A Spork in the Road

Last year I signed up for health insurance.

I had just turned thirty, and mortality was on my mind. I had never had any health problems, I come from a healthy family, and I had figured it was just easier to run under the radar. When I turned thirty, I thought it was time to get some emergency health insurance, “just in case.”

Overwhelmed by the labyrinth of healthcare options, and intimidated by horror stories of evil insurance companies, I started to sign up for a plan on eHealthInsurance. I got partway through the application and stopped. A company representative called me; I started again. I stopped again. He kept calling. He suggested United Health Care’s “Golden Rule” plan; it had a high deductible, but a lower monthly payment, and our family doctor accepted it.

Fine.

I finally got everything set up and — voila! — I was covered. Whew! What a hassles, but worth it. I scheduled a physical for the end of September, when I was home from Italy and the insurance coverage had kicked in to cover the visit.

Then I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s.

Everyone told me how lucky I was that I’d gotten health insurance before discovering this. I was dazed with relief. A quarter of a million dollars in six months, on top of lost wages, would’ve been overwhelming if I weren’t insured.

Then the insurance company launched a “routine investigation” into my case. The investigation continued. Finally, months after my diagnosis, when chemo was starting to kick my butt and I was not at my brightest, alertest, or strongest, I got a letter.

“Golden Rule” was ruling my cancer a “pre-existing condition,” and moreover if they knew that I’d gone to a massage therapist for back tension over the previous year, they’d never have covered me in the first place. So they were dropping me. I was free to contact them if I had questions.

Really?

REALLY?

For a while this blow paralyzed me. But you know what? There’s a fabulous story about a kid named David who went up against a giant he wasn’t supposed to be able to beat. Within minutes, he was lofting Goliath’s gory head by its hair.

I know which character I plan to be.