I just got turned down for health insurance by Aetna through AARP; they claim I am too risky to insure.
I last saw a doctor two years ago after I got H1N1. There were no complications. I've had minimal grad student insurance since then and never used it. It expires in August and I was looking for better coverage.
Two years previously, I saw a doctor when I broke a rib. No complications, no surgery, no drugs beyond a painkiller for a week. A year before that, I twisted my knee. Same story - no complications, no surgery, no drugs beyond a few days' worth of painkiller. That year I also got the flu with pneumonia treated with antibiotics. Uneventful recovery.
My last comprehensive physical in 2005 revealed no abnormalities whatsoever. The only time I've been hospitalized in my adult life has been when I gave birth 22 years ago.
But apparently I'm uninsurable.
For the latest application I was required to get updated test results, which were: blood pressure, normal (128/82); blood sugar, outstanding (106 non-fasting); cholesterol, slightly elevated (215/ HDL 58/LDL 122). 215 is the American average cholesterol reading. The HDL and LDL are within normal to good levels.
I am overweight with no other effects other than the above. I just moved my daughter out of college and into an apartment in a large city. I was in good enough shape to haul furniture up and down stairs and in and out of trucks for a week. But that's not good enough for Aetna, apparently.
Oh, I also have been diagnosed since I was a teenager with depression due to a chemical imbalance. This condition is completely treatable with medication. I have not had one day of disability in my entire life due to depression. As a final insult, the fact that I was diagnosed with ADD as an adult was used to deny me. How exactly ADD negatively affects your physical health was not explained.
There you have it: overweight + average cholesterol + treatable depression + treatable ADD = uninsurable. Even though I hardly ever see a doctor, have only been hospitalized once in over 35 years, and have nothing else wrong with me.
I am 54 years old. All things considered, I am in pretty good shape for my age. So why am I such a huge risk as to not be able to get insurance at any price? And if I can't get insurance, imagine how people with worse health are faring.
For everyone who thinks single-payer Medicare for All is a terrible idea, go ahead explain to me what in the hell I'm supposed to do now. And pray you and your loved ones are never placed in my position.