Monday, July 20, 2009

My Health Insurance Woes!

After spending over 30 minutes on the phone with my daughter's insurance company, I was informed that her policy was canceled six months ago! I've continued getting their bills for the past six months, and have paid them $600 that seems to be missing in action. Well, it's probably just sitting as profit on their bottom line.

I hung up while waiting for a supervisor, because I got a call from Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ), one of the authors of America's Affordable Health Choices Act, the health care bill that came out of the Education & Labor Committee, in response to my request for an interview.

I'm nothing if not honest with my listeners, so tonight, if you tune in to my program on Air America Radio from 11pm -1am ET, you'll hear my frustration and tears. I'm letting this go on the air because I know I am not alone.

As I told Congressman Andrews, I'm a well-educated, intelligent woman, with lots of resources. If I can't get better care from the insurance company and thus get this emotional and frustrated at the way we're treated, I can only imagine how many others in this country are feeling exactly as I am today.

While I was waiting on hold for the probably non-existent supervisor that I demanded to speak with at my daughter's now-former insurance company, I ran across an excellent guest commentary at Buzzflash, written by Steve Corrick, entitled "50 Year Olds are Unemployable Without a Public Option."

Obviously, it piqued my interest, and I found a brilliantly written commentary on the other side of my story. I will turn 50 in November, just when my COBRA coverage will run out.

At the end of his piece, this bit of bio information appeared: Steve Corrick is a Montana realtor, verified voting and climate change activist and 56 year old who, like most members of his generation, desperately needs better insurance options.

Thanks to the Google, I tracked him down, and invited Steve to join me on the air tonight to talk about the sad reality we face. He'll be with me in the second hour tonight.

I hope you will too! Listen live here from 11pm-1am ET/8-10pm PT , and please call in and add your thoughts to the discussion at 866-303-2270.

If you'd rather not talk on the radio, but would like to participate, the wonderful Thom Hartmann has offered me the use of his chat room during my show. You can access it by clicking here. Just register with a username and password, and I'll chat with you later!

I hope you'll listen in tonight, and then join in on the discussion. 866-303-2270.

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