By: Amity Foster
When I was 22 years old, I was diagnosed with leukemia. I was fresh out of college. I did not have a job. I did not have healthcare.
I was in that zone of not really being sure what I was going to do with my life, feeling stressed, but also feeling kind of invincible. Then I got my diagnosis over the phone: “You have acute promyelocytic leukemia. You are at extremely high risk for getting very sick, you need to come to the hospital now.”
I can absolutely tell you this: I survived because I was taken care of. And that includes the cost.
There were no questions about insurance, healthcare plans, or cost. It was very fast. I got the call on a Saturday and I was at United on Monday. I remember feeling confused, scared, and overwhelmed. But I don’t remember being worried about how I was going to pay for everything. I remember a hospital staffer, maybe she was a social worker, coming to talk to me. She helped me fill out a ton of forms.
And that was it.
No bills, ever.
There were points in my treatment where I almost died. The fear and loneliness of having cancer is awful enough. I can’t even process what that feels like topped with the stress of paying thousands of dollars of medical bills. Later I found out that my time in the hospital, with all the treatments, was more than $100,000.
I can absolutely tell you this: I survived because I was taken care of. And that includes the cost.
I survived, and now I am thriving. Everyone in Minnesota should have that same right. Expand MinnesotaCare.
We all have a health care story, because health care is a basic, fundamental need. This is part of a weekly series during Minnesota’s legislative session where we share the health care stories of Minnesotans like you. Share your story here.
