Share Your Story: What do preventive health services with no co-pays or deductibles mean to you?
Has cost ever kept you or a family member from getting preventive care? Has it forced you to make tough choices, like delaying a health screening despite family history or putting off paying a bill so you can afford to see a doctor? We also would like to hear about any success stories! Have you received a benefit with no co-pay? Whatever it is, we want to hear from you!
Thanks to the health care law, new insurance plans are required to cover certain women's preventive health services with no co-payments or deductibles at the start of their next plan year. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 47 million women will benefit from these new services. That's huge!
Tell us — what do preventive health services with no co-pays or deductibles mean to you?
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Your Stories
Jenn
, NH,
I'm still not being helped by this. The federal government still counts teeth, backs, feet, & drugs (dentistry, chiropractics, podiatrists) as 'optional' coverage. After my parents took me to the dentist for all those years, wisdom teeth out as a teen to preserve the good albeit tight line my teeth had in alignment, my first full time permanent job had good dental coverage too ... I've been losing my teeth for the last 5-7 years. There is no dental coverage mandated for adults in my state. Instead of them paying for twice yearly exams, cleanings, and the occasional cavity that comes around, they opted to do nothing except pull a tooth that hurts. Now half or more of my teeth are gone or rotting. I'm still under 40. I came from a decent family. My stepfather was an engineer. It is incomprehensible to me how badly services for the poor fail the people of this country. About 2-3 years ago they cut out chiropractics too. It doesn't seem to dawn on them how necessary this service is. They must not have spent any time in bed groaning in pain trying to turn to find a position that doesn't hurt. When there's extra money in the household it has to go towards maintaining the household.
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Kathleen Kreiselmeyer
Englewood, Colorado, Retired RN
When our elderly Mother needed Medicaid in the state of Texas, the Governor had closed the Medicaid doors to all. My three brothers and I were able to pay for herplastic year and end of life care but were unsure how many others did so. Preventive and wellness with proactive care is missing in our country which contributes to the spiraling medicine based care given to us. How do we continue when there is little interest in our being well and not requiring so many services? As many of the citizens have no healthcare or minimal health care, it is in the country's best interest to provide wellness and preventive care at no cost from my perspective. Where will our elderly go? Where do low income go?
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Ann faber
Cincinnati, Oh, Social worker
My friend 63 year old social worker has not been able to find a ftime time job so has no health insurance.was diagnosed with cancer and required to produce a cashiers check or 49,700 dollars prior to same day surgery. In addition, her chemo is costing 16,000 per treatment. That's the discounted price. My son has type I diabetes and can't get insurance. He has had13 Tia's, losing vision requiring frequent laser procedures, gastric paresis,diabetic diarrhea etc, etc. I am also a social worker, age 65 working to pay for his health care.
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Holly McKenzie
Las Vegas, NV, disabled
I have Parkinson's Disease and am Soc. Sec. Disability. I had my first ob/gyn exam in over 3 and a half years. I had no insurance while I was waiting to get my Medicare. I had no insurance for 3 years, and was thrilled finally to be able to get myself check out...I had the usual pap test, exam, mammogram, and my first bone density test. All of these were done free of charge! With my only income being Social Security, it was wonderful to be able to get these tests without having to pay a co-pay. My doctor also told me that if my two level pap test came back negative (which it did), I wouldn't have to have another one for 5 years. When I had insurance through work, I had annual pap tests, which were a blatant waste of money as I had never had any irregular results. The way President Obama has made this free of charge has put my mind at ease, and I found out that I needlessly was having annual expensive tests! Unfortunately, my daughter who is 23 has no access to health insurance and has to pay out of pocket for any of these exams. My wish is that she also could have birth control pills for free, as well as have necessary gynecological exams through Planned Parenthood since no doctor will see her w/o charging over $200 for the same exam and tests. The best way to avoid unwanted pregnancies is to have free access to birth control. Her job doesn't provide health insurance, so she spends over $600/yr just for the pill. I would hope this change could be made as well.
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Bruce Cox
Brevard, NC, Retire educator
Now at age 76, earlier diagnosis re: lumbar area of back, would have warned me against shouldering 86 lb. bags of cement until I was 68...... which means I would not have the back pain and poor prognosis that now plagues my future.
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k
kalamazoo, mi,
Maybe my son wouldn't be dead and my daughter wouldn't be depressed and suicidal
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Kate Lopez
Burlington, VT, Clnician
It means I woud not have wound up in the hospital for a night with severe and unclontrollable spasms and intense back pain, because, I would have been getting the care I needed to heal my back. Italso means this one night would not have costme so much over the many months it took to pay back one hospital visit. I would not have missed a month of work, either.
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