By: Anne Tews
In 2010, I lost my job and got health care coverage through Thrivent. It cost an arm and a leg, and if I were to use it I’d have to pay a high deductible before coverage would kick-in. Even getting my annual check-up was difficult because of the hoops the insurance company made me jump through. That’s why I was thrilled that the Affordable Care Act allowed me to get MNSure coverage in 2013.
My right foot had been bothering me since 2010, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Now that I had coverage, I could finally look into it.
I went in for an annual check-up (my first in a couple of years) and mentioned my sore foot. X-rays showed that I had osteoarthritis in one joint, and I was told that I needed to see an orthopedic doctor about treatment. A few weeks and more x-rays later, I got the news that there was no cartilage left in my joint and I would have to undergo a talonavicular joint fusion.
The fusion would require inserting two 1.75″ screws into my joint and 2-3 pins into my foot. But it was worth it for what I thought would be a permanent solution. I had the surgery in April 2014. For six weeks, I couldn’t put any weight on my right foot. I had to walk in a cast for a month and continue wearing a lace-up ankle brace after that. Recovery went as expected, and although my foot ached, it was just a part of the extended recovery period and it slowly improved.
Having affordable, accessible health care is important to all people. In my case, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the surgeries, drugs, stitches, walking cast, follow-up visits, and x-rays.
Over a year later, my foot started swelling and I was in terrible pain again. I went to the doctor and x-rays showed that one screw was coming undone in my foot. (Friends teased me that they always knew I had a screw loose). Post-surgery the doctor had taken x-rays which indicated that my foot had healed; however, a CAT scan would have shown differently and that I needed to stay off my foot for longer. If only I had known, all would have been well.
Instead, it took weeks to see another orthopedic surgeon and to learn that actually both screws had come loose and had to be removed. It took nearly a month to get into surgery.
Today, my foot pain/strength is worse than before April 2014, but I’m still grateful that I had coverage to try and fix the initial problem.
Health insurance has also allowed me to have counselor sessions, annual check-ups, doctor visits when my sinusitis flares up several times per year, treatment for tendonitis and osteoarthritis in my right thumb, dentist visits, and eye check-ups. I wish it covered 100% of my prescription glasses and sunglasses, but my current coverage covers at least a small part.
Having affordable, accessible health care is important to all people. In my case, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the surgeries, drugs, stitches, walking cast, follow-up visits, and x-rays. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened to my health—and my life—if I hadn’t had coverage. Nobody in Minnesota should have to.
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.
