My Letter to the President
By jason0980
@jason0980 (11)
United States
August 12, 2009 10:25am CST
This is a letter I sent to President Obama this past week.
Dear Mr. President Obama;I am sending this letter to you and my congressman, because in my frustration is is the only thing I know to do.
My name is Jason ________. I am a 28 year old male living in Louisville Kentucky. I just returned home a few minutes ago from the pharmacy, where I was dealt yet another blow from my insurance company.
About six months ago I purchased a health insurance plan from Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield. I have never had health insurance before, and honestly, I am questioning why I have it now. About four months ago my stomach started bleeding. I went to the emergency room. And they referred me to my doctor, DR. _____, a great doctor. His instructions were as follows;1. No more Asprin or Ibuprofen, so I had my tooth pulled (at a cost of $100)
2. Stop drinking Mt. Dew and no more Caffeine, so i switched to Sprite and stopped drinking coffee. (the headaches were horrid)
3. Stop smoking. He gave me a prescription for Chantix, Anthem decided not to cover it. (I guess they hope that I get hit by a car and they get out of paying for cancer treatments that way. It's just too much to expect a health insurance company to want to help improve your over all health.)
4. Get a colonoscopy. (here is where it gets fun) I have a $1500 co-pay. This means that this procedure to see if I have cancer, or a bleeding ulcer, or a cut in my stomach, would cost me, now remember this is after the insurance company pays there%20 after my deductible, a total of $2300. (I don't have $2300 so I am not going to have the colonoscopy)
I have sinus problems. Everyday I have a sinus headache. My doctor prescribed me Xyzal, because remember I can't take asprin or ibuprofen anymore. I get to the pharmacy only to discover that my insurance company is fine with me being in pain.
I love my country. On the forth of July I am right there with everyone else waving the flag. I am a child of the military; we were stationed over seas during the cold war. I pay my taxes, I vote in elections, and now when I need my country to stand beside me the way I have stood beside her. Where is she? My love for my country could end up costing my my life. What if this is cancer? What if as i write this letter, cancer is killing me? I have no way of knowing. Because I can't afford $2300 to run a test that should be covered by my health insurance, and in the country that I love there is not universal health coverage.
I know that I am not the only one wondering why, in this day in age, I am faced with these problems. I know I am not the only one wondering if I am dying. "Basic Human Rights," it a phrase you hear a lot in America. It seems to me that knowing what is going on in your own body, falls into that category, along with the ability to fix it. It is far past time to fix this. It is responsibility of the government to represent the people of America, not the insurance companies.
Sincerely,Jason _______
2 people like this
1 response
@blueeyedmommy03 (285)
• United States
12 Aug 09
First and foremost I want to say I am sorry for what you are going through. I have wrote the president a letter similar to this also, but for the sake of my children. I don't have any insurance, and when I get sick I just don't see a doctor which is bad but... Times are hard and the big people in Washington could give a rats A$$. It just sickens me to know that their are people out there that are in desperate need to have insurance cover their doctor visits, such as you and yet nothing has been done about it. What happened to CHANGE?? Obama was suppose to be all about changing everything but I haven't seen the first good thing from him... Its so so sad.. Great discussion btw, and I am so glad you wrote a letter to him, maybe if we all send enough of them, he will do something about it at least!!
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