These stories come from the real people who live with a broken health care system. Some have health insurance and some do not. Many of these stories suggest potential solutions* that lead to quality, affordable health care we can count on. One thing we all agree on is that the we cannot trust the insurance industry to fix themselves. To learn more about what Health Care for America Now stands for read our Statement of Common Purpose.
We wanted to give you a chance to speak for yourself, in your own voice, about the need for Health Care for America Now. Do you have something to say? Tell us your story.
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Laura
Omaha, NE
This is a difficult story for me to tell, so I'm only going to glaze over the details. Last year I was having difficulty with attending school with the depression that I was facing. My mental health was at an all-time low, and I finally had to drop out of the semester and try to get some help.
The catch here was that my health care from age 19 on, which I get through my mother's work, is dependent on me being in school at least part-time. I became very depressed to the point where I needed to be hospitalized. I had called a health care facility and explained my difficulties, and they had dispatched the police to my house without permission for my safety. This wouldn't have been so bad, except for what happened when they arrived.
I was given the choice between two facilities, neither of which I or my family could afford. I was stressed and sad, trying to deal with police coming to my house at 1 in the morning to wake everyone and their dog up in the process. It was a public display where I was raking my hands through my hair, trying to explain to the officers that I could not pay to go to either facility, and this would ruin our finances. Both of them seemed utterly negligent, not responding in any fashion to my obviously pained state. One of them replied to my insurance dilemma simply with this sarcastic and demeaning question, "Who were you EXPECTING to pay for this?"
I had to go to one facility, and deal with all the subsequent bills which had piled up for both the day I spent there and the psychiatric care I needed afterward. Without insurance, the costs were staggering. This was even more true for the medications I was being prescribed, whose costs were simply outrageous.
I've come a long way since then, but I absolutely could NOT afford to continue to do so with a professional health care backing. The cost it was bringing me only made me MORE depressed. Now, I'm not exactly a rocket scientist, but when the cost of your therapy and psychiatric medications is depressing you even further, isn't that counter-productive? If I had possessed affordable health care, it might have been a much easier and better process for both myself and my family. I suppose keeping health care from people who can't afford it is more important than sheltering a life from terrible misery.
*Health Care for America Now is not responsible for the content of these stories. These stories are submitted by individuals in the online audience and have been edited in some cases. Health Care For America Now does not endorse any of the solutions or policy positions suggested in the content of these stories. Health Care for America Now is a coalition of organizations that agree to the Statement of Common Purpose.
See our coalition partner list.
Read the Statement of Common Purpose.
