Falling through the cracks in the U.S. medical system
A congressman hears from constituents
By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO, MINN.
August 12, 2009 11:58 pm
The worst day wasn’t the day when Christine Carmichael of New Ulm was a teenager and learned she had rheumatoid arthritis.
It wasn’t any of the 12 days during her life when Carmichael underwent surgeries for everything from hip replacements to a perforated ulcer.
It wasn’t the day when she decided that her private insurance ($900 a month) and out of pocket costs (approximately $1,400 a month) were more than she could afford with a take-home pay of $2,500 to $3,000 a month.
It wasn’t any of the long days she worked toward building up her New Ulm interior design business, hours that totaled as many as 80 hours a week despite her rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic arthritis affecting her spine.
“The day that things crashed, I’ll never forget it,” Carmichael told Congressman Tim Walz (D-Minn.) Wednesday.
It was when three of her interior design customers — suffering because of the severe economic recession — called on the same day to say they needed to put their projects on hold. After years of ever-growing premiums and out-of-pocket costs, she had little in savings.
“I ended up having to default on my house,” Carmichael said. “It went into foreclosure in December.”
(Continued here.)
By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO, MINN.
August 12, 2009 11:58 pm
The worst day wasn’t the day when Christine Carmichael of New Ulm was a teenager and learned she had rheumatoid arthritis.
It wasn’t any of the 12 days during her life when Carmichael underwent surgeries for everything from hip replacements to a perforated ulcer.
It wasn’t the day when she decided that her private insurance ($900 a month) and out of pocket costs (approximately $1,400 a month) were more than she could afford with a take-home pay of $2,500 to $3,000 a month.
It wasn’t any of the long days she worked toward building up her New Ulm interior design business, hours that totaled as many as 80 hours a week despite her rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic arthritis affecting her spine.
“The day that things crashed, I’ll never forget it,” Carmichael told Congressman Tim Walz (D-Minn.) Wednesday.
It was when three of her interior design customers — suffering because of the severe economic recession — called on the same day to say they needed to put their projects on hold. After years of ever-growing premiums and out-of-pocket costs, she had little in savings.
“I ended up having to default on my house,” Carmichael said. “It went into foreclosure in December.”
(Continued here.)
Labels: healthcare, medicine
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home