Guaranteed Healthcare

While employed at a job in construction related sales I had an excellent (albeit expensive at $500 pr month)insurance plan. My employer was an early victim of the mortgage crisis and the local branch of the company was closed in December. Along with unexpectedly losing my employment, I naturally lost my coverage. This would not be earth shattering for many people, but my wife was six months into chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Having had our savings wiped out 3 years prior by another medical problem (uninsured) we were not able to afford the $975 per month COBRA premiums to maintain the coverage. Since that time I have also learned that Social Security and Medicare frown upon unemployment benefits and place them into the grouping titled "unearned income" which allows both to apply formulas that don't deny coverage, but result in "deductibles" of $1150 pr month which must be paid prior to the plan paying a dime. Quite generous of them considering my total monthly income is presently $1450. This issue may not be ongoing, as I am about at the end of my unemployment and there is little demand for a 60 yr old salesman who's major job experience lies in a depressed industry.

The outlook for her care improves as our financial stability falls completely apart and the first casualty will likely be our family home in which we have enough equity to make it an attractive candidate for foreclosure. My job situation also negates any hope of refinancing and the market isn't great for 40 yr old homes at this time. My main concern though, is that her coverage remain intact so that an insurer won't be able to deny coverage when and if I can hook up with an employer again.

So far, we have negotiated with the major drug companies supplying her chemo and diabetic drugs and are receiving most of them at no cost. This is a big help, as her medications were totaling over $13,000 per month. The problem is the rapidly climbing bills for service providers that are now beginning to be turned over to aggressive collection firms well known for garnishing income and forcing legal actions that we can't fight due to our lack of funds. Taking bankruptcy is now almost impossible and would do more harm than good while my wife's treatment is ongoing. Her cancer is stabilized, but only by regular chemotherapy.

I often wake up at night with cold sweat and overwhelming dread of our near future. This is not how it is supposed to work in "the greatest nation on earth".