I'm currently working on a research paper about the unbelievably high cost of health care, and the consumer-driven health care ideas that are floating around out there, specifically the new HSAs, and would really appreciate your help.
If you have a story about being rejected for medical insurance, not having insurance and being stuck with a huge bill, or if you currently have an HSA (Health Savings Account, which is very different than a Flexible Spending Account -FSA-) AND you would be willing to let your story be included in a college research paper (names changed, of course), would you leave your story in the comments of this post? Or those of you who know my email addy can just email it to me.
Even if you don't have a story, but have thoughts on consumer-driven health care, I'd be interested to hear. I'm trying to get a feel for the general public's thoughts on this.
PLEASE NOTE: Comment Moderation is now OFF, so your comment will be immediately published. Thank you for your help!
Long story short: After a six-week leave of absence, I returned to my job to find I would have to work there for another whole year before I would be eligible for health insurance again. Cobra was over $900 a month, which I obviously could not afford as a recently graduated yet career-less college student. I applied for private insurance through BCBS but was turned down because of a pre-existing condition, but I needed insurance to make sure this pre-existing conditition didn't come back and kill me. I applied for TennCare, thinking I was a perfect applicant--I was uninsurable by my employer and had been denied by private insurance. After being turned down by TennCare with no explanation, I wrangled an appointment with a case worker who finally told me the reason I was denied TennCare was because I was white and had no kids. Seriously, that's what she said. I ended up having to leave my job of 6 years and find another that would give me insurance starting day one.
Posted by: Megan | February 26, 2007 at 08:54 AM
Holy crap. That sucks.
Thanks for sharing your story with me.
Posted by: Lu | February 26, 2007 at 11:18 AM