Thursday, April 02, 2009

healthcare, taxes, and the finish line.

I'm working on a few things right now. One is the book. Oh, the book. I MUST get it done! I've actually been feeling okay these past few weeks so I know I should focus on it while I can... but there were/are some things in the way. The first is taxes. I finally finished but am not ready to pay the hefty bill. 5,000. Ouch. And I partially paid quarterly. Thank goodness I can write off my healthcare, etc.

Healthcare brings me to my second thought. The other night my sister called me to insist that I watch Frontline. The topic was the failing healthcare system. She said "it reminds me of you." And it is pretty much my situation. There are several people in the show who have a low paying job for the healthcare. That is my situation. I have a low paying part time job because without it I would have NO healthcare. No insurance company would take me with my pre-existing condition so I'm stuck for life ringing people up and saying "do you have the membership card?" Sigh. And of course this part time job means I can't work on the books--the things that actually pay the bills. The funny thing is (or not funny) that the only person who died on the show because of no healthcare was the young female with Lupus. My sister said "I didn't know they'd show that." Uh-huh. Even the guy who didn't have healthcare and had a heart attack survived! Oh well. This may end up in my little documentary.

At any rate, you can watch the whole frontline episide here:

The other thing I"m working on is my documentary. I've been carrying my camera around all week. I got a few awkward moments where some health care professionals questioned my use of the camera. "Is that so you can sue us?" I never filmed any of that, I just had it with me. You'll see when I finish the "film."

Lastly, I'm almost done with my bubble gum cover. I NEED to get this done! I'm also going for another "finish line." I signed up for the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. That means I need to train. This means I may hurt myself. Only time will tell.

meghan

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

meghan, most hmo's we have used don't disqualify for pre-existing conditions. have you contacted your local chamber of commerce? ours offers insurance (hmos) to members -- they get the group rate. one of my kids had a condition that required hundreds of thousands in medical treatment and will continue to cost money til he's done growing -- our hmo has never blinked.