Monday, March 24, 2008
I’ll be surprised if I make it to 45 years old. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who suffers from a thing called insurance. I get sick a lot and not having insurance is not an option for me.
It all started when I went into the “real” world and got a job. I was covered by BlueCross BlueShield within a month. It was all nice until I found out that I needed to have surgery. I was pretty lucky because I was insured at the time, and they helped cover my surgery.
After I lost my job and decided to go back to school, the trouble began. Not at first, though, because I wasn’t yet 25. But last December I turned 25, and realized I no longer qualified for my parents’ insurance and had to find my own.
My dad and I decided to try BlueCross BlueShield again because they had a student-specific insurance plan. They reviewed my application and after seeing I’d had one minor surgery, which I had completely recovered from, I was charged an extra $150 from the original plan’s cost.
When I had a full-time job, I could barely afford their rates. Now as a full-time student with a part-time job, there is no way I can afford it.
So we found a different provider, United Healthcare.
They had a student option as well, and it cost much less. The only qualification was you that needed to be a college student enrolled in at least nine hours, which I was.
So I applied, got accepted and paid for the coverage. Then I got sick.
I got sick with a viral infection in February. Then I suffered from a migraine, and I had to get a check-up for the previous migraine. But I also had a yearly visit to my dermatologist, which is not covered under the plan.
United was alarmed by all this and sent me a five-page letter requesting a lot of information. Because the visit to the dermatologist was denied, it seemed they got suspicious and wanted me to verify I was indeed a student.
It made no sense to me that they’d accepted my application and my money, and then wanted verification that I was a student. So now I have to go to the University of Kansas registrar’s office and get someone to sign it, verifying I’m a student and send it back to United.
United is trying to get information that could prove that I’ve had or still have other insurance just so they don’t have to pay for my doctors’ visits. They are trying to disprove that I’m a student so they don’t have to cover me.
Isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t health care companies want to give Americans better health and care? Shouldn’t we feel safer now that we have insurance coverage? But instead, I fear the day I cross a street and get hit by a car. I fear every time I turn on my blow dryer or the leak in our basement that threatens to collapse the entire house.
But worse of all, I fear some lengthy illness like cancer, any form of cancer. It seems the longer the disease and the more the treatments, the less the insurance companies want to cover you.
I know a lot of students face this and will continue to face this when they get out in the work force. I wish I could offer some solutions like a unified health care system for everyone, but that just doesn’t seem feasible. The insurance companies have gained too much power to be brought back down to Earth. My only suggestion would be to fly across the world in order to get the specialized treatment or go to Canada and wait in line. Hey, it’s better than having to sign your life away for one simple surgery.
Earles is an Olathe senior in journalism.
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Comments
Earles: Students suffer under health insurance costs
This story should be titled "Everyone suffers under health insurance costs." It is not written from the point of view of an average student and the only point it makes is that health care is expensive. Car insurance is also expensive and they raise your rates if you get into an accident. Think of surgery as an accident and you'll see why they charge someone with risk more.
Earles: Students suffer under health insurance costs
Linguo, you poor misguided grammar robot. First, my name is not a Star Wars reference. Second, although my comment was fairly heartless it wasn't any less true. Increased risk is met with increased cost. I agree that genetically debilitating issues should be covered, but most health issues arise with a little help from the sufferer.
Also universal health care isn't the wonder cure. Long lines, higher taxes, and the chance for deficient care can all be yours if we try to suddenly adopt universal health care. Enjoy.
Earles: Students suffer under health insurance costs
"Long lines, higher taxes, and the chance for deficient care can all be yours if we try to suddenly adopt universal health care. Enjoy."
long lines? - bah. a minor inconvenience. higher taxes? - true, but with those higher taxes i know that if i get sick, i can go to the hospital regardless of my financial situation. deficient care? - really? compared to what we have here? i suppose that "deficient care" is why the rest of the world has a better health and a longer life span than Americans. yea, that makes sense.
sign me up.
Earles: Students suffer under health insurance costs
"but with those higher taxes i know that if i get sick, i can go to the hospital regardless of my financial situation"
If you get sick, you may get treated, unless there are plenty of people ahead of you, people who also have less money due to the taxes they are paying for this wait.
Also, the rest of the world is less obese, has less alcoholics, etc... I don't know maybe those could contribute to worse health.
Earles: Students suffer under health insurance costs
Good point, empirelucas. People do not take into account Americans' unhealthy habits when talking about universal healthcare coverage. The reason we have a shorter lifespan is more likely attributed to problems like obesity and alcoholism than it is to our supposedly lackluster healthcare.
As I just commented on a very unrelated article, when a service is provided to a community for free, the service is overused. Have you ever heard of hypochondria? Can you imagine what kind of lines will clog the doctors' offices when people can go to clinics for free? Will real health threats be put on the backburner?
What will happen to the pay of doctors? Did you know that in Canada doctors are allowed to earn normal pay for their services up to a certain amount, and then after a certain amount (I don't have the exact numbers right there) the government takes away 75%? What kind of incentive does this give doctors to provide extra services and do beyond the bare minimum required to get their salary?
Many will argue that doctors already get paid enough. However, I don't know how one can argue this given the value of the service that doctors provide to our country at what is often the expense of their personal lives.
Regardless of the abstract concept of overpaid doctors, the fact stands that humans are motivated by personal incentive. Incentive brings about innovation. Per dollar invested in science, the United States is by far the most productive country in the world.
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