"Unfortunately"

"Unfortunately" we cannot offer you any type of health insurance coverage.......I've heard this repeatedly for the last week. Everyone knows you will not find any insurance company willing to take the risk of any pre-existing condition such as Diabetes. We are considered "un-insurable". But being desperate I had to try. We are stuck in a really hard place. Cobra needs $2800 up front to cover us for the next two months. Um, Yea.....let me just pull that out of my savings. Ohhhh, that's right. We don't have any more savings since we used it entirely to pay off Maddison's hospital bills from diagnosis.

Going back to school means Maddison will be exposed to a bazillion germs in the nurses office every day, more so than the kids that don't have to visit the nurse every day. Her chances of ending up very ill could be pretty good thanks to Diabetes. A common cold or strep throat isn't just minor occurrence for us sometimes. I have had a hacking cough since a cold last week and I am about to cough out what I think is an ovary. A tickly, persistent, violent cough that leads to a coughing attack. Sounds great when you are on the phone trying to get insurance, LOL. I am sure they think I must smoke 5 packs a day. I literally have to ask them to hold as I hack away until tears fill my eyes and I start sweating from the stress of it all!

So, the possibility that we could be hospitalized in the next 60 days while we lack insurance I guess in reality is pretty slim being that we are pretty darn healthy otherwise. What are the chances right? But if we were, one trip to the ER or a few days Inpatient could cost us as much as a new car! Try paying off those medical bills in a time of $4 gas prices and grocery expenses that are near double! Then there is the continuous coverage issue. If we lapse the 63 days without insurance we will forever be considered a pre-existing condition. That simply cannot happen. Diabetes for Maddison and I would never again be covered. Not our insulin, ($400 per month)pump supplies ($4800 per year)no patient care that includes Diabetes. Ever, as long as we live. Now Josh calls telling me that the new insurance will have a pre-existing clause, meaning we must have continuous coverage (no gap) in order for them to insure us through Josh's new employer. COBRA or one other "high risk" plan at $700 per month is our only option. Ouch.

Can I just say how much I hate insurance companies? On one side there are the doctors and nurses, with insurance companies on the opposite. In the middle are the patients. Trapped in the gray area that overlaps these groups is the government, which is left to determine legislation meant to offer a balanced and fair appraisal of health care that benefits all parties as equally as possible. Premium costs rise, benefits are reduced. Out of pocket expenses soar. We are nearing a health insurance crisis in the US and nothing will change until it is too late for millions of people just like us. We will have to budget and change our lifestyles to afford our medical expenses. Planning for this insurance burden caused us to miss our summer vacation. Of course we will make it and find a way to pay for this unbelievable expense. As long as we are healthy and have each other, in all honesty that is all I need in my life. I have never been one to need alot of little extras in my life, so it won't really be hard for ME to do without. As a mom you are used to that! My kids however, will have to learn to do without for a few months. I feel really bad for anyone facing these same issues. "Unfortunately" today I don't have much faith in health care days ahead.