My pre-existing condition

[RoccoRyg]

In the summer of 2004, I came home from college with a bad case of pinkeye that baffled the local eye doctors. Eventually, I was diagnosed with acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare eye disease caused by amoebas that got into my contact lenses and burrowed into my corneas. I went blind in my left eye, but the other was saved due to the chlorine eyedrops I had to take. After I got a cornea transplant in the left eye and quit the chlorine, the right eye flared up and I had to have a transplant in that one too.

Because of this, my eyes became uninsurable to any health insurance company. If my corneas ever rejected, I would have to choose between blindness and bankruptcy, and the major medical plan I was on wouldn't pay for squat. I would be screwed no matter how much "hard work" I did or how much "personal responsibility" I took.

Now, thanks to the ACA, my eyes are no longer uninsurable. If the unthinkable happens, I'm covered. That is why I support the ACA and the wonderful president who made it happen.

[winter is coming]

1. Glad to hear it, as the list of "preexisting conditions" is endless. n/t

[rocktivity]

44. The list is so endless that it was possible to a have pre-existing condition

before you actually existed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4321295


rocktivity

[FSogol]

2. Thanks for posting your story. n/t

[DirkGently]

3. KNR. No one should have that worry.

[enough]

4. Wonderful news, for all of us. (Except maybe if we live in Pennsylvania.)

So glad this is working out for you. It's hard to imagine how much this is going to change people's lives in the USA.

[NightWatcher]

5. Good post, glad there's hope for those of us who are uninsurable.

Chlorine eyedrops sounds like a torture technique. Feel better

[RoccoRyg]

7. They didn't hurt, actually. They felt like water.

The surgery was quick and professional, though I think I woke up during the second transplant and felt them stitching my eye up. They itched for a few hours before the pain went away, and the doctor cut the stitches out in following sessions.

Sorry if I grossed you out.

[NightWatcher]

9. grossed me out, good one

I was wide awake during a kidney biopsy, but I tear up like a baby if I get pool water in my eyes.

Now if/when I am going under I ask the anesthesia dr for a extra large dose.

[Lochloosa]

33. Michael Jackson might disagree with you on the "extra large dose" of anesthesia

[GentryDixon]

6. Great news.

I am happy for you.

[Lil Missy]

8. I love happy endings.

[mercuryblues]

10. And I

worried about my son. He had bad ear infections and finally ended up getting tubes in his ears when he was 4. I worried if he ever had a hearing problem later in life that the insurance companies would deny his claim based on that.

I know the feeling of relief you must be feeling.

[SheilaT]

28. Interesting.

Ear infections and tubes in the ear are (or at least were when my kids were little) incredibly common. My kids never had them, but plenty of others did.

Although now the pre-existing condition bullshit is gone, I'd be real curious if those former kids have run into a problem because of this.

[mercuryblues]

37. a woman

was denied coverage for a double mastectomy because she had seen a Dr. for acne. A newborn baby was denied heart surgery because of pre-existing condition.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/25/2068267/crowley-newborn-with-heart-defect.html

So why would an insurance company stop there? Nothing is beneath them.

[JEFF9K]

11. Not only does Republican free-market health care cost 2 or 3 times as much ...

... as any other kind, it is so immoral that it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions. Funny that Republican "moralists" haven't complained.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Aside from your good health, the beauty is that insuring you actually saves the country money.

You can be productive with good eyes.

You will consume fewer health care dollars per year lived with good eyes.

This is a net gain to the country and one reason why countries with proper health care plans (beyond mere insurance) have equal or better care (considered over the whole populace) and much more efficient health systems.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Good to hear...

my once 20/15 vision has been slipping the last 2 years (I am 45) and I go for an exam next week. This post has put me off of contacts, for sure.

[laundry_queen]

14. That's great to hear about stories like yours

My aunt had an eye condition from when she was a child and eventually she ended up with multiple cornea transplants over the years.

We're in Canada. She didn't pay anything. And she sees just fine to this day.

I'm very happy for you. But I do wish the ACA was just the start of even better plans in the future.

[juajen]

24. We American liberals and soon to be others, agree wholeheartedly.

I can't believe it's finally a reality. I know at least ten people who will get health care that could never get it before. My adult grandchildren can be covered on their father's policy, as well. This is pretty wonderful. No wonder they worked so hard to screw it up.

[Grateful for Hope]

15. I read your post and said out loud "oh my god"

I am so glad that ACA is here for you.

I hope that your corneas are never rejected.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[Justice]

19. Me also!

[Grateful for Hope]

22. :)

[Emit]

16. Thanks for sharing this

[vkkv]

17. That's great! My PRE-CONDITION is not nearly as serious....

I seriously HATE the G.O.P.

[No Vested Interest]

18. This is why I'm so glad I read DU - to hear a beautiful

story such as this.
Thanks for informing us!

[EgyptianDentist]

20. Good Luck to you

[cvoogt]

21. Bbbbbbut

Free market, liberty, 'Murka etc! Don't you miss paying quadruple for a tenth of the benefits?? How unpatriotic!
Seriously though, congratulations - I think it's fantastic.

[ramapo]

23. What a sick society we live in

It is difficult for me to fathom the venom that comes from so many who want to deny people like you insurance. I have yet to hear one of these haters admit that they were uninsured and to be honest, I wish that they, or a family member, were put in that situation. Perhaps their outlook would change.

My son had a benign brain tumor ten years ago. He is (and has been) perfectly healthy, yet uninsurable ever since. My Teaparty representative is doing all he can to deny my son, and millions of others, access to insurance.

And the sickest thing is that he just does not give a damn. His ideology is more important to him than the lives of American citizens.

I know the relief you feel knowing that you are now going to be insured.

[juajen]

26. It isn't idealogy. It's pure greed.

Why do you think congress critters are so wealthy when they leave congress? The insurance companies and corporate entities pay really well.

[Boomerproud]

25. I can't express my relief for you.

I'm signing up tomorrow.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

27. this is another golden example

Of the personal being political.

With politics treated as a cutthroat sport by media and enjoyed as such by too many people, people forget that the effects of ideology forced into the public mind and propagated by the institutional pillars of social structure--religion, education, media--is real danger. Danger to individual people which over time adds up to damage to the entire society.

This is great to hear that you are protected now!!!!

I have a pre-existing condition that would absolutely exclude me. I've also been fortunate enough to have held a nice job for a long time, that luckily has good benefits. I held on tight because I always knew that I needed the job particularly for the sake of health coverage !

[Cha]

29. That "Can't turn you away for Pre-Existing Conditions" is so Huge! I'm kind

of surprised it's in there. But, it is and it's the Law that we have fought so hard to materialize!

So happy for you, Rocco!

[Live and Learn]

30. So happy for you. Hard to believe anyone thinks it is okay for people

to be uninsurable. We were all susceptible to having that happen. Thank God those days are behind us.

[merrily]

31. Insured or not, I am so sorry you have to deal with this.

[TxDemChem]

32. I am so glad that your pre-existing condition

Will no longer be such a financial liability

[rivegauche]

34. Your story made me tear up, for real.

I am SO GLAD you and so many others are now covered. THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT!!

[BlueToTheBone]

35. And think of the thousands more like you

who will also be covered. It is wonderful.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

36. Proud to be the 200th DU Rec! n/t

[LibertyLover]

38. Believe me I understand only too well

My husband was diagnosed with diabetis this week. I have insurance for us from work, but knowing that we can be covered no matter what has made it a bit easier to handle.

[Womaninabinder]

39. I can relate to your pre-existing condition

My condition began in March 2010. They thought I had a retinal detachment in my left eye, then they thought it was cancer. It turned out to be a rare (rare is a 4-letter word for health insurance companies) condition where blood vessels would burst in my retina and lead to hemorrhages. At the time, we had health insurance and so I was sent to a retinal specialist and I have been treated with injections of cancer drugs in the eye which help to suppress eye issues, laser treatment and surgery and I continue to need treatment since it is a chronic condition.

Then my husband was laid off in Sept. 2012 so we switched over to COBRA (I am not eligible for health insurance through my employer since I am the only employee and therefore not eligible for group coverage in California even though I work full-time). With my husband unable to find any work in the first 6 months of being laid off we were late with a payment to COBRA and COBRA is unforgiving when it comes to late/missed payments so we lost our COBRA coverage despite desperate appeals on my part. With my pre-existing eye condition and my husband's high blood pressure we couldn't get private health insurance. We didn't qualify for Medi-Cal because I made a tiny bit more income than was allowable. We tried the California Hi-risk pool insurance but that was already full and was even more expensive than COBRA. In the meantime my husband has only found project work here and there, nothing full-time so no benefits. So I know ACA is our only hope. I tried to turn a negative into a positive and volunteered as much as I could for President Obama's re-election in 2012 - cried like a baby when he was re-elected.

With a little under 3 months before ACA takes effect I am paying for injection treatments out of pocket, if I should need laser or surgery, I won't be able to afford it so I am still crossing my fingers. But for now I am beyond grateful that soon I will not be excluded just for having a rare eye condition. Thank you President Obama for making it happen and thank you RoccoRyg for sharing your story, it made me feel a little less alone also having a rare eye condition. Sending you a big hug and wishing you the best of everything!!

[Squinch]

41. My fingers are crossed for you. Also, I love your name.

Welcome to DU.

[RoccoRyg]

42. And thank you so much

I hope everything works out for you and your husband. We democrats have turned an unsustainable system into a workable model, and now millions, if not tens of millions, will not be victims. We should all be proud of our president.

[Squinch]

40. Rocco, I am so happy for you. That fear of blindness or bankruptcy would have done me in.

[TNNurse]

43. I understand

mine is cancer. I am well, but you live with the fear that it will "show up" somewhere else.
' Glad for your peace of mind and for all the others.

I local TV (Knoxville, TN) reported that all the help places were overwhelmed and that the website was slow because of heavy demand. It does not sound like an unpopular program to me.

Republicans lied.

[AtomicKitten]

45. I can only imagine your relief.

How horrifying to not have coverage with such a life-altering condition. I wish you and your eyes good health from this point forward! I suspect there are millions of Americans with so-called preexisting conditions.