Howard and Tauyna in Frederick, Maryland

Howard and Tauyna in Frederick, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

I met Howard, and his wife Tauyna, over breakfast at the Days Inn. Howard told me that they’ve generally been OK, but even with insurance, “deductibles have been increasing and out-of-pocket expenses also going up.”

But Howard wished to share a story from twenty years ago. “It actually relates to what’s happening today,” he told me. He was between jobs, he explained, having left a position with health insurance for a higher-paying job that did not, however, offer health benefits. Soon after, his wife had a tubal pregnancy and with the hospital bills he ended up having to taking out a loan for $8,000 (“a huge chunk of change in those days,” he added). The doctor forgave his fee and he was able to negotiate a half-price with the anesthesiologist. “I sure don’t know what would happen if it were today.”

Chris in Frederick, Maryland

Chris in Frederick, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

Chris works at the Days Inn in Frederick. He’s an insulin-dependent diabetic (that’s his supplies he’s proudly showing me). He has insurance but “it sucks, only covers so much,” he told me. “They don’t cover even the supplies I have here. And if you go to the hospital for low blood sugar, or see a specialist, it costs several hundred dollars.”

He was previously under his parent’s coverage but now his own insurance, which “bad as it is,” he added, has been further downgraded because of the economy. “"But,” he said, “I don't have much choice unless I get another job, and that’s not at all easy these days.”

Frank in Frederick, Maryland

Frank in Frederick, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

Frank’s story centers around his fiancé. She’s a breast cancer survivor. The chemotherapy, according to Frank, “‘cured’ the cancer but devastated her body.” She continues to have health problems,” he told me. These include diabetes and psoriatic arthritis for which she is treated with methotrexate and Enbril injections. She had been getting her medications through PAC (Physicians Assistance Care of Maryland) but, as Frank explained to me, “Only the diabetes medicines qualified and those she got through this program were less effective than what she was previously taking.” Now that she is working, she is no longer eligible for the program (which requires an income of less than $1,400 a month). Her new job offers health insurance but, “the premiums are so high that if she gets the policy, there’d be no money for anything else.” Getting health insurance, would “make it impossible for her to live,” Frank told me. “And, even with the policy, the medications would be too expensive.”

“Basically,” Frank summarized for me, “without healthcare, she has pain and suffering, can't get out of bed and so could lose the job.”

“That's terrible,” I said.

“Oh, it could be worse I guess,” he replied, shaking his head.