I am a young and relatively healthy person (except for the occasional cold) in my late twenties. I exercise five to six times a week and try to keep a healthy diet. I don’t binge drink and I don’t smoke. No respiratory issues, no allergies. Pretty typical picture, right?

Yet, I cannot get comprehensive health care insurance in any state but Massachusetts.

It’s not even about the money. My healthcare history includes a major open heart surgery performed at 8 months. I had what you call a pulmonary stenosis, something that is routinely corrected without a major incision in today’s operating rooms. I had a fantastic surgeon and cardiologist back in my hometown of Houston; luckily I’ve had no incidents and problems since that fateful day.

When filling out insurance forms for other states, I obviously have to disclose my history.

Yes, I was born with it. No, I do not feel palpitations. Read more…

Our family had health insurance through my employer until I left my job to go to school, upon which my self-employed wife declared herself a business and obtained insurance through the Massachusetts SBA. Though we were insured, the premium was way over our budget.

About a year later my wife heard about the beginnings of Commonwealth Care on NPR. I submitted the application for what I thought was whole family coverage but when we received the insurance, my name was not included and thus, I was without health insurance. After many phone calls, it appeared that even though my data was on the application, only my wife and our children were insured. I was now a member of this country’s uninsured and it was quite scary. After many more phone calls and paperwork I was able to obtain insurance through Commonwealth Care.

Thankfully, our family has been able to keep our previous primary care providers and locations. We continue to receive excellent care and services, and are able again to save money for our and our children’s future needs.

We sincerely appreciate everyone who has enabled health care reform in Massachusetts.

Stuart Shapiro, Cambridge

About a year and a half ago I left a job I’d had for twenty years. I went to the financial aid officer at my health center, who handled my application for Commonwealth Care electronically. I got free care, and everything was great for a year.

Then I re-applied, as required. A few weeks later I received a disenrollment notice in the mail, saying that I was ineligible for Commonwealth Care because my wife could cover me through her job. Actually, she can’t afford to, because then we’d be living on about $400 a month. Included with the disenrollment notice were two forms—an Exception Form and an Appeal Form. Nothing on the Exception Form seemed to apply to us, so I sent in the Appeal.

Well, our appeal was denied. I called Commonwealth Care Customer Service and they said I should have sent in the Exception Form.

That’s when the real nightmare started. I sent the Exception Form and heard nothing. Then I sent it again. Read more…

I am a officer manager for a small family owned company. I had health insurance through the company until last May when I went part time so I could be home more to care for my mother who has Alzheimers. As a part-time employee, I was no longer covered and had to paid the whole insurance bill, which at the time was 500.00 dollars. That was a hardship considering I no longer was getting a full paycheck.

I tried a few insurance companies before finding out about Commonwealth Care. There plans were not that good and costly. But with the help of Health Care for All I found about Commonwealth Care and they helped me to enroll and get started on the plan.

I have gone for my yearly physical blood work, mammogram. It is great coverage I have not had any out of pocket expenses just my co-payments which are very good. It’s a really good plan and a big price difference from 500.00 to 35.00 a month. If not for this I would not have been able to go part time. With every thing else that is going on I am glad I have good health insurance. It makes things easier for me.

Kathy Riley, Wilmington

Peter MacDonald is a computer consultant who works as an independent contractor. Peter and his wife Kirsten have four children. They purchased health insurance on their own through the end of 2007. Here’s Peter’s story about why the family does not currently have coverage.

I had been buying my health insurance since May 2006. The monthly premiums then, were $650 a month for a 35 year old + Spouse and family. No prescription coverage and $25 copay. This seemed high but I could afford it. Then in December that year the premium was raised to $750 a month. Kirsten and I started paying real attention to how much we were using insurance. Over the next year we only had about 15 doctors visits between all 6 of us. In December 2007 my premium jumped to $890 a month. When I called Blue Cross Blue Shield about this I was told that there was a 20% premium increase because they were not offering the plan anymore. The reason for not offering the plan was due to the new Massachusetts Connector plan. That plan would have cost me $905 a month, the only difference was that now it included prescription coverage. At this point my wife and I decided to just put the monthly premium into a savings account just to cover health costs. Read more…

We’re beginning another occassional series of stories from Massachusetts residents who were recently, or still are, uninsured. If you want to post your story, you can comment below or send me an e-mail(marthab@bu.edu).

Thanks for reading, Martha Bebinger

John Kulig lives in Central Massachusetts. He works 2 part-time jobs as a chiropractor and as a physiology instructor. Neither job offers health insurance. John purchased insurance in time to avoid the penalty on his 2007 tax return. Here is his description of that process and his concerns looking ahead.

In October 2007 I had the opportunity to attend a weekend informational meeting sponsored by the Health Connector at the YWCA in Worcester. The most comprehensive plan, in my opinion, was the plan offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. But at $400.00 per month it was quite expensive and beyond my means. I also spoke with a representative from Fallon Clinic. I was surprised when she stated that my working two part-time jobs was a “life style” decision. (It isn’t – I have not been able to find full time employment.) Fallon’s plan was approximately $300.00 month and allowed me to see my current physician but there was a $2000.00 per year deductible. Read more…

We will occassionally post the stories and questions of Massachusetts residents who are uninsured. This entry is from Chris, a 37 year old college instructor, who lives in a suburb
west of Boston.

Here’s Chris…

As a part-time employee, I am wondering whether my employer will be required to offer me any medical insurance. I am guessing not from my survey of various web logs, news reports, and the Connector’s web site. There is discussion in all of these places
about the requirements for covering full-time employees, but I haven’t found any mention of what will happen to part-timers.

I am assuming that I will be required to purchase my own medical insurance without government subsidy. This assumption is based on my income from last year, which was above the benchmark of 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. As a part-timer, though, my income varies from year to year. This makes me wonder whether I will need to move from health plan to health plan, as one year I may qualify for Commonwealth Care, and the next, not. If so, this would require a lot of time and effort in filling out applications, providing proof of income, informing organizations of my previous coverage, transferring records to new
doctors, etc.
Read more…