Moving from job to job doesn’t just mean unpredictable income, constantly learning new responsibilities, and re-adjusting to a new workplace. For many, such as Mary in Lexington Park, MD, it also means a life of poor health insurance or no insurance at all. In her words she’s been “uninsured or underinsured” for most of her life, and it’s begun take a toll on her health.

From one job with a 90-day waiting period for coverage, to another with the state that classified her as a contractor, to yet another with a temp agency that provided no benefits – Mary has seen it all and knows exactly what it means to put off care. It’s a constantly growing problem in America. Not only do many employers not offer benefits to all workers or certain groups of employees, those that do are aggressively raising out-of-pocket costs. The result of all this stress on average Americans is exemplified perfectly in Mary’s health and history of coverage.

For years she’s avoided seeking care because of the cost, and at times when she did visit a doctor she’s even been denied treatment for being uninsured and unable to pay upfront. In one remarkable instance a doctor found "something that could be a cyst, a fibroid, or cancer" during a sonogram and immediately scheduled a biopsy. But that was before the office staff found out that Mary had no insurance and couldn’t afford to pay upfront. The procedure was cancelled and Mary had to go home wondering what exactly that “something” was.

Currently she’s in one of those 90-day wait periods to test her resolve and staying power before they’ll give her health insurance. However, Mary couldn’t wait any longer. With growing concerns about her health that couldn’t be cured with at-home remedies, she finally sent a desperate plea to area doctors. In exchange for medical treatment she offered help around the office using skills she learned as a nurse’s assistant.

Luckily one doctor responded to Mary’s call and connected her with a clinic that’s now beginning to address the health issues she built up from years of neglect that befall those lacking adequate coverage. But could those issues have been addressed more cost effectively at early stages? Will Mary’s health ever be as good as it could have been with the proper preventive care? Tough to know for sure but we do know that in general treatment is cheaper, easier, and more effective when illness is identified early.

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