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All messages are published
with permission of the sender.
The general topic of this message is Health:
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Subject:
Health Care
To:
Rep. George Miller
September 26, 2009
I am a 51 year old woman with Neurofibromatosis. This is a disease that affects my whole body. I hear you saying that you are for the people of your district BUT I really don't think so. . I have been on the other side of BAD health insurance. My husband died in 1994 because of Kaiser canceling our insurance. Do you want to know why? He lived too long,.After he was told he had cancer.we lost our health insurance almost exactly 2 years to the day that we were told he had cancer and would live about 2 years. We had to go to Mexico to get medications and doctors care for him. Not counting we lost 4 houses that we had bought over the years for income, we had to sell them to pay medical bills. Now I'm sick and have nothing left.
My sister lives in Canada and after talking to her and my aunt from England, the BS coming out of some people's mouths about their health care systems is out and out lies! Mt sister has 4 children and she Never has had to worry about health care costs OR high taxes.She never has to worry about loosing her home. She has NO long waits for a Doctor's visits or to get any medical treatments. NEVER. My Aunt came to the US after WWII, and has kept up with her family there, and they never have had the problems that have been talked about around the GOP . No long waits, can see any Doctor they want and all drugs and medications are covered at the same cost.
If you really think about it, If the health care insurance companies are making profits, where is all that money coming from? The pockets of working Americans. All of those profits are wasted moneys that Americans could be putting into their health costs. Not some CEOs pocket. Canada and the UK do not have those overhead costs
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Back to the fact that I'm a disabled adult, with no small children. I can not find a Doctor other than in the County system . The Doctor's that I have asked to be my Doctor all say they can not afford to work with Medicare or Medi-Cal. Because the reimbursement from the State and Federal programs are so low they can not afford too. With their overhead costs, insurance costs and slow reimbursement, they just can not do it.
Another case is my brother-in-law worked as a head mechanic for over 30 years. He paid into the benefits, union dues and 401 k programs. He had a stroke at the age of 59 and when he could no longer work his medical health care premiums went up to $1,387 a MONTH, $10 more than retirement benefits. I called the US Labor Board in SF and was told that his company had to offer Cobra BUT not how much it would cost. I called the Union and was told that the cost was set by Kaiser and they had no say in the amount. After complaining to everyone that I could think of, Diana Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and his other local Reps, we got NO where. Kaiser could set the price of health insurance where they wanted too. There are NO laws to protect consumers from Health Care Insurance companies.
Can I ask you a question? If this was your family how would you feel about the way the Health Care insurances were acting? If there are no Laws to protect us from this kind of behavior, how can we feel that you are really looking out of us? You hear a lot of people saying they don't want changes, but I don't think they really know how bad it can get because they haven't had problems, YET. You do not hear from the people that are really be affected by the practices of the Health Care companies. We are the population that never gets heard. Why, because we are disabled, the poor and the ignorant that do not know how to complain and be heard. We don't have the money to travel to Washington. We are not ABLE to stand on a street corner and yell the loudest .
But I do know how to speak out, but I don't feel like I'm being heard.
Clayton , CA
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