CANCER SURVIVOR UNABLE TO GET HEALTH INSURANCE BATTLES THE US HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND LACK OF ACCESS FOR THE UNINSURED
About me
I am a 41-year-old female living in Los Angeles, CA.
In 2004, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 34.
At the time I had full coverage health insurance through COBRA as I had recently become happily self-employed. I was fortunate in having this insurance (BC/BS of CA) during the entire course of diagnosis/treatment and follow-ups.
In 2006, I was abruptly dropped (my former employer had changed plans) and subsequently found myself unable to obtain insurance from any carrier anywhere in the US. I have been essentially "naked" since 2006, paying for what I can out of pocket and going to any free clinics that I can find. I went to a Remote Area Medical free clinic here in LA in May 2010 and even became a guinea pig for a pharmaceutical company in 2008/2009 just to get a modicum of care.
My greatest hope is that America will eventually have Universal Health Care for All. We are the only industrialized nation on Earth that does not care for the sickest and weakest among us. If you are sick and don't have the money and don't qualify for state or Federal programs, like myself, then you are shit out of luck.
Since losing my insurance I have been subjected to a lot of ill-treatment from health care professionals and just a tiny fraction have been sympathetic. The lack of compassion I have met on this journey is truly shocking. Sometimes I find it hard to believe I am in America sometimes.
This blog is my small way of trying to document my struggle and hopefully get the word out that the system, as it stands now, is only meant for the insured and wealthy among us.
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Dr. Martin Luther King
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Sicko
Just found Michael Moore's Sicko on sale for $5.99!!! Great bargain and it's got tons of extras and expanded interviews.
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