Submitted by hareyan on Sep 19th, 2008
Since health insurance is not affordable anymore Juanita Anderson of Los Angeles, California, fears her insurance more than her illness.
"I have a very rare and incurable disease called systemic mastocytosis, which very few doctors even know about," said Juanita Anderson who resides in Los Angeles, California.
"It has changed my life totally. I had to stop working last year when I was 62 and able to retire. My health insurance is very expensive and is taken out of my retirement check. I spend a lot of time in the emergency room and have had to call 911 for help on more occasion than I can remember. This disease just takes your life away from you.
"I live on $1,500 a month – a mix of Social Security, pension, and help from my family. For the first three months of the year, I had to put my medical costs on credit cards until my prescription drug coverage starts.
"Last year, my premiums were going to double so I switched to a plan that was $30 to $40 cheaper but I am worried that the coverage won't be adequate. And the medications I have to take are very expensive because I can't take generic drugs; they all have to be name brand.
"I've lived with this disease since the year 2000. I know that I am one of the lucky few Americans who even has retiree healthcare, through my union. Without health insurance I would be dead now I'm sure. I still live in constant fear that the premiums and plan can change at any time, or be eliminated altogether."
Source:
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
Comments
#1 Retiree health insurance
Not to worry ............. Once McCain is elected, employers will all drop both empolyee & retiree coverage since the is no question McCain's plan will work wonderfully & has been well thought out. No doubt about it, his "tax credit" for moving us to individually-purchase private sector insurance, with all the "competition" it will bring will certainly lower premiums for all.
No to worry ........ should easily be able to offset the current empolyer-based structure's benefits of:
* Group vs Individual rates
* Being guaranteed coverage at the same cost as everyone else, even if your REALLY sick
* The roughly 75% overall plan cost subsidy from the employer
Yeah, WHEN PIGS FLY !