January 30, 2010
The Daily Hell Vol. III - Issue 35 - An Open Letter To The Governor
Wow, sorry I have not written in such a long time. Hopefully, this will be the first of many more, and more frequently.
I have been trying without much success to find a health insurance I can afford, so I wrote to Governor Patterson today. I thought making it an open letter and sharing it with the rest of the world might be a good idea, as I know a lot of people are going through the same thing I am.
Dear Governor Patterson,
While looking for a
way to afford my prescription drugs, I came across an article about
your program giving New Yorkers, ages 50-64 the New York Prescription
Saver Card. That is commendable, however, there are many people below
the age of 50 who also struggle to pay for their prescriptions.
I
am 28 years old, unemployed, uninsured and take prescription medication
for ADHD and anxiety. The drugs I take, Celexa, Adderall, and
Adderall XR are very expensive and my parents (who live in
Massachusetts) have been footing the bill for me since I lost my job in
2008. However, they have expenses of their own and are unable to
continue doing this.
I applied for the Health Plus health
insurance program, thinking I would qualify due to my unemployment.
However, as the maximum allowable monthly income is $900 for a single
person with no dependents, I discovered my Unemployment Benefit was too
high and prevented me from qualifying for this program. This rule seems
to presume that a single individual with no dependents with a $901
monthly income should be able to live comfortably, pay rent and bills,
feed and clothe oneself and then have enough left over to pay standard
prices for health insurance. Is it your belief that someone who makes
$901 a month, can in fact do this?
I began applying for the
Healthy NY program, which has a maximum allowable income of $2257 for a
single person with no dependents, which I thankfully qualified for and
believed I could afford. The monthly premium quoted to me was $247 a
month. However, halfway through the application process, I learned the
following: "Healthy NY offers a streamlined benefit package, which
lowers premiums. Because of this, certain services are not covered.
Some of these services include: Mental Health services and prescription
drugs related to mental health conditions, including treatment for depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)."
The ONLY expenses I regularly incur and thus the ONLY reason I am
trying to get this insurance, are the "prescription drugs related to
mental health conditions" which I require in order to function
regularly in my everyday life. When this came up with the Atlantis
Health representative I was being advised by, she told me that the
standard policy I would have to get that WOULD cover mental
health-related expenses cost a premium of $411 a month.
I
receive $396 ($356.40 after taxes) a week, plus the $25 ($22.50)
recent addition for a total of $1684 monthly, of which I receive
$1515.60 after taxes. I live in New York City. And even in Brooklyn, this is just enough for me to pay my rent, my
credit card, phone, and student loan and utility bills, with a little
left to
enable me to eat and take the subway. This does not leave me with
enough money to pay for a $411 health insurance policy. Nor does it
allow me to pay for a $247 health insurance policy, plus several
hundred dollars in mental-health related prescription drugs.
I
went back and found out that Health Plus actually DOES cover drugs like
Adderall, Adderall XR, and Celexa. I don't understand how one
state-subsidized insurance plan, like Health Plus is able to cover
mental-health related prescriptions and have a premium of $0 a month,
when another state subsidized insurance plan, like Healthy NY cannot
cover such expenses, claim it is in order to "lower premiums," and
still charge $247 a month. I also must question whether a state who's
unemployment rate has reached 9.0% as of December 2009 fully
understands the effects of unemployment on a depressed person, much
less the effects of depression on an unemployed person. How can a
government claim to be supporting and encouraging their unemployed
population when they disclude the most expensive and most relevant
services and drugs from its subsidized health programs? Many people are
unemployed because their depression prevents them from finding work.
They suffer the symptoms of depression because their unemployment
prevents them from being able to afford treatment.
I continue to
seek employment here in New York and I continue to seek a means of
taking the burden of paying for these drugs away from my parents. I am
writing to you in hopes that you will include these important services
in ALL government subsidized programs, or make those which do include
them available to a larger part of the lower-income population. In the
meantime, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you happen to have
on how I can pay for these drugs, or a health insurance plan that will
cover these drugs on my restrictive budget. Please, what can I do?
Respectfully yours,
Connor Gaudet