Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/13/2008
Posts: 25
Location: Michigan
|
I was yanked out of work by my doctors at the end of March in 2001. They told me I had overworked myself to the point of permanent physical damage to my body as well as my brain. Needless to say, I was totally shocked and found it hard to believe. I knew I was in a lot of pain and experiencing memory problems but I figured a couple months off and I'd be good as new. When my short-term and long-term illness insurance providers refused to make any payments, I immediately applied for Social Security Disability. If I remember correctly, it took 22 months but I was approved on the first try which is almost unheard of. For this I will always be grateful. Some money and some insurance is a whole lot better than none at all.
By the end of 2005 everyone on Medicare was required by the government to have prescription drug coverage. If you didn't choose a plan by the end of the enrollment period in May of 2006, a person would be penalized by a 1% increase in charges for every month they went without coverage. If you think about it, this was a form of legal extortion but I didn't care. I'm more or less uninsurable because of my illnesses and needed medication by a more cost effective means. I painstakingly researched all the providers and chose the one with the best coverage for needed medications. I was excited about the program because it was supposed to reduce my medication costs from $14,000 a year down to under $3,000.
Immediately after signing the dotted line...all sorts of problems emerged.
From the onset, this particular provider did everything imaginable to deny covering required medications. Every month I'd receive a letter stating they were discontinuing one medication or another which forced me to go without while my doctor filled out reams of paperwork explaining why it was necessary for me to have it. In the mean time, they still received the monthly premium for which I received little benefit. They also charge more for generic drugs that could be purchased for less elsewhere without insurance and consistently tried to deny any medication without a generic equivalent. Our government allows the individual providers to set their own prices and to pick and choose which medications they will or won't cover. From what I can tell, none of the providers approved drug lists are the same.
I'm supposed to be keeping my stress level to a minimum but it was during a particular low point in the summer of 2006 I got so ticked off, I sat down with my poison pen and hammered out a book. The book is a thriller based on a conspiracy to restore financial security to the nation by exterminating the ill, aging and anyone determined to be a non-productive burden on society.
The book contains blood, guts and mayhem and is filled with true to life situations which some will surely find offensive but all in all, it makes a very sad statement about companies driven by greed and our nation's health care system.
The book is titled: A Nation of Expendables
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 7/14/2008
Posts: 1
Location: Cincinnati, Oh
|
I'm glad you wrote this, Vana. It's a book everyone needs to read!
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 5/13/2008
Posts: 25
Location: Michigan
|
Thank you Kenzie, your opinion means a lot to me.
|
