There was a time when I would've considered the ACA unnecessary. That I would've been annoyed by it. This was also a time where I had little to no interest in politics. It's funny how life has a way of humbling a person and teaching them something new about themselves on a regular basis. This is a story about how I ended up needing the help in order to make myself better.
"Well why didn't you just get a new inhaler?" I felt a sinking pit in my stomach. I was at a follow up visit to my doctor after ending up in the ER a few weeks before because bronchitis had made my asthma worse and I couldn't breathe. The first thing my doctor asked me was where my inhaler was when this had happened. After all, that was in my plan. I tried to explain to her that I only had one inhaler and it had been stolen the week before when I was riding the bus. Somehow, despite my explanation she didn't understand that since I was uninsured at the time, I just couldn't afford a new one. It was only after the ER trip that a friend of mine had pity on me and bought the inhaler for me.
I lost my insurance in April 2012 because I had been working at a call center that had outsourced its customer service department overseas. This was my fourth lay off in about six years. The whole time I had been trying to go back to school but in playing musical jobs I had never managed to do so. I decided to make school my focus and work secondary and deal with it.
Because I have asthma, I've never been able to get insurance without going through my work before. COBRA would've cost me over six hundred a month, and while my state had opened a high risk pool, it was still too expensive. My NP was awesome and made sure I got refills of my medication before I lost my insurance and gave me a list of community services for when I did lose it, because she knew I wouldn't be able to come back afterwards.
I did everything I could to make sure I would be taken care of. I signed up for a prescription plan at a local pharmacy, I found local clinic that was free, run on community donations. Still there are things that free clinics couldn't handle. Waiting all week to see a doctor because you got sick on Sunday and the free clinic is only open on Saturday isn't helpful when you're so sick you can't breathe. The doctors are volunteers so there's no guarantee of continuous care. In fact, the push is to get you into a local public health or community clinic, but they often were not taking new adult patients or were an hour drive away.
It was about a month after I lost my insurance when I found a lump on my right side, along the edge of the breast tissue. The free clinic provided me a referral but when I called the places they suggested I was turned away. I was told I was too young, that the office no longer provided services, or that they were out of funds for the year. I continued to fight to find a way to access services, but without a referral from a PCP I was getting nowhere. I finally took the time to bus out to one of the few clinics taking patients. They contacted a local imaging center attached to a public hospital to get me in. This started in June, I was finally in for imaging in October. In November I would get a biopsy and find out it was benign. It took me six months from start to finish to find out what was there.
It would be another year before I would get insurance again. In that time I ended up in the ER enough times the doctors started to recognize me. There really wasn't anything either of us could do. I couldn't manage my health without being able to afford regular doctor's visits and medication and they couldn't make a solution appear out of thin air. My wisdom teeth got infected and had to be removed but had to wait two months for a dentist who would help. I was on antibiotics so long I ended up with a GI infection. Bronchitis, allergic reaction, a set of second degree burns from how bad at cooking I can be. They got to deal with it all, despite the fact that most of these things were preventable.
All if this changed in January of last year. I live in one of the states that approved the Medicaid expansion and set up their own healthcare exchange. I was there on day one to shake hands with the Governor, tell him my story, and sign up. I stood up with him to others to encourage them to use the exchange as well. It is the only day of class I've missed since I started back.
Because of the Affordable Care Act I was able to get needed blood work that I had not been able to afford. Reliable access to medication. The first thing my PCP did, remembering how just a few months earlier I had ended up in the ER because I didn't have an inhaler was make sure to get me a prescription for one so I had a backup. One thing I know is I appreciate the opportunity more than I could ever express.
I know there are naysayers out there who will tell me that those things are not really free and that someone has to pay for them. One day I'll graduate and that person will be me. I seriously hope that I am paying to make sure someone gets the care they need with the money I pay into the system. It's saner than paying for what happens when they can't. The system we have isn't perfect, but it can only get better if we put effort into it.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Let's see…it works SO well doing that now.
But sure put words down I never stated, and simplify it to an enormous ignorant statement.
You know, it doesn't matter how each person post continues to give excuses, yet they have not solution to their own problems. I have heard statement like "I have tried everything" then I ask them have you done this? "Well, no" proceeded by excuses.
I honestly think it's sad, but also kinda funny, when people tell me "it's just not that easy", yet I have done it and so does every person that includes proper diet and exercise in their DAILY lives ongoing. (not start- stop…give-up)
How about you and the other disagreeing stop makes excuses. Study up, learn, implement and come back and tell me I am wrong. Listening to someone tell you what you want to hear….then sending you a bill even after a lack of results is not the answer….which is obvious or we wouldn't have such an unhealthy society. Chronic illness has skyrocketed.
Go ahead and support the mass idea that it's going to work out believing everyone should pay for others lack of effort. It's working SO well for society, lol.
Tell you what…..I am wrong, despite I get my desired results, and you guys are right with a lack of results.
You got me. I am the ignorant one here. Thanks for showing me the way!!
Good luck to everyone of you….but I am the one that needs it, right?
This is an emotionally immature response.
What are your desired results? What lack of results am I experiencing, or is Muno (for instance) experiencing? Are the "good results" of eroc equivalent to evidence based or scientifically sound practice? Should we assume that they are?
Mostly what has been shown here is that you don't deal well with disagreement and that you don't express your ideas in ways that are not off putting to others.
My lean cycling SO who primarily eats whole foods went 3 yrs without insurance prior to ACA. He didn't qualify for assist when he was laid off from his fully benefitted job with rapidly disappearing options and he could have been denied for minor pre existing if he could have afforded insurance OOP.
It wasn't just the lazy scum of the earth that were denied healthcare (TIC!!)
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I don't understand why anyone hates the ACA. It's not the universal healthcare that civilized countries have, but it's a step in the right direction.
Plenty of people get revved up without knowing exactly what they're talking about. I've even done that from time to time. (Not often, cause I'm nearly perfect, but from time to time.)
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Let's see…it works SO well doing that now.
But sure put words down I never stated, and simplify it to an enormous ignorant statement.
You know, it doesn't matter how each person post continues to give excuses, yet they have not solution to their own problems. I have heard statement like "I have tried everything" then I ask them have you done this? "Well, no" proceeded by excuses.
I honestly think it's sad, but also kinda funny, when people tell me "it's just not that easy", yet I have done it and so does every person that includes proper diet and exercise in their DAILY lives ongoing. (not start- stop…give-up)
How about you and the other disagreeing stop makes excuses. Study up, learn, implement and come back and tell me I am wrong. Listening to someone tell you what you want to hear….then sending you a bill even after a lack of results is not the answer….which is obvious or we wouldn't have such an unhealthy society. Chronic illness has skyrocketed.
Go ahead and support the mass idea that it's going to work out believing everyone should pay for others lack of effort. It's working SO well for society, lol.
Tell you what…..I am wrong, despite I get my desired results, and you guys are right with a lack of results.
You got me. I am the ignorant one here. Thanks for showing me the way!!
Good luck to everyone of you….but I am the one that needs it, right?
Diet and exercise worked for you. I'm very happy for you. It doesn't work that easily for everyone, especially folks over a certain age. Could you possibly concede that you don't know everything and that perhaps some folks are working the diet and the exercise with minimal results?
Chronic illness is on the rise, and a good portion of the problem is caregivers who refuse to understand that for some patients, it's not that easy to just eat less, exercise more and the weight comes off.
She isn't a nurse, but a student trying to be a nurse. Call centers are horrible places to work, and even worse if you have health issues. I don't think she unemployable, just someone who is working hard to be employed in a rewarding profession.
you do realize that many people say they don't like Obamacare, but when questioned about the ACA, and it's provisions, people approve. And maybe people were not dropping dead in the streets, they were still dying because of not being able to afford medical care. I worked with seniors who were only taking their meds every other day or even less frequently because they were in the donut hole and couldn't afford to pay 100% cost. The ACA isn't perfect, in fact it should be single payor and eliminate insurance companies all together, but it is better than what was in place. Insurances costs have been going up for years! Medical costs in America are higher than most "civilized" countries, but we are certainly not number one in quality of medical care.
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
Just dropping in with a Mod Squad note:
Please remember to debate ideas and not call out individual members. Use legitimate facts to back up statements made. Try to stick to topic of thread: Why I cannot hate the Affordable Care Act
All are welcome to share their experiences with ACA.
But sure put words down I never stated, and simplify it to an enormous ignorant statement.
You know, it doesn't matter how each person post continues to give excuses, yet they have not solution to their own problems. I have heard statement like "I have tried everything" then I ask them have you done this? "Well, no" proceeded by excuses.
I honestly think it's sad, but also kinda funny, when people tell me "it's just not that easy", yet I have done it and so does every person that includes proper diet and exercise in their DAILY lives ongoing. (not start- stop…give-up)
How about you and the other disagreeing stop makes excuses. Study up, learn, implement and come back and tell me I am wrong. Listening to someone tell you what you want to hear….then sending you a bill even after a lack of results is not the answer….which is obvious or we wouldn't have such an unhealthy society. Chronic illness has skyrocketed.
Go ahead and support the mass idea that it's going to work out believing everyone should pay for others lack of effort. It's working SO well for society, lol.
Tell you what…..I am wrong, despite I get my desired results, and you guys are right with a lack of results.
You got me. I am the ignorant one here. Thanks for showing me the way!!
Good luck to everyone of you….but I am the one that needs it, right?
I think you missed the point of my post which is to say let's assume you are correct - (I have no way of taking a stance on whether or not you are right since you haven't really offered any specific evidence of why you're right and the establishment is wrong).
So if we assume you're correct how does that relate to health insurance. Are you suggesting that if people would follow your lead that we would have no need for health insurance? I agree that obesity is a major contributor to our healthcare costs but it doesn't come close to accounting for all of them, it's thought to account for 10% of our healthcare costs.
I'm all for building encouragement to exercise and to eat right into our healthcare and health insurance system, so how does the ACA do that incorrectly?
you do realize that many people say they don't like Obamacare, but when questioned about the ACA, and it's provisions, people approve. And maybe people were not dropping dead in the streets, they were still dying because of not being able to afford medical care. I worked with seniors who were only taking their meds every other day or even less frequently because they were in the donut hole and couldn't afford to pay 100% cost. The ACA isn't perfect, in fact it should be single payor and eliminate insurance companies all together, but it is better than what was in place. Insurances costs have been going up for years! Medical costs in America are higher than most "civilized" countries, but we are certainly not number one in quality of medical care.
I have yet to see anyone drop dead in the street either but the inhumane amount of anxiety and disgrace was inexcusable and I'm ashamed of it.
The problem is I am not going to go on about any specifics, becuase there is too much involves to debate decades of learning, trail and error, and so forth.
I have never stated we don't need insurance, either. I am simply talking about but substantial healthcare. The nation is on a path of destruction. Believing we can print more money and everything will be okay is not intelligent.
Unless someone is disabled they can lose the weight, and is absolutely not as simple as " eat less exercise more"
Immature is supporting a easy way out becuase it is too uncomfortable....like a child or teenager would do. Immature would be to ask for a poll as to what the BMI is of the people disagreeing with me.
I encourage you all to not continue with your mind set of exercise and diet are not the biggest problem. But if not rest well with the excuses.
Eroc, the subject of the thread is the ACA. You still have not explained how your obsession is related to that. Why not start your own thread instead of hijacking this one? There are plenty of folk who think as you do, so I'm sure it would get responses.
This is what the ACA is for..."The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993. The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomics, health behaviors, and baseline health,†said lead author Andrew Wilper, M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine. We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.â€
The study, which analyzed data from national surveys carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assessed death rates after taking into account education, income, and many other factors, including smoking, drinking, and obesity. It estimated that lack of health insurance causes 44,789 excess deaths annually." Harvard Gazette 2009 September 17, 2009
By David Cecere, Cambridge Health Alliance. In helping people get access to health insurance nearly 45,000 deaths can be prevented.
toomuchbaloney
16,074 Posts
This is an emotionally immature response.
What are your desired results? What lack of results am I experiencing, or is Muno (for instance) experiencing? Are the "good results" of eroc equivalent to evidence based or scientifically sound practice? Should we assume that they are?
Mostly what has been shown here is that you don't deal well with disagreement and that you don't express your ideas in ways that are not off putting to others.
We all need good luck, unless you are egocentric.