Barack, your campaign was built around the word “hope.” I hope you can figure this one out.
One snowy, miserable Boston morning last year, between coughing spells and nearly biting the nurse’s hand, I was tested for Strep Throat and a number of other various diseases which almost certainly had it in for my final exam grades. My insurance company, Aetna, covers me as a student. It always has, and as a healthy kid, I pay more than enough each month so it continues to do so.
However, as the notices and bill reminders began arriving, I worried it was time for a phone call. The workers at Aetna, as it turns out, didn’t feel like processing that claim as they rightfully should. They sent me the hefty bill from Quest Diagnostics instead.
Then, Aetna sent me to collections for not paying it.
I’m aware that accidents happen with large companies, but I always assumed that they were followed by apologies and attempts to rectify the situation with the valued customer. Companies are as decent as the people who work for them, and in my experience people are usually pretty decent. When somebody pulled my five-foot long pigtails on the playground in kindergarten, they would always give me a (granted, usually forced) “I’m sorry.” When a professor mismarked a grade last year, he changed it and apologized. The trend in people consists of admitting, changing and fixing. But the employees of Aetna did none of these.
The company must have some inhuman special status that allows it to treat others with total disrespect. I have yet to hear from them (or the collections agency) that the mistake was theirs, that they give their deepest sympathies, and that with my otherwise perfect credit score, I will surely be able to get a loan someday for a house or car. At the ripe age of 20, and with zero experience fighting massive corporations and their phone trees, I can’t even fathom how to take action on my behalf.
Insurance companies know best how difficult it is to change insurance companies, and that willing or not, I will be their devoted customer. Is this the root of the problem? Does a guaranteed customer base mean a company can do whatever is financially beneficial to them, no matter the consequences?
This guaranteed customer base keeps the Insurance Monster, in fact, a monster. Thus I turn to the newest ray of hope in our country to solve a problem that is beyond me. As I grow older I am learning that sometimes, we just have to turn for help.
Barack, I know you have met the Monster. I know that it stole possibly years of your grandmother’s life. I also know that compared to that situation, mine is pretty minuscule. However, I can’t really afford five hundred dollars or the hit my credit score took. I know I’m just the little guy, but please, please dive in and fight the monster that ruins us. I leave the task to you.
Best,
Laura Wolf
