I am a 55 year old male with a very strong family history of coronary disease. My father died of a heart attack at 53. When my dad turned 51, he celebrated - because he outlived my grandfather who died of a sudden heart attack at age 50. My mother's father died at 45 - also heart attack.
For years I have struggled to keep my cholesterol under control. When my cholesterol was first checked, I was in my 20's, ran 3-4 times a week, had a relatively decent diet, and weighed around 140 pounds. My cholesterol was over 400.
A VERY strict diet and exercise (swimming 1 mile every morning - 6 days a week), along with medication, has brought my cholesterol down considerably. The medication I am on is not as effective as some out there, but it is a generic that I can afford. (My plan pays only 50% of prescription cost) . I saw my doctor this morning (after my usual 1 mile swim at the gym) and got the results back from my most recent bloodwork. Total cholesterol 240 - which is fairly good for me.
10 years ago I asked my doctor whether I should have a stress test even though I had no symptoms of heart disease at all - he concurred and I got a stress test. I had no problem at all with the treadmill, they had to crank it up and put it on an incline before they could get my heart rate up to 140. However when they took the images of my heart they found 90% blockage in one of my arteries. I was a heart attack waiting to happen.
Fortunately at the time I had much better coverage, and had an angioplasty and a stent. Haven't had a problem since.
So anyway, last month I asked my doctor about another stress test and he gave me a referral. It had been 10 years since my last one, my cholesterol consistently hovered in the low-mid 200's, and I figured things could be clogging up again. Had the test, and got the results today, and the news was great - everything was normal.
The difference is, this time I'm billed $1,400 for the stress test - my insurance doesn't pay for it. I knew this, but I asked my doctor what he thought was the rationale. I mean, with my history, wouldn't the insurance company rather pay for a stress test and possibly an angioplasty rather than risk paying for something more serious like a coronary bypass?
My doctor said, "Fact is, they really would rather see you die at this point. At your age, you are more and more likely to be an expense for them. You made them money for the last 30 years, paying far more in premiums than what you got back in claims - now they would rather you die. They don't even want you to maintain your health. They don't want you to seek preventative care."
We talked some more - about the huge costs to his own practice (having to employ so many office staff to deal with insurance, etc.) and how much cheaper health care would be if we had a single-payer system. He thinks other countries do it much better than America, and that we suffer because of our refusal to accept that we can actually learn something from other countries.