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1/ Spent Friday night in urgent care with my 10-month-old son. High fever, diarrhea, irritable. Turns out it’s an ear infection. Insurance won’t cover visit. Didn’t cover antibiotics. If I took him to an ER it would be covered. Our insurance is based in NY. We’re in NH.
2/ Because of Covid, job furloughs, etc., we’ve moved 4 times in the last year. I could switch coverage and buy a plan in New Hampshire, where we currently live, but our living situation is temporary. We don’t know where we’ll be in May.
3/ We need nationalized universal healthcare, #MedicareForAll. This state-based system with exorbitant premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses is terrible. It’s so bad I’ve spent most of my adult life uninsured, except when pregnant (a qualifying life event).
4/ I’m lucky in that I can pay for the appointment. I didn’t have to take my son to the ER and risk exposing him to COVID, since he’s too young to wear a mask (at urgent care they let me wait with him in the car). But that’s not true for many families also uprooted at this time
5/ Isn’t it better not to crowd ERs right now? One argument for passing Obamacare was that uninsured people were crowding ERs with medical problems best addressed in a doctor’s office. Yet my son’s insurance wanted me to bring him to an ER or drive 5 hours to see a Dr in NY.
6/There are good parts to Obamacare, but anyone who’s bought a plan on the NY exchange (which is what I can speak to) knows the plans suck. Every year more doctors stop taking Obamacare plans because reimbursement rates are low.
7/Medicaid is worse in terms of wait times to see a doctor, though at least it’s free. One argument against MedicareForAll is that all healthcare would be like Medicaid with huge waits to see a Dr or get a test. But something’s got to change—the current system doesn’t work.
8/If politicians had to buy their insurance on the exchange they’d know this.
In April I’ll be driving 5 hours so my son can get his 1-year checkup & vaccines. Yes, I’ll be traveling, which healthcare professionals advise against. But what’s the alternative? Pay out of pocket.
In April I’ll be driving 5 hours so my son can get his 1-year checkup & vaccines. Yes, I’ll be traveling, which healthcare professionals advise against. But what’s the alternative? Pay out of pocket.
9/The system is broken. Let's push the new Democratic Congress and President Biden to make healthcare reform a top priority (and I don't mean token reforms to the shitty Obamacare system we have now).
