NATERNET

292- Saturday, November 13th - So, we’ve been denied health coverage.

For the past year, we have been the beneficiaries of COBRA coverage from Sara’s stint at Nike and the Obama administration’s extension of that coverage for the recently unemployed. It was a much needed safety net while we worked to get ourselves back above water. No matter what else could go wrong, we had health insurance and could go to the doctor when and if something went wrong.

That coverage ended with the month of October. So, we started shopping around for coverage and found a plan with the same provider that we could afford. It had a high deductible and wasn’t the greatest in terms of coverage, but it was coverage and that was what mattered. 

Well, so much for that. As you can see in the photo, we received our notices back about the coverage we applied for through ODS- DENIED.

Sara was denied because of the chronic back pain that she has had to deal with for the past few years. Nothing terrible, but certainly annoying. She doesn’t even take any pain meds or anything for it. A boderline denial for a “pre-existing condition.”

But for me, the denial was because of “height to weight ratio.” 

What!?

I’m 6’ tall and 215lbs. I’m not slim by any means, I never have been. But I go to the gym three days a week and lift heavy, mostly Olympic-type lifts: squats, deadlifts, overhead presses and bench press, mixing in pushups and pullups, as well as plenty o cardio. I am not, repeat NOT fat or overweight. I’m a bit heavier than I’d like (195 would be ideal, and I’ll get there soon enough), but I’m absolutely stunned that I would be denied health insurance for my fucking height to weight ratio. 

Many of you have heard about the recent elimination of pre-existing conditions as a reason to deny health insurance for children, brought about by the health insurance reform bill that Obama and the Dems passed earlier this year. It’s a wonderful and very overdue fix to a persistent problem for parents trying to get health coverage for their children. 

Unfortunately for us, the overall elimination of pre-existing condition denial doesn’t kick in until 2014. That sucks. It’s nice to know that it’s eventually going to happen, but that doesn’t do much to help us get coverage right now. It’s this kind of thing that left progressives feeling lukewarm about the health care bill. It doesn’t do enough to reform the broken system.

I was one of the people clamoring for a single-payer option. (note for you “keep government out of my healthcare” crowd: IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A FUCKING OPTION)

I would have gladly signed up for the single-payer option as soon as it would have been available. Y’know why? Because I would have been secure in the knowledge that, despite the volatile job market right now and how difficult it is to find a job that will give you health care (neither of my jobs offers health care), I would have been able to go the doctor. Having that worry off our plate would have been a welcome change.

But that’s no longer an option. And, if the new GOP House majority gets their way, they are going to try and get rid of the health care reform bill altogether. They haven’t spelled out what they would replace it with, of course. This, apparently, doesn’t bother almost half of our country. They’re just fine with health insurers continuing to raise rates and deny coverage to millions of Americans. Even though parts of the bill are going to go into effect too far down the road for my tastes, at least they’re going into effect.

If I don’t find a better job that offers health insurance in the next three years, they would be just fine with me never getting coverage, all because I have an unacceptable height to weight ratio. That makes it sound like I need a Hoverround to get around, or that someone would need to break down a wall in my house to get me out the door, when all it really means is that I have an athletic build. Under these conditions, most college and professional football players would be denied coverage. 

Does that make any sense at all?

So, now we face more uncertainty, even though I have two jobs and Sara is bringing in clients as a freelance graphic designer. It’s worrisome, but there’s nothing we can do now except keep shopping around and hope that we can find a relatively affordable plan with another insurer that won’t deny us. Until then, we had both better hope that neither of us gets hurt or needs to see a doctor. That’s a fun dark cloud to have hanging over our heads as 31 year old, responsible homeowners who just happened to both be affected by the recent economic collapse. 

Fuck you, ODS. Fuck you.