Dear President Obama,
I'm sure you get quite
an abundance of mail, and I'm rather skeptical as to whether this will ever
actually reach you. I'm sure reading every letter would be quite time
consuming. If you are actually reading this, I'd like to say I'm honored. Seven
months ago someone ran a red light leaving me with a broken hip, and a dented
spirit. Since that time you have been involved in a series of firsts for me. At
the age of twenty-five years old I was confined to a nursing home for months. I
was adamant on still being able to vote, and being able to obtain an absentee
ballot. Even a bit panicked when it came time to transfer home during the same
time I needed to handle my ballot. I wanted my vote to count. You were the
first President I ever voted for and loudly supported. The first campaign I
ever donated to, even though I couldn't work and had very little money. As well
as the first President I have ever written a letter to. I was in a second car
accident as a passenger shortly after being released from the nursing home.
I've been through many
challenges in my life. I've probably been counted in far to many statistics. I
grew up in poverty, and in the shadows of pedophilia and alcoholism. Thanks to
the generosity and kindness of others I never gave up. I grew into a strong yet
humble woman. I worked my way up the economic ladder, while never forgetting to
give back. I volunteered with police departments across our great nation. I was
even filmed on Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series aiding the
police. I gave my time to an animal shelter local to me. I never forgot how far
I'd come.
This unfortunate
situation I've found myself in opened my eyes to the nightmare that is our
health care system, and our need for reform. It's one thing to hear about it,
and to sympathize. It is a totally different universe though to experience the
mayhem of the endless phone calls, and being forced to make the decision
between your rent or your health care premiums. If it was not for your reforms,
due to my pre-existing condition (my broken hip), I would not be able to
receive health insurance. I want to sincerely thank you for that. I also want
to invite you to view our health care system from my new perspective.
I was terminated in
September of 2012 by my employer of over six years. Due to my broken hip I
could no longer perform my job as required. I am receiving sixty percent of my
salary through an employer paid disability benefit. I had to switch over to
health insurance through COBRA. The cost of COBRA takes about thirty-five
percent of my net income. Thirty-five percent of sixty percent is a painful
number. Who knew numbers could hurt? I currently get no relief from the
insurances of those who hit me (both were on cellphones while driving). I have
to file suit, which unfortunately takes years. I had to resort to applying for
welfare.
Switching to COBRA in
itself was a bit of a nightmare. It takes about three weeks for your first
payment to "process". In the meantime you're technically covered, but
no doctor’s office will take it anyways. It was a nightmare. MRI's had to be
rescheduled, appointments cancelled. I simply did not have the funds to pay out
of pocket and wait to get reimbursed. I just got fired. There was a battery of
phone calls that ended along the lines of "Yes, your insurance company
told us that you're technically covered, but we have to wait until it says so
in the computer." Frustrating.
I was relieved when I
was accepted for welfare. It wasn't much, but I was sure the health insurance
would be a huge help. Perhaps I could even drop my COBRA; that would be a huge
help. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. Having a broken hip is pretty
unpleasant; beyond the metal plate and eight screws. There's surgeons,
orthopedists, family doctor, physical therapists, radiologists, even
psychologists. (I was diagnosed with PTSD) So far only one of them
accepts the insurance I receive through the state of Pennsylvania. When you
have a broken hip you just can't stop going to the specialists you need. I'm
looking at having to get around seven replacements in my lifetime.
I begrudgingly decided
I had to keep my insurance through COBRA. Things were very tight, but I
managed. Managing is the important part. Then came the bills. Most doctors’
offices have this new policy. If you owe them money, you're not making an
appointment. I can't skip appointments. A: Because I have a broken hip, and B:
Because then I'd lose my disability income. So, then began the phone calls
trying to figure out just why exactly I had all these bills coming in. Turned
out switching your insurance through COBRA wasn't just a fancy new expensive
payment plan, but an entirely new policy with fresh deductibles. Deductibles
run by calendar year, so I got an entire new set of deductibles again in
January. That's a total of one-thousand dollars in deductibles and
four-thousand dollars in out of pocket expenses in a matter of months. I dread
checking my mail.
Unbelievably, it gets
worse. I can only keep my health insurance through COBRA for one year. My
benefits will end around August of 2013 through COBRA and I will have to search
for individual self-pay policies. I've already begun looking, because once
again I will have to go through those three to four weeks of
"processing" where no doctor’s office will see me. I'd rather keep it
as short as possible. Thanks to your reform I can at least find insurance with
my pre-existing condition. (Broken hip) It seems insurance companies have found
a way around that though. Sure, they have to legally insure you, so they'll just
make it so unattainably expensive and worthless that no one can afford it. The
self-pay policy that I will be switching to when my COBRA benefits expire is
one-hundred dollars more expensive, with twice the deductible, almost twice
the out of pocket expenses, a prescription deductible of five-hundred dollars,
and a prescription plan that only pays 70%. I have to pay more money, to
be in an even worse situation then I already am. This is the best option out
there that I can find. If I hadn't been on COBRA and been offered a
"conversion" package, it would have cost me over three-hundred
dollars more a month. It's sheerly unbelievable.
Shortly after I switch
to my own self-pay insurance in August, January will roll around once again
with a whole new set of deductibles to bring along with it. That's another
two-thousand dollars in deductibles and six-thousand dollars in out of pocket
expenses. Due to COBRA I will have had
to pay insurance deductibles five times in less than a year and a half,
with my rates sky-rocketing after my COBRA period expires. Three thousand
dollars in deductibles, and ten thousand dollars in out of pocket expenses in
less than a year and a half. My original policy for the year, before this
nightmare began cost me only about 15% of that.
I am paying physically
and emotionally every day for someone else’s mistake, and I am forced to sacrifice
my financial stability to maintain health insurance because of it. The
insurance companies are profiting off of my misfortune with their battery of deductibles
and extreme rates. I've been forced to sell my possessions just to pay medical
bills. Is this the American dream we wish to portray? I am the face of America
begging for health care reform. I am living the nightmare of a broken system
that no one sees from the outside. I beg of you to create some good from my
misfortune and use my experience to educate others about the reform we so
desperately need.
Yours Truly,
Trisha
Bootsma
