Sharon has had MS, an immunity disease, since she was 17. In the years before the plant she worked at in her teens and early 20’s closed, she was frequently dropped and picked back up from her employer’s insurance plan. To add to her MS, Sharon now has fibromyalgia and severe asthma. Her chronic diseases and medical procedures kept her from college for nearly 20 years. From 1980 to 1990 alone she received 15 surgeries. In more recent years Sharon has been doing much better. Due to more recent status as a full-time student she’s been eligible for subsidized insurance. This coverage has given her access to a new drug called Sol-Medrol that treats her MS and allows her to live a semi-normal life.

Click to read more ...

Sarah works for a health care center in Cedar Falls that offers specialized services for persons with mental challenges, physical challenges, or traumatic injuries. They offer her health insurance but for the first year they would not cover any pre-existing conditions. This means she will have to pay out of pocket to treat her Crohn’s until that year is up. Also, her doctor at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is not covered under her employer’s group plan. So, she will likely have to find a new doctor.

She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was 15 years old. This diagnosis did not come without its own struggle. Doctors were sure that her appendix had burst and immediately removed it. After the appendix was removed Sarah was left with a fistula on the inside of her abdomen, this made her sick, constantly. Immediately following high school Sarah was too sick to start college. For this reason she was dropped from her parents’ health insurance. It was then she applied for Title XIX Medicaid but was denied. “They didn’t want to help, so I had to let the medical bills pile up.” Four years later she found herself $180,000 in debt and was forced to file for bankruptcy. (In Feb. of ’04)

Click to read more ...