Everybody Needs Health Insurance

I have been through a lot with the health care system. Years ago I had worked for a company that paid the employees benefits and we had great coverage. This was excellent. We had a copay of $5 for prescriptions and $10 for doctors visits. Hospitals were a little more, $50 copay in emergency room and $250 copay if you were admitted. This was still a good deal it cost the insurance $8000 when I had my oldest daughter 8 years ago in the hospital and it only cost me $250. Dental was also covered in our package. The insurance did not cover as much but it paid 100% of cleanings, 80% of general dentistry and extractions, and 50% of root canals and crowns. When I worked for this company if I was sick I had no problem going to the doctor, I went for dental cleanings regularly and if there was a problem I knew I was covered.

After I left working there to be home more with my daughter, I got a part time job and had no more coverage (she did through her father.) That's when your health gets put on hold. Working part time and no insurance it was hard to go to the doctor let alone a dentist! I then went and got another full time job but I could not afford the benefits they offered. It cost $70 a week just for myself and over $150 a week if you add a child or spouse. The coverage was horrible so I did not take it as it was too expensive and not really worth it unless you had ongoing health problems. Again my health was put on hold as it costs money to go to the doctor.

I became pregnant and was able to get the NJ FamilyCare through the state of New Jersey. I was pregnant with complications from the start and in need of insurance. This was great as I was then out of work with the complications so I was lacking money and they gave me free health insurance coverage to take care of me and my developing baby. They also paid to have my tubal ligation done after the birth of my youngest daughter. Shortly after having my daughter, I returned to work and was no longer eligible for the NJ FamilyCare coverage but again did not have it available through work.

After about 3 and a half years of having no insurance I started having health problems. These health problems prevented me from working. That is how I was again eligible for the NJ FamilyCare again. This took over 2 months to get the insurance straight and I was feeling worse and worse by the day. However once I started seeing the doctors and cardiologists, when I finally got insurance straight, I started getting better. It is scary when you know your health is not good but you have no insurance to take care of yourself.

I am not sure that I am happy with the health insurance plan that the government is pushing right now as there is a lot of controversy over it, but I do think they need to make sure everybody is insured. People's health gets put aside when they cannot afford to go to the doctor, I know mine did.