Why There Should Be No Such This As Pre-existing Conditions

Let me first state that I am a middle class hardworking natural born American women that is happily married with two children.  My husband and I both work, but neither of us are able to subscribe to health insurance through our employers so we must pay for it ourselves.  I am not an alcoholic nor am I a pill addict.  I do not want nor accept charity that is neither needed nor deserved.  My husband and I are both registered voters and both pay our income taxes.  So, in my opinion I have every right to complain on this subject......

I am so fed up with the whole insurance and medical care industries that I just want to run screaming into the middle of Washington and shake someone to make them listen to me. 

Why does it cost over $100 for a doctor to see my for 5 minutes?  Why does it cost over $400 for a med tech to puncture my arm with a needle, take two vials of blood, and then the hospital to run a couple of routine tests on the blood?  Why does it cost over $1000 for a doctor to run a test on my feet to tell me something that I told them before the test?  Why can I pay $50 cash to my doctor if I don't have health insurance, but if he bills the insurance company, the same visit will bill out at $150?

When I was 2, I was diagnosed with a Wilm's Tumor in my right kidney.  I had to have the kidney surgically removed and because of this procedure and the ensuing chemo and radiation therapy, I have had chronic back problems my entire life.  In addition to this, as an adult, I have always been on the heavier side.  My average weight has been between 170 and 230 at my heaviest.  I have been fighting high blood pressure since my twenties as well.  In 2001, I was diagnosed with PCOS, which is a metabolic disorder which causes a whole gambit of fun problems in the body.  I had a partial hysterectomy about 5 years ago and started into menopause a year later.  Now at age 40, I have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and peripheral neuropathy in my lower legs and feet. 

Now that you know my personal health history, here is my current treatment regimen:  I have started on medications to alleviate the neuropathy, regulate the blood glucose levels, regulate my blood pressure and take several supplements all with the same ends results in mind, and I take a hormone replacement pill every day to avoid the side effects associated with menopause.  I managed to lose 30 pounds last year but regained about 15 of those over winter.  Of those newly re-added 15 pounds, thanks to a modified diet (Low GI diet) and a twice a week workout at the gym (my dad's basement lol but I use weights, bike, and treadmill) I have re-lost 9 pounds in the last 3 weeks.  My goal is take off about 50 to 60 pounds by the end of summer.

I am trying to be proactive about my health before it gets worse and I have a heart attack or because insulin therapy dependant.  My doctor's tell me that significant weight lose will probably make me not have to take all my meds and will probably reverse the diabetes and high blood pressure.

Now enters the health insurance system or racket as I like to call it.  I have had to battle the words "pre-existing condition" my whole life.  I am supposed to get healthy so that I no longer need the medications, and I am supposed to get healthy so that I can avoid further complications in my life and hence save the future insurers money, but how can I do that when I can not afford to get medical care.  I have had the same crappy health insurance for 9 months and have just recently been told that they are no going to cover most of the medical care that I have had over the past 9 months because it was for my pre-existing conditions. 

I can not have the blood work I need done to monitor my blood glucose levels performed, nor can I see my medical doctor because the visits would be for the pre-existing conditions.  So can someone please explain to me how I am supposed to take advantage of the world's greatest medical professionals that we have in this country when I can not afford to visit them.  Can someone please tell me how I can get healthy when I can not exercise because the pain in my feet is so bad that I can not hardly walk, and thus I find it hard to exercise because I have a hard time using my feet.  Can someone please tell me how I am to pay for the maintenance meds that I need in order to not keel over from a heart attack or how to avoid my blood glucose levels going too high because the goods meds are all out of my price range so I have to rely on 50 plus year old medications that are considered generic so they are cheap. 

Now here is a fun little tidbit, 9 months ago when I was desperately looking for new insurance, I was actually told that because I take more then 5 pills a day, because I am obese, because I am short, because I have high blood pressure, because I am female and because I was almost 40 at the time, that this would all be held against me in determining eligibility for coverage and that I was denied by all but 2 carriers.  I was currently using the one and I ended up subscribing to the other.  Well, so much for free trade in that industry. 

Now here is the main reason for my rant today:  I called my health insurance agency to see why some recent claims had been denied as pre-existing conditions, and was told that the company had determined that my entire health history and everything that I am currently seeing my doctor for every three months was labeled as pre-existing conditions and nothing would be covered for another 3 months when my annual renewal date comes rounds....why have I paid for their insurance for 9 months when now I am being told they are not going to pay for anything????????