Fadedwords

You know, as I went through college I was consciously thinking about how important it was to get my degree and find a job that would offer me decent benefits.  Most importantly, especially as I went through graduate school, I was thinking of health insurance.  This became even more crucial to me after I underwent my thyroidectomy; I knew that I would be on medication for the whole of my life and that good medical coverage was of vital importance.

After working in New York State and being covered under their state employees medical plan, I felt very secure about working in the field of education and getting state coverage pretty much wherever I went.  NYS has very comprehensive coverage.  When I had a serious horseback riding accident and needed to go to the emergency room for a  bad concussion, the cost to me was minimal.

I didn’t expect anything different when I moved to North Carolina, but I was sorely mistaken.  The state employees health plan is minimal at best.  Granted, since I moved here there have been a lot of medical issues that popped up unexpectedly.  First there was the spider bites, then the issues we thought were ovarian cysts, then there was my injured back, and then the problems with my eye.   Most recently there was the emergency appendectomy.  So I realize that I’ve been kind of medically deficient since I moved here.  The fact that I am still paying off the trip to the ER for the spider bites though, is distressing.  The fact that I had to stop going to the doctor about my eye before I figured out what was causing the scarring, simply because I couldn’t afford all the testing and office visits is appalling.

The most distressing thing, however, is that for a procedure like an appendectomy that was completely mandatory, the insurance didn’t cover all of it.  Even with insurance I am being left with a $1703.04 balance at the hospital, a nearly $200 bill with the anesthesiologist, and I still haven’t received a bill from the surgeon.  That is nearly $2000 that I will have to find some way to come up with.  I understand that the insurance plan covered the vast majority of the cost… and believe me that’s wonderful and I’m thankful.  But quite honestly, what the hell is the point of being insured if you’re going to be left with extremely high medical bills after a necessary procedure?  Bills like this are monumental to me, as I know they would be for virtually any other normal person.

Long story short: I’m feeling frustrated and disappointed with health care in this country.