Wednesday, December 15

Sick of Being Sick

I am never sick this long. I guess I should say I'm never sick with common illnesses this long, but this cold thing just will not give up and go away and I'm seriously over it. I'm over the hacking cough. I'm over the Kleenex. I'm over bathing myself in anti-bacteria gel in an attempt to convince myself that... really... I'm not spewing germs all over every single service I touch.

This whole experience has been a great reminder of just how craptastic the American health care system really is. Its lucky that I'm sick now, before my insurance expires at the end of the year. Right now, working this new job on a temp to perm basis, I'm heading for two months of no coverage. I'm pretty sure there aren't any health insurance companies that would want to carry a one lunged cancer survivor.

Without insurance:
$130 Doctor visit
$158 Steroid prescription (w/$25 coupon from doctor)
$38 Antibiotic prescription

Total cost of cold = $326

With Insurance:
$25 Doctor visit
$5 Steroid prescription (w/$25 coupon from doctor)
$10 Antibiotic prescription

Total cost of cold = $40

3 comments:

The Bug said...

Oh man I hope this all clears up before you lose your coverage!

I didn't know that you had had cancer - and now of course I want to know all about it...

Jo said...

Oh, gosh, I hope you feel better soon. You don't want to be sick for Christmas. You had cancer? Omigoodness...! Or did I read that incorrectly? You are a survivor...!

In Canada:

$0 Doctor visit
$0 Steroid prescription
$0 Antibiotic prescription

The cost of living in Canada - priceless.

Katy said...

I was going to answer your question about cancer in a post, but I decided that I'd rather not, at least not now. I'll just yes that, yes... I did have cancer. Now I have one lung that I'm very protective of.