This Is Why Freelance Writers Need Health Insurance

Date: Nov 12, 2009 Category: Freelance Advice, General

I thought I was blogging for the day, but I just picked up our mail. I’ll never be fully able to explain my hatred for daily mail. Specifically stupid bills that show up in our mail box. How do I make them stop coming? Oh wait, that’s not what this is about.

As my frequent readers and friends know, my son was recently sick. He was diagnosed with H1N1 and a bacterial infection that gave him a bilateral ear infection. That is an ear infection in both ears, which also caused both of his eardrums to rupture. Being a mom is so much fun. Especially when you have to sleep sitting up while holding your child in your arm, just so that he can get twenty minutes of sleep. Then screaming starts back up again for hours and hours…

We spent two weeks taking Kody to doctor’s appointments and we even made trips to the ER. I wish doctor’s appointments qualified for frequent flyer miles, we would be on our way to Jamaica right about now. Kody had; one doctor’s appointment (I couldn‘t get an appointment with the pediatrician so we saw another doctor), three trips to the specialist (ear, nose and throat), three trips to the ER and three trips to the pediatrician’s office.

We had a pharmacy at our house, with several different antibiotics, Tamiflu, Motrin, Tylenol and everything but horse tranquilizers. Trust me, I would have asked for horse tranquilizer if I knew it would have made him feel better. Tamiflu did not seem to do much since the doctor on our first ER trip failed to diagnose him with H1N1. Therefore it was too late but we did try it. In the end, shots of Rocephin antibiotic helped with his bacterial infection and H1N1 we suffered through on our own. Well, two bottles of Motrin and Tylenol did help a little bit with constant fever.

Today I picked up a stack of statements from his doctor’s visits and emergency room trips. I have a bill in my hand that is close to $2,000. This is for a single trip to the emergency room, when he was diagnosed with H1N1. The rest of the statements are not under $100 and there is literally a pile. His Rocephin shots were $135 each, and he received three doses. His medical statements from this ordeal are literally in the thousands of dollars.

My son is finally better. I am so glad that he is healthy and has survived this terrible ordeal. I’d like to think that we were vigilant parents who persisted that he gets prompt care for his health problems. We banged on doors, made a million phone calls and yelled at the pediatrician’s office. His bacterial infection would have been cleared up days ago if they would have just given him an appointment. The staff at the pediatrician’s office did feel my wrath and had their asses properly chewed out.

I am also thankful that the insurance company has covered every single penny of his care. I know it does not happen often and I’m counting my blessings. Then again, we do have good healthcare and pay for it dearly. I, as self-employed, have carried a private health insurance policy for years and my son was on it until recently. The policy cost me hundreds of dollars a month but was worth every penny. My husband, while he was self-employed, also had a private but expensive health insurance policy the entire time. The policy Kody is on now covers most of his care, including the craziest two weeks of our lives.

The point is, we HAVE health insurance. We may not always have perfect finances and I do freelance which is not the most secure job in the world. But we always have health insurance policy so that crazy and frequent medical visits like this can be covered.

You may be a freelancer too, or you may have another self-employment venture that offers no health insurance. I beg you to find private insurance. So many companies offer it. I know it may not always be in the budget but you need to be covered. If something bad happens it will cost you even more than a monthly premium. Demand Studios is even talking about offering health care to freelance writers. Find out the details and eligibility requirements. It may take 3 articles a month for Demand Studios and you will be covered with them. Whatever it takes, find yourself a policy and buy into it.

We got lucky, but trust me we have had some bad days when paying the monthly premium was not exactly easy. We still paid it though and I’m so glad that we did.

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This Is Why Freelance Writers Need Health Insurance

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