Forced Choices

This is Part 1 of a multi-part post.

I have not been posting for a while, but I'm in the process of trying to increase readership of my blog, and hopefully, get my ideas out to more people than just my friends.  This is an attempt to explain how people can be forced to make financial decisions that are not beneficial, why Social Security is necessary, and why the system of medical insurance and private doctors in the United States needs to change.


There are SO many things wrong with what goes on in the U.S. Congress, it is hard to know what to talk about first.  I share the feelings of many Americans, that the members of Congress are completely out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent. It seems that the majority of members either don't know, or don't care about the hardships most working and retired Americans face every day.  The policies they advocate are just plain bad for the average American, and only benefit the very rich and the biggest, richest corporations.

When I retired at age 62, I made some forced choices. First, I chose to move to the Philippines so that my income would go further due to the lower cost of living. Second, I chose to pay for health care in cash, as needed, rather than pay for health insurance. Many Americans living in the Philippines do this, and due to the lower cost of hospital and physician services, it is not as crazy as it sounds, but it can be very stressful, when you have known health issues. Now because I have a "break in coverage," I can't get health insurance that doesn't exclude my "pre-existing conditions," forever.  Now the members of Congress would say that problem is my fault because I made bad choices.  However, there are many circumstances that forced me to make those choices.

The policies that made outsourcing or setting up tech support call centers in India and Brazil made me expendable to my employer, and I was laid off from a $100,000 + a year job in January 2007.  The tech sector economy was already sliding into the great recession, so it was impossible for a 58 year old, with nearly 20 years experience with major tech companies, to find a job.  I worked as a substitute teacher, while applying for a current teaching license, barely paying the bills, and paying for COBRA from my severance pay.  I was never able to get even a doctor's visit paid for through the COBRA "coverage" and when the severance money ran out, I couldn't pay the ridiculously high premium, so the "coverage" lapsed.

I had to turn in two of the three cars I was buying, to the banks that held the loans. Now these banks treated me just the same as if they had to send the repo man to get the cars in the middle of the night, and then sold the cars for very low prices, and told me I owed them the difference between the loan balance and what the cars brought at auction; about $13,000 and $11,000, respectively.  I continued to make my mortgage payments from my savings.

Because of the so called, "No Child Left Behind" legislation, which, by the way, only benefits the testing company mandated to establish qualifications, I found that my Master's Degree was completely irrelevant to the certification agency, because I hadn't taken the prescribed test.  I had taken a test that was acceptable to establish my competence as an Elementary School Teacher, but only at the Bachelor's level.  As a result, I could not be hired in my primary skill and experience area, with the most job opportunities.  I had to apply for jobs in Elementary Education, with the least available jobs, and the most competition.  I was eventually hired in January, 2008, at less than 1/3 the salary I had been making.  The main reason I took the job was that I got health insurance.  My pay covered groceries and utilities.  I still had to pay my mortgage and car payments from my savings.

I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in July 2007.   I went on hormone suppression therapy to shrink the gland to a treatable size.  I had to drive for 3 hours, every month, to get to the doctor's office for my treatment.  They injected a slow dissolving "pill" under the skin of my thigh, which suppressed my testosterone production, because testosterone is like fertilizer for Prostate Cancer.  Having lots of estrogen and very little testosterone in my system let me experience the joys of menopause, first hand. I went through hot flashes, which are nothing to joke about, guys.  I thought I was losing my mind, because I would start crying for no reason.  In July, 2008, my prostate was down to maximum treatable size. I had to fly to Nassau, Bahamas for treatment, because the FDA had not, and still has not, approved High Intensity Focused Ultrasound treatment.  All of this treatment was entirely at my expense because the of the FDA approval status.  After 5 1/2 hours of treatment, my cancer was completely killed, and I have been cancer free since then.


To be continued...