What does this mean for people with chronic pain? Well, it means that they are far less likely to go to the doctor for anything other than an emergency. This potentially means that breakthrough pain or other short-term illnesses that may cause pain to increase will go untreated. It also means that prescription drugs may become too expensive to pay for out of pocket. In short, these people will not get adequate care for their chronic pain condition.
I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my health insurance. I already grumble about my $35 co-payment; I can't imagine having to pay the entire expense out of pocket. It seems unfair that so many people might have to make the choice between buying groceries or paying for their chronic pain medication.
Every time I read something like this, I breath a prayer of thanks for our health care in Canada. The conservative government wants to privatize it, but I would rather pay slightly higher taxes to know that everyone can get the medical care they need. Unfortunately, our provincial health coverage doesn’t cover pharmaceuticals in most cases.
I agree, it’s a scary thought that some people do need to chose between groceries and medication. I may complain about my insurance and co-pay, but without it, I would be one of those people who would need to chose. Thankfully I don’t suffer from chronic pain though.
My husband is in the military and so for the small (very small) premium we pay, I cant complain, but know eventually he will be back into the civilian world and those premiums/copays will be larger. Im keeping my fingers crossed that by the time he does venture into the “real” world good jobs with insurance are still around. Its a scary thought having kids and wondering if I will have to deceide food or health!
My husband’s company offers the best insurance we have ever had and I am so thankful for it. In the past year I have been diagnosed with MS and the daily injections alone are $2350.00 per month. This coupled with many other medications, MRIs and Doctor’s visits add up to much more than we could ever afford. Recently the plant he is working for announced they will be closing and will be laying off personell in small groups maybe until July of this year or until 2011. They dont know yet. If I go one day without insurance then I will have a preexsisting condition and will not be able to get insurance. Without a job COBRA premiums would certainly be astronaumical, but what choice do we have? With no insurance I would not be able to afford medical treatment or presciptions. I hope that we, as a nation, will find a resolution to this insurance crisis so that all will be able to be insured at affordable rates and still maintain a high quality of care. Thank you so much for bringing this topic up. Together we can solve problems and make a difference!
To: Pam Mcgee
Recently passed legislation will pay 65% of any Cobra cost to any employee recently laid off.Your husbands co.has until April 17th to notify you of this.The company will be reimbursed the 65% thru tax deductions.
Good Luck
I’ve never been so happy to have good insurance as I was when I started getting the statements for my very routine, very low-risk prenatal care. It’s barely three months along, but my fetus has already racked up over $3,000 worth of charges. Thankfully, all of it gets billed to the insurance company–I don’t even want to think of what the nine-month total is going to be. And that’s before it’s even on the outside. As a broke college student, I went many years without insurance coverage, when I went to the doctor only in dire situations. I was lucky enough to make it through that time without falling very ill or getting badly injured, but it was bad enough trying to get by with just the minor med bills. I can’t imagine the stress of living with a chronic illness or pre-existing condition and not having the means for treatment.
Thanks Jack! Our company has not let us know that so I will definitely pass it along. That will help alot. We were told the COBRA payments would be 1800 per month so 65% less would help greatly!! That is really good information to know!!! (And to think they just had a communications meeting with everyone–go figure)
I hear from people every day who can’t afford insurance or their insurance is going up all the time. My husband and I are retired Military and granted we do have it a bit better than the civilian population, but ours is going up every year on us too. With the advent of Tricare for Life, it has given the older retired people a big break on their medications. I doubt if we could survive if we didn’t have it. Thanks for publishing this article. Billie