Dear Health Insurance Companies

Dear Insurance Companies:

How do you sleep at night?

I’m being serious-How do you sleep at night knowing that your literally and figuratively screwing your clients out of good health and peace of mind?

You continually raise your premiums and change your coverage and deductibles at whim because you know the American public (your clients) won’t (can’t) leave.

And if a small percentage of your clients do leave- you don’t give a shit- because you know that you can raise your premiums and NOBODY will stop you.

And shame on investment companies like Goldman -Sachs who use that fact to sell your stock and sing your praises.

The mental stress of your astronomical price and spotty coverage causes is enough to put me into therapy- except therapy costs extra and you’d most likely use it against me in the future- so I'm S-O-L.

As a type 1 PWD (person with diabetes) I work hard to maintain my health. I’m required to see my Endo 4 times a year and do so religiously. That fact that I need to see a specialist in order to live a great life, you’ve decided to increase my specialist fee from $15 dollars a co-pay to $50.

I test my blood sugar between 10 and 15 times a day and have the A1C’s to prove it- but you nickel and dime me for every single test strip.

I work out, count carbs religiously, I don’t smoke, and I’m not a big drinker. I am a woman who takes her health very seriously.

But in your eyes, I am woman with the scarlet letter D emblazoned on my chest –and you continually hold it against me.

I pay the price because my pancreas decided to stop producing insulin when I was all of 8 years old.

I am penalized because insulin, the drug I take to literally save my life, (not to grow stronger and thicker eyelashes- though that would be nice-except for the whole changing eye color thing) is not made in a generic form, so you will only cover 50%.

And you make me pay out of pocket and reimburse me the 50% four to six weeks later. Not convenient when one has bills to pay.

While I should be grateful for the fact that my new policy covers 50% of generic drugs verses the 40% my old insurance covered, that fact brings me little comfort -just read the next paragraph and you'll see (or maybe not) why

Because of a 1 in a million occurrence that had nothing to do with my diabetes (and most likely will never happen again,) you threatened to drop me if I didn’t switch to a sister carrier. A carrier with a monthly premium that’s 60 percent higher than what I used to pay and whose specialist co-pays are now 45% higher.

Instead of saving money on a down payment for a house- I have to save my money for a monthly insurance premium that is higher then most peoples car and car insurance payments combined.

I say no to vacations and outings with friends because I have to pay for my health insurance.

I find it ironic, sad, and extremely telling that Sarah Palin (a woman I have no time or respect for,) actually admitted to crossing the boarder to Canada to get her family healthcare rein a speech she gave in Calgary on March 7^th, 2010. Palin said: “We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada, And I think now, isn't that ironic?”

This from a woman who thinks U.S Healthcare reform would result in death panels. I Guess she thought the Canadian death panel doctors would be kinder- maybe just give her a good old fashion talking too. I wonder if she winked at them and said "You Betcha!" ;)

Healthcare Death Panels in the U.S. already exist, and their weapons of choice and are in the form of insurance companies continually raising their premiums and dropping clients for no reason except for the fact that they can.

Insurance companies, what’s wrong with insurance reform and having both a public and private option? So you’d have to actually hustle to get clients like the rest of us, SO WHAT? This country was built on competition - it's the American way.

With real competion you'd be required to have great customer service- which would increase customer loyalty five-fold.

Listen insurance companies, most businesses have to answer to the government on some level, why shouldn’t you?

Something has to be done to even the playing field - because our lives literally depend on it!

And while we may be tired - we won't stop fighting, because when it comes right down to it, we can't afford not to ~

Sincerely,

Kelly Kunik