You can walk into a doctor's office complaining of a stubbed toe, and be sent home with a bag-full of anti-depressants and nerve pills. Nobody wants to help you. They want to mask your symptoms with addictive pills that keep drug companies in business.
The few doctors who actually do want to help you have their hands tied behind their backs, as they can't do much for an uninsured person. Life-saving surgeries and procedures cost about as much as a brand-new car. Even with insurance, there are some ridiculously expensive co-pays on some of these procedures - if your insurance even covers any of it.
I can't imagine how it must feel to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the doctor says, "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for you because you can't afford this procedure." Those who do find a way to go through with such procedures probably have to sell their homes and live with friends or relatives as they spend the rest of their lives paying off their medical expenses.
I need to have an MRI / CT done to determine what's going on with my nervous system, or possibly within my brain itself. Until I'm incredibly bad off, (abusing benzos just to survive the sensations I experience each day isn't quite rock-bottom) my doctor won't even provide the necessary referral for it. If and when I do get that referral, I have to find a way to dish out $10,000 or more to have it done.
This is a scenario of what it's like to be uninsured:
You: "I feel this shocking sensation in my spine. It feels like my nervous system is being overloaded. I feel dizzy from time to time, and it feels like my co-ordination is always off. I feel a constant fatigue. Sometimes, it feels like something is crawling up my spine. I have strange headaches, and it often feels like everything is surreal."
Doctor: "You're just depressed. Take this addictive, expensive anti-depressant that there are no generics for, and these nerve pills, and hurry out the door. I have 20 more people to fit into the next 30 minutes of my schedule."
The few doctors who actually do want to help you have their hands tied behind their backs, as they can't do much for an uninsured person. Life-saving surgeries and procedures cost about as much as a brand-new car. Even with insurance, there are some ridiculously expensive co-pays on some of these procedures - if your insurance even covers any of it.
I can't imagine how it must feel to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the doctor says, "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for you because you can't afford this procedure." Those who do find a way to go through with such procedures probably have to sell their homes and live with friends or relatives as they spend the rest of their lives paying off their medical expenses.
I need to have an MRI / CT done to determine what's going on with my nervous system, or possibly within my brain itself. Until I'm incredibly bad off, (abusing benzos just to survive the sensations I experience each day isn't quite rock-bottom) my doctor won't even provide the necessary referral for it. If and when I do get that referral, I have to find a way to dish out $10,000 or more to have it done.
This is a scenario of what it's like to be uninsured:
You: "I feel this shocking sensation in my spine. It feels like my nervous system is being overloaded. I feel dizzy from time to time, and it feels like my co-ordination is always off. I feel a constant fatigue. Sometimes, it feels like something is crawling up my spine. I have strange headaches, and it often feels like everything is surreal."
Doctor: "You're just depressed. Take this addictive, expensive anti-depressant that there are no generics for, and these nerve pills, and hurry out the door. I have 20 more people to fit into the next 30 minutes of my schedule."