What have the US done for me lately?

[valarltd]

So, the new healthcare thing started taking effect this week.
And, of course, there were screams of death panels and removal of choice and all the other talking points.

What does the current situation mean to me?

Bun can stay on my insurance for 8 more years. That's 8 years to finish her schooling and get a job with insurance of her own. 8 years of bipolar medication and birth control to keep her a functioning member of society.

Bun, Obi, Jonner and Oli cannot be refused for insurance now. The long-healed heart murmurs, the bad ears, the mental illness, those will not be used as reasons to refuse to cover an illness.

If my squamous cervix decides to bloom into cancer, the company cannot rescind my policy in mid-treatment. Nor can they cap the cost, deciding in mid-stream it is too much to keep me alive.


My premiums will go up. And they will go up by more than my $10/week raise.
My premiums have gone up every year.
Including 2003 when they tripled.

Comments

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky in that I get free health insurance for me through my job w/ the state. However, if I was able to put Matt (the boyfriend) on my plan as a spouse/partner/whatever, the cost would immediately become about 1/3 of my paycheck. I think it'd be worth it, though, because at the very least, we would finally be able to get him in to see a cardiologist, which he desperately needs to do.

Deferring much-needed treatment/preventative care because of finances/insurance really, really fucking sucks.