A year after high school, I moved out into the big world. I had a high paying job that allowed me to move into luxury apartments downtown and stock it with high end frivolous electronics. I also bought a sweet red Mustang that I used to entertain the ladies in (my wife too, eventually).
Life was simple back then.
My weight was ballooning, but it was easy to ignore. Going out for some wings and fries was more important than my health. It’s easy for your weight to go out of control when you’re busy and/or having fun — and so it did.
In the process for spreading my wings I had to sign up for various services and utilities. I took care of all the priorities first, like high speed internet and digital cable television (with DVR, sucka). Then, I moved onto the less important things like electricity, water, and car insurance. No longer on my parents health insurance, I had to sign up for that as well since it wasn’t provided by my job. I went to the website for Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina (after stumbling onto countless other websites regarding insurance, including Florida State Insurance), the company my mother suggested, and put in an application for coverage.
A few days later, I got a letter in the mail: Denied for Coverage. My “height and weight proportions” weren’t within their coverage limits. Naive, I didn’t even know it was possible to get denied for health insurance at the time. I figured I would’ve paid a monthly premium, albeit a little more than my lighter counterparts, but I still would’ve had health insurance — or so I thought.
After Blue Cross Blue Shield denied me I applied at a couple of other health insurance carriers in South Carolina — all denials. I even signed up to a health insurance broker, a company that “represents” dozens of health insurance companies and claims to be able to find you the lowest rate — I was denied by every company, even for the most basic (catastrophic) coverage.
Should I have been covered? Well, that’s a business decision that each health insurance provider that denied me had to make. Each company had a risk analyst take a look at my application, deem that the chance of me having a serious medical condition (heart attack, diabetes, etc) was simply too high and I was denied for coverage. Nobody thought they’d make a dime off of me if they insured me. Right or wrong, that’s the way it was and probably always will be.
I was uninsured for 3 years. I only had to go to the doctor once uninsured; I sliced a finger open and needed stitches. 1 hour and $350 later I had the cheapest pair of stitches money could buy. Fortunately, my wife graduated shortly after I decided to cut my finger open and got a job with great benefits. I was added to her health coverage, no forms to fill out or questions asked.
Our health insurance provider? Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I love a story with a happy ending. And how interesting that the company that previously denied you became your provider when you got added to your wife’s coverage. I love that too.
You are an inspiration. I read your story on Consumerist and am now following you on your weight-loss journey.
You pretty much rock.
Oh. No, I believe it is you who rocks.
Thanks for reading, catherooooooo.
I also saw you on Consumerist and I have added you to my RSS feeds. I am a big guy myself (310, don’t tell anyone, they think I am 285) and am trying to make small changes. Keep up the good work.
Damn, insurance sucks. It’s sad that we live in a world where such a thing even exists.
I admire your tenacity. I’ve been following your blog for a week or two now, and hope you keep going!
So, I dragged my treadmill out of mothballs this week. It needed some “treadmill lube”, so I ordered some from Amazon.com and when it got here, I started running. Now I gotta get myself to do it daily. That’s the hard part.
I remember working next to a guy once who wouldn’t join us for after work drinks and other stuff… he had to work out. Every day he worked out. He was in AWESOME shape though, so I had to admire him. He did something that we should ALL do, which is to DEMAND that people respect the fact that he has set aside time to work out. Too many of us set aside time to TRY to workout, and are willing to waffle when something comes up… Yet, we always find time to EAT. 3 times a day, even… So, why can’t we spend 30 minutes each day to work out? He does it, and I have to respect that.
Now it seems I’ve found someone else who has the strength to stand up and say “I work out every day. Get used to it.” I admire you for that, Tyler. You go, dude.
Now I hope I can gain that strength too.
After getting laid off a few years back, I thought the same about insurance, but repeatedly I was denied, so I quickly took the Cobra offering I had. It was insanely expensive, but better than no coverage.
But the clock was ticking. Tick tick tick. 18 months later, I ended up having to switch jobs simply because my Cobra was running out and the consulting company I worked for bait-and-switched my insurance the day I came in to accept the job. (Before they saw me, they offered insurance. When I arrived, I was told that they no longer offered it and my only option was to not take the job.)
Sadly, I have aspirations to lose weight, but the only steps I seem to climb lately is my weight chart. But I’ve been reading your progress and hope to refocus my efforts here soon (partner just got laid off, so work is harder than ever and stress is my biggest trigger).
Insurance companies suck. Period. I think your story is so ironic, yet typical *eye roll*
Keep up the excellent work! I visit every day to see how you’re doing :)
Same thing happened to me when I tried to sign up for supplementary life insurance through my employer about a year into my job. Got a letter in the mail a week or two later that said I fell out of their height/weight parameters for coverage. End of discussion; no appeals process; I was simply denied.
It was quite a shock, especially since I didn’t think my weight was all that out of proportion to my taller frame, and since I didn’t know they *could* deny coverage.
Thank heavens I had automatically signed up for health coverage when I was hired on, or all the medical bills in my little family these last few months would have literally driven me into bankruptcy. Strange rules in the insurance world.
Good for you!!! 55 pounds and still counting, I bet you look and feel great!! Only 45 more to go to goal – you will make it!
Your motivation story is a good one that highlights the pitfalls within our society when it comes to health insurance. The idea that as Americans we want to not only have our cake and eat it, but when we get sick as a result we want someone else to pay the tab. You wouldn’t expect to be in several car accidents that were your fault in a year and still be able to purchase car insurance, correct? Yet we treat our bodies like they will last forever, like we need to do nothing to maintaint them, like we can eat every unhealthy thing under the sun and gain weight like crazy and the insurance company should pay for all the heart attacks, diabetees, and strokes that result!
If not for those denials you might never had faced up to your obesity. You may have never realized you were a walking death trap…by you being motivated you added years onto your life.
Now, you could have continued on your parents insurance for 18 months through a COBRA program, but after that the result would have been the same.
I am glad you took responsibility for your own plight, you took a look at the man in the mirror and you made the change you needed to make – and good for you!!
I’m glad you finally got covered. I unfortunately am not married and my mom can’t afford to add me to her policy. I don’t have employment right now and being my height/weight I am having a hard time finding work..being only 20 and weighing 322.5lbs… I keep getting denied from everyone I apply to..