May 16, 2012: The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. Following Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of motions to proceed to the following budget resolutions, en bloc: S.Con.Res.41 (Senator Sessions-his interpretation of the Obama budget); H.Con.Res.112 (Congressman Ryan); S.Con.Res.37 (Senator Toomey); S.Con.Res.42 (Senator Paul); and S.Con.Res.44 (Senators Lee, Paul, DeMint). There will be up to 6 hours for debate on the motions to proceed, equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 4:00 p.m. if all time is used), the Senate will conduct up to 5 roll call votes on the motion to proceed to each concurrent resolution. There will be 2 minutes of debate between each vote and all votes after the first vote will be 10 minutes in duration.
When I was pregnant several years ago, I had a kidney stone pass on my right side. At that time, I was informed that there was a much larger kidney stone in my left kidney and if it ever attempted to pass, I would need to go to the emergency room immediately as it is too big to pass on its own.
A year (and one day) later, I had another kidney stone on my right side. I was again informed of the much larger one and that there would need to be medical intervention when it tried to pass.
As the next month passed, I was in and out of hospitals and seen by 5 doctors – resulting with a hospital stay and extreme pain before the kidney stone on the right side was blasted in same-day surgery.
In the meantime, the bills were piling up. I believe we spent near $4,100 in 2008 for medical expenses. And we have insurance. Our premium is close to $500 a month.
Neither my husband nor I have benefits through work, so it's our own policy. Each CAT scan is $900 and when my kidney stone was examined via CAT scan, it was considered two different CAT scans because they were looking at two different body parts.
My insurance paid $15 of the first CAT scan and then covered almost all of the second CAT scan only because I had met my premium on the year at this point.
I think some serious changes need to be made. Yes, health care needs to be affordable to everyone, but not just the insurance aspect of it.
Does it really need to cost so much to get a CAT scan? And why do I need to be charged for two CAT scans when only one CAT scan was done?
The cost for my insurance each month is already almost the same as my monthly mortgage payment. And because I'm more of a "risk," my premium went up almost $100 more dollars a month in 2009.
I had to up my deductible just so I could afford to pay a premium. And I'm married with a small child. We have other expenses we could be using that money for.
I think that a person’s health is so much more important than an insurance company or a pharmacy company making a profit. These two industries are clearly taking advantage of American citizens every day.
I would strongly encourage you to look into better options for health care. What a burden that could be lifted in so many lives. Thank you for hearing my voice and the voice of so many others like me!
Lynn – Madison, SD
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