Brenda in Gaithersburg, Maryland

Brenda in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

Brenda’s story is about her father who died two months ago. She told her story with a mix of disbelief and quiet anger though she was heartened to be able to share with others what she felt was a true health insurance horror story.

Her late father had diabetes since 1995. His illness was complicated by neuropathy and multiple foot infections resulting in an amputation of one great toe. Earlier this year, his insurance company, Group Health, told him that they were dropping him for ‘medical noncompliance’ although Brenda, who’s a nurse, said this was patently a lie and they had medical proof, including doctor’s attestations, that he was in compliance. And then he had a stroke, which was compounded with multiple complications. He came down with sepsis, had to have another amputation, this time below-the-knee. Though the MD said everything was “OK”, the operation was, in fact, a “was a disaster,” Brenda told me. It turned out he was left unattended in the hallway, coded in recovery, had a head bleed, was given CPR, put on a ventilator and admitted to the ICU. He never regained consciousness. He was taken to a Palliative Care unit and though he was put on a morphine drip, he survived for two more tortuous months. All during this time, people from the hospital kept coming by telling his already grieving wife that she would be responsible for the bill. “The total bill is $69,000 and still going up,” she said.

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.”

Terry in Middletown, Maryland

Terry in Middletown, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

I met Terry at the Oriole Club, a local bar where I stopped in during a ferocious thunderstorm to take a water break. Terry believes in preventative medicine, eating right, exercising—being positive. She doesn’t have insurance and with two kids, she’s busy providing them with a home and feeding them right.

Last year she got very sick but nobody would take her. Because she has no primary care doctor, it costs $250 just to “get in the door.” The others seated along the bar gave knowing looks. She told me she “prayed a lot,” especially when her temperature hit 104. “But I survived,” she said with a smile. “But, if you don’t have insurance,” she told me, “you’re treated different.”

Sonny northwest of Frederick, Maryland

Sonny northwest of Frederick, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

Sonny told me the story of a girl in town. Many of the others seated at the bar recognized her plight. “She’s worked for ten years, without insurance,” Sonny told me. And she got sick with a gallbladder problem and, “probably because she couldn’t work on account of her illness,” she was laid-off. She needs a gall bladder removal but the doctor keeps putting her off. “Nobody wants to treat her,” he added. “And she went to see the specialist but he wanted $300 up-front.” Karen, sitting alongside, squirmed in disapproval. “Everyone's giving her the run-around … And there seems to be no way out of her situation.”

Tiffany in Hagerstown, Maryland

Tiffany in Hagerstown, Maryland
Originally uploaded by walk4healthcare

Tiffany doesn’t have a job, nor does she have health insurance. As a single mom, her daughter gets assistance through the state. For herself, she did have to go to the emergency room one time last year but as she didn’t fill out the form for medical assistance in time (there was a three-month time limit ), she ended up owing $4,000. Now she’s being taken to court by the hospital, Washington County. “I get phone calls every day from the bill collectors,” she tells me. “And I’m scared to go back to the doctor for anything including my ‘frozen shoulder’.

With some trepidation, she told me she knew somebody who was threatened with jail for not responding to court summons for a medical bill. “It's not a good situation to be in,” she told me.

Despite her unhappy troubles, Tiffany insisted on smiling when I took her picture.

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.