Here’s the first of a hopefully longer series of stories about negotiating the treacherous waters of health care in MA. We’ve gotten some personal stories in some of the comment threads — I’ll put them on the front page as well.
I’ve "promoted" this story from the extended entry of this post to give it greater prominence: "Kerry" is a woman I know — here’s her story:
In 2002 I was a controller at a public relations firm. During thatyear I decided to take a sabbatical, volunteer for organizations andcauses important to me. I started independent consulting, becomingself-employed, while volunteering and have earned a decent living. Ihad access to health insurance through COBRA. However, a few monthsafter I left my previous employer, it stopped operating, each partnergoing off on their own and the health insurance contract which coveredCOBRA was cancelled. I was offered an individual policy at a cost of$1,100 per month versus $250 per month which was far more than I couldafford. So I am without health insurance.
Early last March, after an ice storm here in Boston, I slipped and felldown the steps outside my home. I tore and severely bruised musclesand had some internal injuries. The resulting medical bills equaledclose to $9,000 when all was done.
I discovered something when I received those medical bills. I wasrequired to pay into a fund to provide services to the uninsured eventhough I was uninsured. And the fees I was charged were far higherthan those the HMOs, insurance companies and large employers pay. WhenI asked about it I was told by a senior manager in the billingdepartment that the discounts negotiated by the HMOs and insurancecompanies had to be recouped somewhere and the only group without thenegotiating power to get a discount was the uninsured.
I support the Health Care Initiative for the health of all communitiesand neighborhoods and for the nearly 600,000 who are just like me -uninsured in Massachusetts.
