I’m Still on Hold For Healthcare Coverage — at This Very Moment

Swaying to smooth jazz as I feel the impact of a broken system

I’m on hold with my state’s job and family services department.

Right now, as I write this!

I filled out a form to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace® last month. You see, I’ve left my corporate job and its healthcare benefits in the dust, so I need individual coverage.

My current income is so low that I qualify for Medicaid. Problem is, I have to wait until Medicaid is approved or denied through my state before I purchase an individual plan. It’s all income based.

So here I am. On hold to talk health coverage, and there seems to be no end in sight.

I’m at the 45-minute mark.

As a newly single mom, the lengthy wait time is not ideal. But who am I to complain? Things are tough for all of us. State and government assistance programs are underfunded and understaffed. The economy is in the crapper. End times, and all that.

Also, I chose this.

I didn’t have to leave my job, but there were some company politics and other factors at play that made for a nasty environment. I’m the one who decided to seek work more conducive to mental health and inner peace.

So here I sit, on the phone, wasting away in an endless void of red tape.

I just took my teenager to the local care clinic earlier this week. For $119, a nurse practitioner kindly diagnosed him with a yucky cold. No antibiotics required.

I’m glad he’s doing better, but the situation lit a match under me to see about acquiring health insurance while I’m building my own business and job searching.

Inner peace has yet to be found, but at least the hold music is calming.

Passing the time productively

Why simply sit and jam to the soothing sounds of generic jazz? I’d rather do something productive to help pass the time.

Like get some writing done. Maybe help U.S. leaders solve our growing healthcare crisis. Couldn’t hurt to give it a shot, right?

The elevator music situation could be better though, if I’m being totally honest. It’s playing on a loop that’s way too short for the amount of time people are spending on hold. It cuts off and replays the same melody every 40 seconds. I timed it.

Making health insurance more accessible isn’t easy, but certainly we can make a longer cut of on-hold tunes to avoid driving people insane before they can even afford to seek therapy.

Unfortunately, music won’t cure all that ails us. So now that I’ve been on hold for nearly an hour, I’m turning to Google for ideas on how to fix our broken healthcare system.

Maybe our nation’s leaders haven’t tried that yet.

According to research by Harvard Health editor, Robert H. Shmerling, MD, coverage in the U.S. costs too much and doesn’t deliver the quality we need: “Despite spending more on healthcare than other high-income nations, the U.S. scores poorly on many key health measures, including life expectancy, preventable hospital admissions, suicide, and maternal mortality.”

I know I’m only one person, and this isn’t my area of expertise. Not much else I can offer, other than to write.

I can utilize my wordsmithing skills to complain and make a ruckus. I can ask hard-hitting question, such as: Why can’t the U.S. do better?

Seriously. Like, what’s stopping us from making much-needed changes?

I know we have so many, many problems to tend to. Rampant gun violence (and worrying about my son’s safety in public school every day) is one of them. But a better healthcare system, and especially more accessible mental healthcare, would help resolve and prevent violence issues better than slapping a bandaid on our grieving people post-bloodshed.

So, why can’t the U.S. implement a better healthcare system and go the way of, say, Denmark?

Thanks to my years of expertise typing words into a Google search bar, I’ve discovered we can learn a lot from Denmark and other countries who have their healthcare system in far better shape.

Rated number one on Cigna’s global list of countries with the best healthcare system, Denmark’s universal coverage provides its citizens with mostly free medical care and is funded through income tax. Permanent residents are entitled to a national health insurance card, and most exams and treatments are free.

The U.S., you’ll notice, is nowhere to be found on the top ten list. Our income tax is high, and so is the cost of our healthcare coverage.

Even those Americans who are lucky enough to have a job with benefits are having trouble affording health insurance. I know I did — even when I was corporate. It was a struggle to have such a large chunk taken out of my check every month for family medical, dental, and eye care.

As I listen to the endless short loop of warm saxophone sounds over the phone, I have to wonder: What can I do to get our leaders to model our healthcare system after one that has proven to be far more effective?

Finally, a soul on the other line

At the one hour and twenty-minute mark, I hear a faint voice. A kind woman has taken me off hold!

I almost don’t realize it’s happening, I’m so deep in the writing zone.

But I get my act together and chatter away, giving her the rundown of my situation as clearly and concisely as possible. I’m not trying to slow things down for everyone else stuck in elevator music land.

After she verifies my identity and I tell her my reason for calling, our dialogue goes precisely like this:

Her: It hasn’t even been thirty days yet.

Me: Right, but someone called me to talk about my application for approval, which is why I’m following up now. They said they’d call back that afternoon, because I was in an appointment with my son at the time. No one has called back, and it’s been about two weeks since then. I was hoping to continue that conversation.

Her: I see that. The representative you spoke to hasn’t tried to call you back yet. I’d give it a couple more days.

Me: There’s no way I can call the rep back instead of waiting? I tried to enroll in a plan on the Marketplace website, but when I filled out my income, I was directed to apply for Medicaid. So we have no insurance right now.

Her: No, we don’t have a way for you to call them back. I’d wait thirty days. Then call us back if you still haven’t heard anything.

Me: Okay, I’ll do that. Thanks!

And with that, our conversation is done. An hour-plus on hold for about three minutes of “help.”

My work to get healthcare coverage continues.

Keep waiting, and good luck being without coverage in the meantime

Looks like I have to keep waiting. Then wait some more. In the meantime, I’ll go deeper and deeper into debt if I have to self-pay for more visits or prescriptions.

I’m one of the lucky ones. It’s sad to admit, but going into debt is a privilege compared to those whose credit is already ruined due to student loans, inflation, being out of a job, or having a job that doesn’t pay all the bills.

I can get my kid in and out of a $119 clinic visit because my credit is good enough to fund medical care while the state keeps me on hold. I hate to build up debt, but if I or my child really need care outside of an emergency room, we can get it.

For now.

That ADHD evaluation I’ve been wanting can wait, I suppose. It’s all a balance. What condition is important enough to spend what limited money I have? What’s important enough to put on the credit card? What can wait?

I can’t imagine the hardship this red tape chaos must be for families who have more kids, more chronic health issues, or both. It’s too long of a wait, especially for those in dire situations. There are so many people out there who need serious healthcare help— and help paying for it — right now.

That help is just so, so hard to come by in this country. Perhaps, if we all shout enough, we can make a difference.

Even as a writer, I’m a firm believer that actions are just as crucial as words. So — I welcome suggestions.

Even if it’s just for better music.

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