I lose my health insurance in two days. I got the letter yesterday. It gave a list of reasons why I might be losing it, but it didn’t specify, and it didn’t even offer the option to appeal. I can’t help but think someone, somewhere, is sitting in their office secure in their employer-sponsored insurance, and wondering “How many poor people can I fuck over today?”
I’m a temp. Almost ten years of being on SSI didn’t exactly leave a job history, and I was pretty worthless before that. I’m not even going to break $12,000 this year, which more than qualifies me for the health insurance I’ve been on, the Medicaid. Trying to pull yourself up by the boot straps doesn’t go so well when the straps were cut before you were ever born.
There’s a dark, cynical part of me that says this is planned. If a mentally ill person can’t afford her meds, maybe she’ll just off herself. If a poor person can’t afford mrdical treatment, maybe they’ll just die. Cheaper and easier than building camps and ovens for the lot of us. Less guilt, too.
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This is tragic, but a sign of what our governments deem important, hell, what our SPECIES deem important – our own destruction.
I’m sorry this is happening. Is Obamacare an option for you?
I need to make it be one. Like it or not, trying to be a functional human being without my meds isn’t an option.
Your post certainly resonated with me. I lost my medical insurance over three years ago. I stopped being able to afford it about a year after Obamacare kicked in. I am not poor, but rather I am self employed. Those rates are roughly 2.5 times higher than the pre-Obamacare days. If I had an employer provided plan the rates would be only about 12% higher than three years ago. So, thankfully my health was good at the time that I lost the ability to pay ( well I could pay the premiums but I would have to live for free with someone) and I have since maintained my health myself very carefully on my own.
BUT – if I became deathly ill today I would refuse any and all formal medical treatment to avoid absolutely certain impoverishment.
As you said, ” If a poor person can’t afford medical treatment, maybe they’ll just die.” I figure nowadays if I can’t afford to live then I don’t need to. But yes, if I became deathly ill right now I would be dead long before I qualified for anything or I would be made financially destitute if I generated any significant medical costs so if death was to be the outcome then so be it. You said it well:
“Cheaper and easier than building camps and ovens for the lot of us. Less guilt, too.” Great way to off the poor (or even average earning self -employed) isn’t it?
I’m sorry you’re in a similar situation. There are some times I wish people would just be more “Oh, you’re being paranoid,” rather than able to understand. 🙁 I can’t fathom a society that would rather let people die than provide at least basic healthcare.
“There are some times I wish people would just be more “Oh, you’re being paranoid,” rather than able to understand.” I think I get that. I mean it almost sucks to find out our issues are not entirely unique. but our issues still suck.
Mental healthcare in the USA: The rich get prescribed opioids and overdose. The poor get nothing and jump off bridges. Meh I guess it all works out the same.
It’s just that the pill pushers and big ****** can get richer from the rich. But yeah dead poor and dead rich is still dead. Well at least somebody gets some private golf lessons out the deal. Now I feel better.
lol that cracked me up
🙂
Hell, I have good health insurance and I can’t afford to use it for anything. Copays are a big chunk of my paycheck, and premiums go up if you take advantage of having coverage. It’s a great system we’ve got. I suppose this is what happens when government kowtows to private financial firms with a vested interest in maximizing their bottom lines. We get Frankenstein legislation that sounds good on the surface, but in the end, it serves to screw everyone but the shareholders.
About two months wages worth of deductibles made using the system unlikely even when I had coverage. Good riddance to the whole useless bloody thing I now say. I have not been covered in years and I will not sign up again until Medicare eligible. That is gonna be awhile.