• the217
• Life
• Editor's Note

Until very recently I never fully realized how big an issue health care was to the everyday American. Sure, I knew there were people who didn’t have insurance, but I was covered under my parents’ cushy HMO and never had to face the reality of hospital bills until this week.

When I turned 22 in May I was automatically dropped from my HMO and had to seek an insurance policy on my own. With the help of my mother I decided on an affordable Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy that would cover me if I happened to move to another state. It meant that I had to switch hospitals and doctors (from Carle, where I was born back in ’86, to Christie) but I figured that was necessary because I would never be able to afford an HMO on my own.

I hadn’t used my new policy until a month ago when I had my annual “lady” exam. At the time my new doctor recommended that I test for STDs. I decided getting tested was the responsible thing to do and had them test for all the STDs, just to make sure I didn’t have AIDS for some reason.

A few days ago I received a bill in the mail from my insurance company for more than $1,400 for the visit, only $400 of which my insurance will cover. I now owe nearly $1,000 to Christie for a routine visit and STD testing I thought would be covered by my insurance.

I’m not really sure how long it will take for me to pay off the cost of this routine visit, but I know that from now on I’m going to utilize public health or Planned Parenthood instead of my useless insurance.

With the election looming, I know I will be looking further into the candidates’ health care policies and how I will be affected either way. Something tells me, however, neither Barack Obama or John McCain has ever been in this position.