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When Jenna Zies moved to Sacramento, she =
took a few =20
temporary jobs, then found work as a substitute teacher. The =
job=20
didn't come with health insurance, and she figured she could =
go=20
without coverage for a while. "I looked into = [insurance] but=20 thought it was just too expensive for me to afford," said = the=20 27-year-old, who was spending most of her money on rent,=20 transportation and school loans. "I was 25. I didn't think I = would=20 have a health crisis." She was wrong =97 as are many = Americans=20 who count on remaining healthy while they don't have medical = insurance. One afternoon in December 2001, Zies was talking = to a =20 student when her words came out in an incomprehensible garble, = "like a =20 backward tape recorder." Then, she said, her left arm went = =20 numb. After two days of trying to cope with the symptoms on = her =20 own, she drove herself to the hospital emergency room, "not = thinking=20 about the costs because I was so scared." The preliminary = diagnosis:=20 a mild stroke. Her trip to the emergency room left her with = a $3,000=20 bill. Zies was among an estimated 54.8 million = working=20 Americans who were without insurance for at least three = months=20 during 2002 and 2003, according to a recent study by = Families USA, a=20 Washington, D.C.-based health policy advocacy group that = supports=20 healthcare reform. Although this is a diverse group = of=20 working Americans, many are finding themselves wrestling = with the=20 same question: How important a priority is health insurance = among=20 all of life's expenses? For many, the consequences of = going=20 without health insurance don't seem as immediate as cutting = back on=20 grocery bills, going without car insurance, or missing a = rent or=20 mortgage payment. So they decide to take a chance =97 a = calculated=20 risk that they won't face a serious and costly health crisis =97 = and=20 forego health coverage for months or years at a time. The = most =20 likely group to take that chance are young =97 and relatively = healthy =97 =20 adults ages 18 to 24, according to the Families USA survey. The = second =20 most likely group to forgo insurance is people ages 25 to=20 44. "In terms of figuring bills out, young people = feel like=20 they're less likely to be sick. They have a tougher time = getting=20 coverage in the workplace and paying for it on their own," = said Ron=20 Pollock, executive director of Families USA. The = statistics=20 run counter to the image still held by some Americans that = the=20 uninsured are mostly poor, nonworking people. Indeed, it is=20 estimated that more than 80% of the nation's uninsured are =20 employed. "There's no question that this problem is = reaching deeper=20 into the middle class and working families," Pollock = said. In=20 California, one out of five people under age 65 is uninsured = at some=20 point during a typical year, said Richard Brown, director of = the=20 UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. In fact, most = Californians=20 probably have a family member, friend or co-worker who lacks = health=20 insurance, though they may not always be aware of it. "You = may not=20 know it if they haven't talked about it or if something = catastrophic=20 hasn't happened," Brown said. With the cost of health = insurance and prescription drugs on the rise, employers are = shifting=20 more of the cost to workers while scaling back benefits =97 = or, in the=20 case of many small businesses, eliminating coverage = altogether. As a=20 result, many workers =97 nannies and substitute teachers, = artists and=20 skilled laborers =97 are finding themselves in hospital = emergency=20 rooms without health insurance. Which is where Zies = found=20 herself. The emergency room doctors told Zies she had = most=20 likely suffered a mild stroke. She needed to see a specialist, = they =20 said, and undergo more tests. "I knew I couldn't afford those = tests," Zies=20 said. When the bill came, she realized she'd have to = get=20 insurance. However, Zies had difficulty finding insurance = because of=20 her health situation. After two months of looking, she found = a plan=20 and received the MRI and the treatment she = needed. Eric=20 Moore, 33, of Los Angeles has a similar tale. In 2002, = Moore, a=20 recent UCLA graduate, was earning $7 to $10 an hour working = as a Web=20 page designer. His part-time jobs didn't offer health = benefits, and=20 a private insurance policy would have cost him about $125 a = month,=20 which he thought he couldn't afford. "I just didn't = think,"=20 he said. "I thought I'd be OK." Then, one day, Moore =20 developed pain in his leg. Because he lacked insurance, he didn't = see a =20 doctor right away. A month later, he was in the emergency room = with a =20 massive blood clot in his leg. In hindsight, the = insurance=20 would have been a bargain compared with the $14,000 bill he = faced=20 after a four-day hospital stay to treat a pulmonary = embolism. Unable=20 to find full-time work, Moore has moved back in with his = mother, who=20 gave him $2,000 to help with the bill. He is slowly paying = off the=20 remaining $12,000 with income from temporary = jobs. For the 5=20 million working Californians without health insurance, the = options=20 for finding affordable coverage are scarce. Those without = chronic=20 medical conditions that might result in an insurer denying = them=20 coverage can opt for what's known as "catastrophic" = insurance plans,=20 which cost a few hundred dollars a month, don't cover = routine doctor=20 visits or prescriptions, but do cover things like stays in a = hospital's intensive care unit. Several = Internet-based=20 companies, such as eHealthinsurance.com and Insure.com, = allow people=20 and small businesses to compare prices for a range of plans = from=20 different carriers. Most insurance companies also offer short-term = =20 insurance (usually for a minimum of six months), which people can = price =20 for themselves on their Internet sites. A site operated by = Georgetown =20 University's Health Policy Institute at http://www.healthinsurancein= fo.net/=20 has information for all 50 states on the types of insurance = and what=20 to do in case of serious illness. This is "something = that=20 touches so many people and affects them at one time or = another,"=20 said UCLA's Brown, whose daughter, a self-employed artist, = went=20 without health insurance for several years until she injured = her=20 back. She finally managed to get coverage shortly before her = herniated disc ruptured and she went in for surgery =97 an = event that=20 would have put her in severe debt without = insurance. If you want other =
stories on this=20
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