of our society while the crooks in Wash. and Wall Street dine on the just roasted bodies of our children's futures.

Why should this man have to choose between serving the corporate overlords and living? Why do we allow the ruling class to use health insurance as chains to keep us in servitude (in a manner of speaking) to their agenda's. America was built on the genius of small businesses and family businesses. That legacy has been stolen from us and people with similar opinions as the one you suggested go blithely along like good germans while millions in this country live in fear of getting sick.

I would ask you to challenge this ideological position in yourself and then in others.

[a la izquierda]

65. I have insurance for me, since I'm employed...

through the college. But the insurance for him is quite costly (per month, about $130).

I'm giving an update below.

[Jakes Progress]

36. Everyone will be joining you.

You have had several suggestions here about what to do for the present.

The problem is that we are putting the whole country in the hands of the insurance companies. You don't need health insurance. You need health care.

Just look at all the work arounds and games that you have to do to just get coverage, let alone care. In all other civilized nations, your husband would just go to the doctor. If he needed medication, he would just go the pharmacy and get it. No games, No wondering if you make too much or if you left out a number on a form. You just get health care.

Why doesn't everyone get it? Why are we working so hard to get so little from the people we give so much? Our congress critters and administration demonstrate over and over that they just don't give a shit about you or your life.

[uppityperson]

38. Your story is mine of this last yr

different state but the same thing. Subsidized health care, dropping economics=dropping people from the list. Both our self-employed businesses dropped to zero mid yr, so I got a job as an employee. In the re-certification process, they took numbers that I could say were random since they didn't correlate to anything I sent in. They told me they took what we made the yr before for our businesses, then added what I "should" make as a full time employee (which I wasn't) and denied us. Even with the letter from employer, and irs thingy showing our businesses were are negative income, they said too bad.

So, no insurance for 50+ with chronic health issues. We are seeking alternatives but it sucks and is very very scary.

[Warren Stupidity]

39. Where is the political party that represents us?

All I see is two parties that represent Corporate cartels.

[DesertFlower]

41. i'm so sorry. here is arizona you have

to make less than $860 a month to qualify for medicaid.

[sam sarrha]

42. the ReThuglickins in Oklahoma wont let the state Opt In anyway, might make Obama look good... have

him give up his raise..

[mzmolly]

43. You and yours are an example of why voting "no" on HC is NOT principled. I hope that your husband

will benefit from reform, soon.

[wolfgangmo]

59. Molly. No one here is advocating voting no on health care.

But there is no health care bill in the senate or house.

But many of us, such as myself (I own a clinic and see daily what the insurance F****** do every hour of everyday) are advocating against a mandated plan that forces everyone onto insurance with no cost controls, high administrative overheads (i.e. premiums that go to bonus and salary and perks rather than health care) are advocating for a better alternative and the political guts to stand up for what is right.

I too share the goal of getting people help, but I can't help but think and feel that the current spate of plans are nothing more than window dressing on a failed system and the metaphoric equivalent of dropping our pants and bending over.

I hope everyone on the DU will realize that despite our nuanced differences we share the same goal. I pray you are right, but my experience with the very insurance companies that we will hand the keys to the car over to tells me otherwise.

[hfojvt]

44. I don't understand why he cannot be put on your insurance

I could add a spouse to my insurance for a mere $260 a month, which is less than I pay now on something like $15,000 annual income.

Also, when I was in my 30s I did lots of road biking even though I had no health insurance. Road biking is not that dangerous and neither is not having health insurance, unless you get really sick.

[Ms. Toad]

45. Three suggestions (until we get this crappy mess fixed)

>>My husband got a $.50 raise in January (because he'd have quit otherwise).<<

First - when asking for anything that might impact access to health care - ALWAYS run the numbers first. When you are on subsidized health care, that means any change in income.

Second - how about making the same threat with regard to health insurance: I can't afford to work here if you don't provide access to health insurance. If it worked for a raise, it might work for insurance.

Third - look into short term policies. It doesn't sound as if you husband has any current health problems (but anticipates that he may have based on family history). Short term insurance is pretty cheap (perhaps $500 a year by now). It often has high deductibles, but they range considerably - and there are virtually no qualifying questions. So as long as hubby doesn't have pre-existing conditions it doesn't make a bit of difference what his family health history is. I survived on those policies for a few years - I had pre-existing conditions - but I used the policies as as a hedge against bankruptcy. If I came down with something new and costly, at least I had something that would protect my house, home, and retirement assets. You will have to keep bouncing around from policy to policy (the outside limit is perhaps 18 months), but there are plenty to choose from.

[southernyankeebelle]

48. You are in the same boat many people are in and it is very sad situation that shouldn't

be. I have lived in many countries. I was born and raised here in the united states. I have seen first hand socialized medicine. I have Tricare which is a government insurance that my husband got after he retired 21 yrs in the military. I have foreign relatives. I have seen excellent people in Germany, Italy and Canada all have socialized medicine. They all think our country is crazy for not providing health care for all. People here just think we are the best in health care. That isn't true. We are way down when it comes to healthcare. I am sorry for your situation and it is right. I pay in a year what my son who makes around $20,000 as a cook per yr, pays in a month. That is outrages and it is for 2 people and is considered a terrible insurance. So bad that if his child ends up in the emergency room what his insurance company doesn't cover the state will pick up.

[wolfgangmo]

60. Belle,

I am sorry to tell you that if your grandchild ends up in an ER the state will not cover his health care.

The law is pretty clear. THe hospital and doctors must STABILIZE. They are under no obligations beyond that. It is hopital policy nationwide that ER's will stabilize and then transfer ASAP. That often means sending the patient home.

This level of care is emergency in nature and contains no provisiions for diagnosing underlying causes of the trauma, no follow up care, and no therapy too cure or manage your problem. Those costs will be born, if at all possible, by your son's family. AND you will also get a bill for the ER, which you will have to find a way to pay or submit to someone to pay for you. Welcome to paperwork hell.

The myth that every american can just walk into a hospital and get free care is just that, a myth. A myth is another word for a big stinky pile of crapping lies.

[swilton]

49. From a transplanted Okie living in Maryland

I hope it works out for you and your husband. I don't think anyone should be treated this way - our people are the government and we deserve better than the crap that we're getting....

[SlingBlade]

50. K & R We Progressives Didnt leave the Party

[Cleita]

51. This is why means testing is a crock.

Too many people fall through the cracks when they make a little more money than the cut off. Single payer is really the only way to end these injustices and get access to medical care to everyone.

[SocialistLez]

53. I hope this helps

Should your husband accrue any medical expenses, these organizations might help.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/health-wellness/919471-financial-help-meds-medical-bills.html

I did a post on some organizations I saw on DailyKos and I hope it helps someone, even if it's just one person. That's enough for me.

[wolfgangmo]

61. It may be enough for you, but for me.

I won't rest until every American has the health care they deserve.

Helping one person, while it may make you feel good (and thank you for posting that link) is not enough. American's deserve better. We all should be covered. No one in this country should be made homeless because of a single medical incident, but it happens every day. Even with the job losses and the real estate bubble bursting, medical bills of those with "coverage" is still the number one reason for foreclosure.

That is the size of this problem and helping one person is putting a bandaid on a severed arm. It's a good start and a noble thing, but we need to demand more. Thanks for helping. Now let's both roll up our sleeves and go kick some ass.

[SocialistLez]

63. Uhm....

I'm a strong single-payer advocate but in the interim, I hope links like that can help someone.
I've had my sleeves rolled up. =]

Next time I won't post any links to help anyone since you think it doesn't do any good...:shrug:

[femrap]

54. This country is so

over...it's simply pathetic that people can't get basic health care.

Oh, and BTW, The Park Avenue Bank of NYC had to be taken over by the indebted FDIC...some bank in NJ took over The Park Avenue Bank.

We're just burnt toast.

[Son Of Wendigo]

55. My Heart Goes Out To You And Your Husband

I read your post late last night, then I read it aloud to my wife. I began to cry as I approached the end. It reminded me so much of a similar situation I was in a little less than two years ago.

I was very sick with a drug resistant infection and spent about sixteen weeks in the hospital. I had what I thought was good insurance (one of those federal employee plans that Obama is always touting.) After about six weeks they began denying further coverage. They wanted to send me to a convalescent hospital. I still had major health crises in my future, and the insurance didn't cover convalescent care. I would have died. My wife had to fight like a tiger to keep this from happening. The hospital administrator's representative was so outraged that they did a lot of the paperwork, but it was my wife who struggled and suffered to make sure the insurance company honored and carried out the provisions of their contract with me. I have often told her that that time was harder on her than on me. All I had to do was recover. She had the hard job. She had to fight for me.

Reading your post me think of her and her bravery. She also refers to me as "the love of her life." I am sure that one way or another you and your husband will come out of this with him adequately insured. And he's a lucky man. He has you. I'm lucky in the same way and there is nothing like it. As we Quakers say, I will hold both you and your husband in the light.

God bless you.

[LWolf]

64. Having insurance doesn't always translate into care.

I've got insurance. I can't afford to use it. By the time I pay the premiums, there's nothing left for copays and deductibles.

So I go without actually seeing doctors for wellness checks and for care I actually need.

[a la izquierda]

66. Update

So, my husband has a coworker who is opening her own dog daycare, and though he'll take a small paycut, he'll get insurance. The paycut is fine, considering he doesn't have to commute anymore! That's such a delight-he'll work a mile from home as opposed to 12. I guess he'll have a lapse of a few weeks. I don't want to deal with that, but I can deal with that.
He's also going to pick up a few valuable skills while they build the new store...so that's a benefit.

Thanks for the well wishes! It meant a lot. I have no hope for our politicians.
And now, to go fight these idiots in Texas over the textbook picking and choosing!:toast:

[snooper2]

67. So, he's a he's a mountain/road biker.

and- you will not let him ride until he gets new insurance


nice...Something he enjoys and helps keep him in that great shape you speak of. You know you can have a stroke while you are sleeping right?