Health Care Insurance Stories

I am a musician and teacher who has been supporting myself teaching kids and adults since 1972, aside from a performing and recording career. I've never collected a day of unemployment pay nor been able to afford health insurance. I was in a car accident n Pacifica CA entering 280 north from Skyline Blvd in 1990. It was a 20-something car pile up. I broke the windshield with my face and dislocated my hip which subsequently was replaced in 1991. It took 7 years of litigation to sort the mess out at which time I received about a 30,000 settlement and my outstanding accident-related bills were covered. During those 7 years, my credit was ruined, as I had hundreds of thousands of dollars of hospital and medical bills hanging over my head. I paid for insurance for a couple of years at that point, but again had to discontinue as nearly every quarterly premium went up significantly to the point where I could no longer afford it.

That hip replacement never felt totally correct. It abruptly ended my lifetime love of running and playing basketball. I should have replaced it again about five years ago, but of course could not as I had no insurance and could not get any even if I could afford it because of my "pre-existing condition."

I finally was able to get on a group plan through the kindness of someone who hired me knowing my situation so they could not deny me because of the Pre-existing condition. I was informed that I should have done it a long time ago because my hip had deteriorated considerably and was now a very delicate and complex case. I had it revised three weeks ago and I'm now in recovery, but I am extremely limited in my prognosis, as I required a bone growth hormone treatment that must be dealt with very carefully for several years. I am paying a high monthly premium plus endless extra charges for every x-ray, MRI, blood test, doctor visit, etc, plus 400 per day out of pocket for 3 days in the hospital, not to mention that my quality of life is way below what it should be especially in consideration of my 2 year old daughter and the baby on the way with whom my interaction will always be extremely limited.

I hate this system and resent this heartless government for stripping its citizens of their health, dignity and lives.

John Santos
Oakand, CA

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