Since I currently have no income while I set up my own business, I qualify for Medicaid. I'd like to go ahead and preface this post with my vast conspiracy theory about the healthcare industry. It goes as follows: it is a racket intentionally set up to be so confusing that the average person with no specialized training in health insurance can't possibly figure it out or understand the terminology. Having said that, let's proceed with my discoveries involving public health insurance.
There's a seemingly great website called AccessNY. There's a screening survey that asks basic questions to determine if you are eligible for different public service programs. This simple questionnaire is all well and good; however, once you find out that you are in fact eligible, as I did, the link to the application doesn't work. The link to the directory of Health Care Providers doesn't work. So I called the contact number listed on the site. That number had been disconnected. It's very difficult to surmount the logistics of getting Medicaid on the internet, and I can't even begin to fathom sitting in a waiting room for this purpose. I do another search for Human Resources Administration in NYC, and it turns up another number that is 1 number different from the one listed on the Medicaid site. Finally, I get an operator.
The reason I am so anxious to get someone on the phone is that I am having no luck understanding if I can see whichever doctor I would like to see or if it's a very strict HMO-setup with Medicaid. It turns out that Medicaid is not your actual healthcare plan. It is a way for the state to assist with paying for your insurance, and they give you a few options for a plan once you are deemed eligible for Medicaid. They will send me an application that will arrive within 3-5 days. What a relief! It has taken me six years and 3 different doctors to find an OB/GYN that I like in the city, and I am not willing to give her up even if I only see her once a year.
So now I feel a little deceived. With all of the previous debates about healthcare reform that have been shelved as of late, I got the impression that the government would be intimately involved in my healthcare rather than just working with the insurance companies to regulate their operations. Not to get too political (because, honestly, it's a subject I need to be much better informed about before I start talking too much), but regular people should be able to get health insurance for less than $700-1000/ month. That is an absurd cost, but it's the common range I have found in my internet research for individual insurance. It essentially forces people to forego insurance, and then when they end up in the hospital out of necessity, they don't have the means to pay the bill, and it becomes an endless loop of debt.
There's also the stigma attached to government healthcare assistance. I come from Alabama, a decidedly conservative state. Even the most liberal Alabamians have been shaped by conservative views because they are simply so prevalent. I feel self-conscious looking for government assistance. But here's my thinking: I have been working and paying taxes for 6 years, and not to sound too entitled, but I'd like to call in a favor from the state of NY. Hopefully, once I send in the application, I'll be eligible and can pick a plan that I like and that my doctor will accept.
More to come once I get the application and the acceptance.
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