Sheryl VanVleck on sat 6 apr 02
My husband is disabled, and has been since his early 30s. He is on Social
Security and Medicare but my insurance, and our son are covered by his
previous employer. he worked for LTV Steel mill, in East Chicago, IN for 16
years. Not enough for regular retirement. They were good to him as his
illness progressed but now they are closed due to Bankruptcy. I can't say
enough bad words for a government that failed to protect the steel industry
until all these mills closed and thousands lost their retirement money and
insurance and then put a system in place to equalize trade with foreign
countries. The other thing I am angry about is the insurance. We now hve
none; with only word of mouth warning, nothing official, we lost our
insurance on March 31st. That includes medications which amount to a lot for
the two of us. I am told my insurance alone will cost $1,000 a month. Then,
when I went to the state, the same insurance agent told me he could get it
for $700. The state wasn't any better. AARP has a policy I took out and I
did finally find something for self-employed people that will be a little
over $300 for my grandson and I. My husband is not eligible for any type of
insurance. No one will touch you with COPD. Yep, no health crisis in this
country. And, the worse part is. I have three part time jobs, besides my
own pottery business, and I am going to have to quit one in order to qualify
for some prescription programs from the drug companies.
Socialized medicine is looking better and better to me.
Sheryl VanVleck
Wyoming
KLeSueur@AOL.COM on mon 8 apr 02
<>
In 1992 I was the chair of a large arts organization when our insurance dried up. We represented artists in all fifty states. For years we had a good policy through the U-Michigan even though we were no longer an affliated organization. But our membership was aging and the carrier could no longer continue to loose money on our group. We spent a lot of time finding a new company. They came highly recommended. we're in business for 29 years. And yet one year later they were bankrupt. One of their problems was that they had tried to be "too responsible" to their clients.
Many of our members are now uninsurable. One had just been approved for a bone-marrow transplant.
While I feel for all of them, I can't fault a company for rejecting a new person whose costs to the company will far exceed anything they will pay in.
kathi LeSueur
| |
|
