My biggest problem in my health care is when I have an emergency and go to the ER. You see, I have no health insurance, not the kind you pay for. 

I used to have Care Source but now I have United Health. They are both free. The trouble is, they switch you around without any notice or input from the patient. Care Source paid for prescriptions while United Health doesn’t. So now, when I get a prescription from an ER visit, I just can’t afford the meds. 

Once I had a bladder infection and couldn’t afford the antibiotics. I took what they gave me for free at the ER, then just drank a lot of water. Somehow, I don’t remember how, I got through it. It could have killed me.

A few years ago, I went to the ER at University Hospitals main campus. I waited and waited for more than four hours, even though there was no one in front of me which is so unusual. Yet, every once in a while, someone with insurance would come in and they would be taken right away. This happened a bunch of times and some who arrived after me even left before I saw anyone. It just isn’t fair that the timeliness of the care you get is dependent on how much money you have..meaning if you have insurance or not. 

One hospital is better. Metro General, a county hospital. There you are treated the same. My wait at the ER there has nothing to do with the fact that I have no insurance. Plus, they provide transportation to and from. All I need to do is call. 

I used to live in Lakewood and I liked the hospital there, Lakewood Hospital, a municipal hospital. Then the Cleveland Clinic forced it to close. Part of their “sub-urbanization strategy,” I am told. It seems they want hospitals in areas where more people have insurance. It just made things much more difficult for m e because I have to travel further, especially since I don’t have transportation.

​So better experiences at a county or municipal hospital. Otherwise, the care I get is about money.