Health Care Crisis

At the end of the month I am going to lose my health insurance. I was told by our office manager earlier this week that to keep my same insurance through COBRA it would be $249/month. It's high, but not as high as I thought it was going to be. I finally called around to several places yesterday to see about health insurance and I found out that the COBRA is probably the best deal for me. My insurance is currently with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and so I called them to see how much it would be to get an individual policy. Because of the diabetes I was told that I was not "insurable". Pretty much made me feel like crap. I called a couple other places that were so rude to me and pretty much told me the same thing and that COBRA was my best bet. I can't tell you how depressed I felt.

In 2003 when I lost my other job I suddenly found myself without insurance. Six months later even when I found a job I still didn't have health insurance. I went more then a year without insurance and without seeing a doctor. I think it was during this time that my diabetes began and continued to get bad. I wasn't eating right and I was working 60 hours a week for literally no money. So I was under constant stress and not eating right and without health insurance. It wasn't until I started my current job in late 2004 that I finally got health insurance. My first doctors appointment in January 2005 they realized I had diabetes. I have struggled with coming to terms with this and the fact that I have to change my life if I want to live a normal healthy life. It wasn't until June 2006 that I finally took it seriously. Taking my meds everyday and really watching what I am eating and more importantly exercising. All three of these combined has started to reverse the affects I have had from diabetes. After just 3 months of taking the meds, eating right and exercising on a regular basis they lowered my meds. I go back to the doctor on Monday and I am hoping to hear even better news. I would love to hear that I am no longer considered diabetic and I can just control it by food and exercise and not meds. Maybe then I can get some health insurance.

I did some research about health care in our country. We should all be ashamed at the numbers I found. How can the richest country in the world mess up so horribly when it comes to the health of its citizens. According to the National Coalition on Health Care the United States spends 16% of our Gross Domestic product (GDP) on health care. In other countries that provide health care to ALL citizens they spend the following: Switzerland-10.9%, Germany-10.7% and Canada-9.5%. To me, it just doesn't make sense that we spend 4.3 times as much on health care as we do national defense.

Really what it comes down to in the United States is: If you want to get sick you had better be rich. Otherwise, you are out of luck.

I am going to try hard not to let this get me down. I am working on my health and I can't go back and change everything wrong I did in the past four years. And I have to believe with my heart that everything will work out the way it's suppose to. And if something goes happen and I get sick and we end up losing everything; I guess we'll just move in with Laura's parents. :)

Good news is that my dental insurance through COBRA is only $17/month. With all the work that I have put into my mouth (and money) it is very important to never be without dental insurance again.