I've always had health insurance.  But I've always worked for institutions that provide such insurance, or been within the 18 month COBRA window where health care is provided after leaving those institutions.

I have no insurance and had a problem in the past trying to get an individual problem.  To even be considered, I would have had to pay hundreds of dollars in physicals, xrays and every conceivable blood and urine test first.

My roommate recently tried to get an individual policy and he admitted (dumbly) on his application that he'd used drugs (aka, smoking dope over ten years ago in college).  he received a rejection letter stating not only would he be rejected but he would never again ever be allowed to be insured by this particular large, national insurer.

One thing that I wish got talked about more on health insurance is Cobra.  At my last job i worked for a small firm with unbelievably rich and well paid bosses.  So they arranged the most comprehensive, platinum insurance plan with all the possible bells and whistles you could possibly want. It was great!  WHile i worked there....

But when i left the firm, i got my Cobra paperwork if i wanted to continue to get that insurance, it would have been close to $1,000 per month for a single guy in his mid 20s.  There was no way i could afford that so i was dropped.

Since insurers hate having to offer Cobra benefits to begin with, they refuse to offer more affordable alternatives in situations like mine.  So despite having the right to Cobra benefits, practically speaking, i had no real opportunity.

Cobra should be expanded to allow a former employee to select from any policy that that insurer offers.  And, Cobra benefits should be permanent if desired, not limited to two years.

Otherwise, for many many people like me, it's useless.

I grew up having great health insurance since my father worked for Roseburg Forest Products in Oregon, a lumber mill company. When I joined the military I had complete comprehensive and cost-free healthcare, although military doctors liked to undertreat people out of habit because sometimes you'd have people who went to the doctor complaining of symptoms instead of going to work.

But since I've been out of the military, I realized I was kind of on my own. At first. I was able to go to the Michigan State University health service for basic care, basic prescriptions, but I had no inpatient coverage, and many presciptions were not available under the student health plan.

Then I realized that every single veteran who gets out honorably is eligible for care at the Veterans Administration hospitals. Every veteran is eligible, and based on income, poor veteran college students like myself don't even pay co-pays. Its not a system that allows for a lot of choice in terms of providers, but I'm forever grateful that I can go to the VA, even as I grow old, and even in my darkest hour, I'll always have that to fall back on. And as a poor vet, I didn't pay a dime when I had surgery to remove skin cancer, nor have I payed a single co-pay for any prescription I've ever had.

Of the last 20 years, I've had health insurance a total of 3 1/2 years.  Working for an under-capitalized start-up, then freelancing -- well, it's always seemed more important to pay for rent and food.  Luckily, I'm just now getting into my prime heart attack years, and have recently married into a Plan.

I do not.  Medicaid covers my wife, daughter, and newborn son, though it will cease to cover my wife three months from now.  We are alternative health care providers with a new practice, we just meet medicaid coverage limits to make the births of our children possible, next year we don't, but to buy coverage would be a significant burden, equal to our mortgage for a policy we could actually use and half our mortgage for one we couldn't.  But if we can't use it I will just thank uncle mo (missouri)for the child coverage, do our thing for ourselves and remain self insured with catastrophic reinsurance covered by the american taxpayer.  It is a stupid system, and I see many patients who face the same dilemna.

I have health insurance tied to my job, and after reading the comments above I'm certainly grateful for it.  Still, premiums go up every year, way more than my salary does.  And I do feel stuck in a less-than-great job because I need insurance for me and my kid.  Hey, I had to go back to work after having him because we needed the insurance my job provided: no way I could quit to stay home with my baby.  I have definitely made job decisions -- decisions to take a job, what kind of job to take, and to stick with a bad job -- because of the need for health insurance.  

Haven't had health insurance for almost four years.  I'm an unemployed student right now and hopefully I'll find a job with insurance soon after graduation.  Recently I have developed an infection on my left hand.  I can't afford to go to the doctor , so for the last two months I've had to live with it.  With luck it's just a staph infection.  Though I was exposed to mercer.  Staph and mercer can both be treated with antibiotics early on, but if it spreads I will end up having part of my hand removed.  I think I'll be alright, It doesn't seem to be spreading but I would be more comfortable if I could afford some medicine to fight the infection.  

My husband is a 10 year Home Depot employee and that's why we have decent health insurance for our family. Our 18 year old is covered only as long as she's a full time student, and we pay for all of the coverage (about $300/mo, including modest dental coverage).

Problem is: My husband is 69 and it would be nice if he could retire someday. But if he retires, our family has no health insurance at all.

Once we got COBRA insurace after my husband was laid off from a prior job. We paid $195/month for several months, until we got a bill for $600/month, which they attempted to charge retroactively, when they announced that their rates had changed.

As a state employee, I have great coverage--medical, drug, dental, and vision. Employee contributions, currently at 40%, continue to creep up.

I was able to ask a movie producer what creative folks like actors, writers, etc. who work intermittently do for health insurance and he told me that the guilds provide coverage for them. I keep wondering why this kind of trade membership model can't be expanded to other fields as well.

No insurance here.  Employer keeps promising, but putting it off and putting it off.  

I've told him that unless its set up by the end of January, I'm buying my own insurance and getting reimbursed.  It was pretty funny, because supposedly we're getting it before then, but he looked pissed when I said that.  

I have been fortunate to have always had health insurance through my job, even when I was at a start-up.  I have had plenty of friends who have gone long periods without coverage.

As someone who believes health insurance is a right, I think our failure to cover everyone is a total travesty.  Hopefully, the Dem Congress will be able to take some incremental steps in the next couple of years and once Bush is gone let's get everyone covered.  Unfortunately, I don't see universal coverage occuring as long as he in office.

I do not have health insurance. I own a small business and won't purchase health insurance until such a time as I can afford it for all the people who work for me. This sounds kinda foolish, but I don't want any advantages I can't give to the people who work for me. Have taken on some big medical bills for myself and my daughter that cost more than the yearly expense of a personal plan.

Health insurance from one's employer has become an expectation on the part of Americans, for better or for worse, but there are still situations where it is unrealistic. Part of the problem is that my employees work all over the country, and national plans that cover people in more than one state require a large number of employees or tend to be very expensive. I continue to research the subject, but it's bothersome to think that employers who don't have a traditional office based in a physical location are at a disadvantage when it comes to providing for the basic necessities of people.

M

When I left the corporation, for personal reasons, I couldn't keep it. Possibly, in another two semesters, I can get insurance from the university, once I become part of the bargaining unit.

that's about to run out in Feb.

Getting individual underwriting is close to impossible for me, so I'm looking for somewhere to get in a group underwriting arrangement, and it's damn difficult.

IOW, I needed universal health care last year, CONGRESS.

as a child, i had wonderful health insurance thanks to my mother, who was a teacher.  

then i grew up, and had horrible health insurance, thanks to my cheap cheap cheap goes the bird employer.

in 2 months, i will have no health insurance because i am tired of staying at my dead end job just to be covered.  i don't have enough money to pay for both COBRA and my rent, so i am going to do a lot of finger crossing until i get hired again.  

it's a scary situation to be in, and even scarier when you realize how many other people are going through it with you.

We don't.  The boys get it because the get SSI (due to autism).  Spouse is a consultant (for ICANN and IANA (501(c)3s) at the moment) and thus is considered "self-employed".  Both of us have health conditions which would preclude coverage at any cost; I was diagnosed with MS two years ago, and so now can't get appropriate treatment unless I'm on Medicaid.  I currently have some kind of respiratory infection made worse by the MS, but can't really afford to have it treated, though I'm sure it's probably relatively treatable.  Ironically, it's remitting/relapsing MS, so is inexpensively treatable at this stage - if it goes to the progressive stage, it'll cost insurance (or the state) 20 times as much.  What a waste.

most of my life i have not punched a clock. i have rarely had health insurance.

I have it free through work, but since its a nonprofit they keep threatening to make us pay half of our indvidual rate-- since I'm the youngest/healthiest one there, it would hurt but I could do it.  Others would really feel a pinch.

Since my wife's a teacher, we could always get health insurance through the schools family plan for $400 extra a month- nice to know its avail. if we ever need it.

I do, just now, with my new job. It started in April. I had to have HR teach me a lot of how to use it. I said, I haven't had insurance in about ten years, and the HR guy said, Oh, like to live dangerously, eh?

And I said, No. Actually, I don't. I just couldn't get insurance.

I'm on my first month of Cal-Cobra, having exhausted 18 months of COBRA.  The State of California pays my $578 (!!) monthly premium, due to the nature of my disability, and another state program pays my prescription deductibles monthly.  But, my former employer negotiated away the $10 co-pay for office visits; it's now $25.  On months when I have physical therapy, or acupuncture, or multiple doctors' visits, these co-pays (e.g., $50 for five events) now cost me $125 for these same five events.  This is a serious hit for someone on a combination of state and private disability plans.

Single payer NOW!

I pay for insurance out of my own pocket because I'm self-employed.  The cost is about 60% of what I pay for rent.  After a 35% increase two years ago I threatened to drop it but my mother threatened, in turn, to do me great bodily harm if I dropped it, so I still have insurance.  Its not a good plan, even with insurance a one night hospital stay a little over a year ago cost me $2,000, the insurance covered about $12,000.  Yes, $14,000 for one night -- mostly for a lot of tests and a ER visit.

Although I haven't been hospitalized since 1958
California Blue Cross rejected me about ten years ago, and I just needed a three-month policy to fill the gap until another insurance plan began.

Why was I rejected? According to the insurance agent, because I had a required a prescription for a drug which retailed for $20 a month.

And the plan I have now -- Cigna -- is raising its rates in January from between 45% and 85% for everyone covered under Teigit (mostly California and New York residents in the arts: writers, actors, etc.)

To $1,000 a month for individuals on the POS individual, $700 for the HMO, no matter your age.

I can't bear to look up the family plan, which may possibly require the gold in your teeth.

I've been through the health insurance wars in the past five years: one group plan through the Writers Union turned out to be fraulent (any but basic procedures denied, doctors not paid); another plan through another writers group suddenly disappeared when the insurance company closed that wing down (not profitable enough for them to cover Californians, they decided); and this month, the price raised for everyone covered under Teigit 45% to 85%.

(Which also doesn't cover the acupuncturist I must see once a week for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome -- another $100 a week, but it's the only treatment that has relieved the symptoms.)

I am married and have two teenage daughters, so going w/o insurance is not an option for me.  We have it through my wife's job (she's a teacher), and the part that her insurance doesn't pick up I get reimbursed for by my (small business) employer.  So we're among the lucky ones.

Hah. I'm 61, my wife is 62. No goddamn health insurance. You try being self-employed and getting health insurance that doesn't cost more than your rent or mortgage. Not in Ratfuck Nation.

This country totally, absolutely sucks in this regard. It's cruel, it's wasteful, it's stupid, and it isn't going to change until the whole house of cards comes crashing down.

Ratfuck Nation, brothers and sisters. That's what we got here.

Finally just read this thread. Previous post was inserted w/o reading.

I simply cannot believe the complacency and ignorance of those who have insurance towards those who have none. "Oh here, try this, surely you can get insurance by joining your guild," etc. I'm going to come right out and call you morons. You just don't have a clue about how at least a third of the country lives.

Soon enough my own situation will improve. But Jesus H. Christ, wake up, people! There's nothing like telling a man with no legs that all he has to do is run to make that bus.

My apologies for the gratuitous insults. Uncalled for when people are only trying to help.

This is obviously a touchy subject for me, being  vulnerable and all. But truly, I don't understand why people aren't rioting in the streets over so-called "health care" in this country. It's that bad and getting worse, just another symptom of the death of the American experiment.

a lot

Unionization.

I'm a grad student, age 27, and a TA, have been for the last 5 years. We successfully unionized and signed our first contract in 2004 protecting and expanding health coverage and holding the line on premiums. So I've had insurance the whole time, and am damn lucky for it.

Dunno what I'm going to do this summer when I leave here...may have to marry my girlfriend sooner than expected. I mean, we're going to do it eventually, always have planned on it, but a quick civil ceremony may have its uses.

Yes I have health insurance (but there is a qualifier) I live in Canada. It is truly sad that in the richest country in the world that so many people are in the outside looking in!

Yes, I do-- and I've always had it, as long as I (or my wife of 8 years) was employed. But 3 years ago I lost my job (the outfit I was working for folded), and I had to go on COBRA for more than a year.

The health insurance issue is the main reason that I will work until I'm eligible for Medicare (3 more years). I can't afford to be without health insurance. I'd be flat broke with no assets, otherwise.

Bob in HI

the years until I qualify for Medicare, and even then, I'm not sure I'll make the co-pays. I'm 58, and last had health insurance in 1998. By the time I get Medicare, I will have been 15 years without basic health care. I free-lanced and did contract work for the first few years, but had a major depression. I lived in Virginia at the time, and qualified for services, but found that the law that eliminated disqualification for prior conditions only applied to group health insurance provided through an employer. None of those "guild" or self-employment club plans is available to those of us who have "prior conditions," not at any price. Now I live in Florida, where basic housing is much cheaper, but there are no services. I had an emergency appendectomy while in Virginia, and the cost was covered by a state grant. Here in Florida, the county just bowed to pressure from the local (privately owned and for-profit) hospitals and deemed that they did not have to treat walk-ins if triage pronounced their condition non-life-threatening, that they could send these "unable to pay" human waste to any local free-standing urgent care center, which collects payment before treatment. Apparently they were clever enough to word the law so that it does not violate federal law, which states that any hospital that receives federal funds (i.e., takes Medicare payments) is required to triage and stabilize whoever walks in, regardless of ability to pay.

I am presently trying to get SSDI because I'm still depressed, and am now not being treated at all, I'm unemployed because the free-lance work I did finally dried up completely, and in spite of some concerted attempts to become employed, I have not been able to secure any kind of a job. My credit is crap, and my treatement for depression is a matter of record somewhere; how else could it be known to prospective insurers that I have this "prior?" In any event, I'm pretty certain that either blot would disqualify me to work in retail, which is about the only kind of work that's readily available here. I have a BA and had a pretty decent work record until about '91, had some years when I made pretty good money. My self-esteem pretty much sucks, being pulled down by the humiliation of not being able to support myself. It's really pretty horrendous.

Thanks for asking.

Hi.  Since turning 18 and being on my own, I've had a number of jobs in the service industry: moving furniture, working under the table in bookstores or building labor, washing dishes, childcare, night shift janitor, medical study guniea pig, etc.  None of these jobs have ever been stable, living-wage, union, or provided health benefits.  Since then, I've been extremely fortunate, in that my passions and skills have brought me to a situation where I work as a union organizer, helping other workers in the service industry form organizations to fight for things like health insurace; and my own benefits, working for a union, include great health benefits.  

I really feel like I hit the lottery.  Especially given out hopelessly broken healthcare delivery system.  This is not idle ideology speaking here; as a union organizer, I work almost exlcusively with healthcare workers in hospitals.  I see the insanity of our system up close.  It makes no sense, from any perspective.  The only real solution is socialized, single payer health care.  Health is not a commodity.  It is a human right.  The richest nation in the world can afford to hook its janitors and waitresses and engineers alike with a quality and public-sector health care delivery system that will alleviate suffering and improve national health.

However, after having read the comments above, let me say this: if (and when, because it is certain to happen) I in the future am not working for a union, and wind up without health benefits, I guarantee you when ill or hurt I will be in an emergency room fabricating name and social security number.  That is, in the US today, the only secure failsafe way to obtain treatment without going into predatory amounts of debt.  

Fuck doctors, even liberal ones, who guilt trip you about lying to med records.  Doctors have never had their wages garnished or their goods reposessed or their life cut down because the people who run the US are too idiotic to realize the obvious cost benefits of public-sector healthcare delivery.  

Lie.  Just make up the last four numbers of your SSN, your name, address, and make damn sure nobody gets a hold of your wallet and ID.  Lie.  In this absurd situation, it is the right thing to do.  Don't saddle yourself and your family with undeserved permanent abusive debt.  I've known too many people whose lives were ruined by medical debt so paper pushers can move evil waste from one end of a desk to another in our 'health' care system.  Lie.  Lie.  Lie.  And fight like hell for healthcare

I have retiree coverage from a 30 year corporate career.  It is subsidized by the corporation, and seems to cost about $11,500 per year.  That is about 30% of my pension, or perhaps 25% of an average family income.  The insurance is fine, and the treatment I have gotten from it superb, but the problem is that healthcare is just too expensive in relation to average incomes.

I have insurance coverage for my family as part of a union negotiated contract with my employer. My costs are $36.00 per month for a plan with copays of: $15.00 per visit to doc, and $10/20 for prescriptions. The plan includes eye exams and basic dental. It's a good plan. If, however, I became unemployed, the same plan through Cobra would cost me around $1,500.00 per month. That is insane! That is enough to make you sick!

There is only one SOLUTION to the health care crisis, and that is a Single Payer Plan.

The Physican's for a National Healthcare Program, propose a single player plan. Their well thought out and comprehensive plan is just the sort that would resolve the problems of access to health care. See their website at the link below.

http://www.pnhp.org/

I used to have Motion Picture Health and Welfare  coverage, which is among the best in the country.

Then, thru my union I bought Kaiser...as many members of my union work freelance...and this was done as a courtesy to those of us who were selfemployed.

Eventually my union merged with a larger union which didn't want to bother with those of us who fell into the cracks.

I was able to switch over to an individual plan thru Kaiser...and now pay much more money for less coverage.

I am semiretired now...and the only consideration I have in looking for work is a decent benefits package.

I am not hopeful.

Unfortunately the government doesn't recognize my 22 year relationship, so I spent several years without health insurance. As I reached my mid 50's that became unacceptable, so a very close friend agreed to marry me so that I could access her health benefits.

Not an ideal situation, but a necessary evil.

Unfortunately the government doesn't recognize my 22 year relationship, so I spent several years without health insurance. As I reached my mid 50's that became unacceptable, so a very close friend agreed to marry me so that I could access her health benefits.

Not an ideal situation, but a necessary evil.

In 1963 in my first full-time job, a trainee in a San Francisco law office, everyone received health insurance paid by the company, 2 weeks vacation pay, 10 days sick leave, 1 hour lunch and two 15 minute breaks. I made enough to live in a boarding house, (then a studio) go shopping for pretty office wear, public transportation, and save for college which was $48 per semester then at San Franciso State College. Community College was free, which was a better choice for me because I could attend full-time and get room and board as a mother's helper. The school offered health insurance for students for a few dollars.

Later in Hawaii, there was public health care for all or offered with the job for workers. My children and babies went to free well-baby clinic with the public health nurse and recieved free immunizations. Doctor visits were paid by the health care from the dad's work or state care, no trouble with either. The state paid for the caesarian, the job insurance paid for the other births. Moms received parenting education in the hospital from nurses.

My mom received home visits from public health nurses. Nursery school was free as well for pre-kindergarten.

When I tell my children this history, they have trouble with imagining it. Just like telling them that when I was a girl you didn't see homeless begging in the street or lining up for cheese. You could see on their faces that they didn't believe me.

We went without insurance for 3 years while starting our business. Now we have individual insurance but a few years after we signed up for this plan all the insurance carriers in our state threatened to discontinue individual plans. Luckily, the state did some negotiating and the one company that agreed to continue with individual plans was the company we insure with. Our premiums have increased ten fold in the last decade. If we lost this insurance for some reason, we would have no other options.

If Congress were required to rely upon the same insurance as the rest of us -- bet they would find a way to offer good insurance to everyone quickly.

So let's push to have Congress covered by Medicadid only, and let them pay for the rest (as do the rest of us).

I was a freelancer in the entertainment industry for 9 years and went for a time without health insurance. I also had "interim" insurance right after I graduated from college. This means it's very expensive to make a claim. A while later I got Blue Cross. That cost me about $350 a month and went up every year.

When I moved to another city Blue Cross dropped me. Because I was honest on my application, the Blue Cross in my new home rejected me. I again went without until I got insured with National Association for the Self Employed which turned out to be a joke (see LA Times 7/5/05).

The biggest problems were that it didn't cover durable medical items, it only covered $1000 a day for hospitalization, and it limited the number of doctor visits per quarter. Of course getting a straight answer from anybody about what things would cost was impossible. All the deals the insurance company makes with the healthcare provider are proprietary.

Just to be diagnosed with sleep apnea (that's a respiratory problem that makes me wake up 30 times per hour without knowing it) cost me over $1000 out of pocket. Then to get the machine to treat me would have cost another $1275.

I'm a student now and working for the University so I'm pretty much taken care of. My premium is about $140 per month and the school pays $1000 a year. I got my CPAP machine for $67 out of pocket.

I've learned two important lessons from my health insurance experiences:

1. Always lie on your application.
   
2. Never start your own business.

We are going to continue to promote dishonesty and bankruptcy as well as choke off entrepreneurship until we do something about this system. I am convinced that single payer universal healthcare is the answer.