Hate hate health insurance.
I just want to vent a little. Was laid off along with a lot of people back in 2008 (and I was 8.5 mo pregnant at the time). Of course trying to find work along with so many other people did not bode well for me, fast forward to March 2011 realized one day I was having bloody nipple discharge, tried to do the right thing and get private insurance. After jumping through hoops got insurance in June, went to a dr. right away and tried to be as truthful as I could saying I think it started as far back as Feb (saw brown spots in my bra, always thought it was food or something) well of course Ins took that is "pre-existing" condition and would not cover my mammo or anything related to my breast. Found out I needed to have core biopsy because of microcalcifications, long story short, was able to get financial aide through the hospital and ended up getting an excisional biopsy (could not do core, too close to nipple). Everything seemed fine, kept paying for insurance(oh and ins keeps increasing every couple of months saying new rate increase), after 6 months noticed I was still having discharge had another mammo and ended up getting a galactogram(worse pain ever) too (ins paid by that time) and they thought it may have been left over blood from the biopsy since it was in the same area and suggested to come back in 6 mo if I still had discharge. Of course I still have the discharge 6 mo later but I did not want another ductograph as it was so painful for me. So they did another mammo and ultrasound this time. Ultrasound confirmed I did have discharge and suggested ductogram. I declined and dr. suggested wait 6 mo for follow up. Well this time ins won't cover it as they say they will only cover 1 a year. So basically I have to pay for everything out of pocket. I can't pay for ins and this (only working part time)so I decided to cancel my ins. Of course, I forgot about the follow up and get a call from the Dr. office telling me I need to schedule for a mammo soon. I notice there still is a slight discharge, I just want to forget it and ignore it. I'm tired of worrying about it and each time it comes back as nothing and tired of insurance being so high and barely covering anything that I can't afford to pay it anymore.
Thanks for letting me vent. I don't know what I'm going to do about the discharge, I think I'll just have to wait a bit until I can afford ins again.
Comments
-
Hi, Mulligan ~ I'm so sorry about the difficulty you've had getting a thorough work up without insurance. I know from experience that very often doctors and hospitals will significantly discount charges for people who don't have insurance, plus offer payment plans. If you decide you want additional followup, I'd suggest going to a breast surgeon/specialist. I think that's the type of specialist you need to see to get to the bottom of what's going on with the discharge.
I also think women who don't have insurance can qualify for free mammograms. Here's a starting place:
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/
(((Hugs))) Deanna
-
Thanks Deanna I will look into that.
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team