Stories from the Health Care front: #1

Here's the first of a hopefully longer series of stories about negotiating the treacherous waters of health care in MA. We've gotten some personal stories in some of the comment threads -- I'll put them on the front page as well.

I've "promoted" this story from the extended entry of this post to give it greater prominence: "Kerry" is a woman I know -- here's her story:

In 2002 I was a controller at a public relations firm.  During that year I decided to take a sabbatical, volunteer for organizations and causes important to me.  I started independent consulting, becoming self-employed, while volunteering and have earned a decent living.  I had access to health insurance through COBRA.  However, a few months after I left my previous employer, it stopped operating, each partner going off on their own and the health insurance contract which covered COBRA was cancelled.  I was offered an individual policy at a cost of $1,100 per month versus $250 per month which was far more than I could afford.  So I am without health insurance.

Early last March, after an ice storm here in Boston, I slipped and fell down the steps outside my home.  I tore and severely bruised muscles and had some internal injuries.  The resulting medical bills equaled close to $9,000 when all was done.

I discovered something when I received those medical bills.  I was required to pay into a fund to provide services to the uninsured even though I was uninsured.  And the fees I was charged were far higher than those the HMOs, insurance companies and large employers pay.  When I asked about it I was told by a senior manager in the billing department that the discounts negotiated by the HMOs and insurance companies had to be recouped somewhere and the only group without the negotiating power to get a discount was the uninsured.

I support the Health Care Initiative for the health of all communities and neighborhoods and for the nearly 600,000 who are just like me - uninsured in Massachusetts.