My daughter, age 47, is self employed and has applied for high deductible, catastrophic insurance several times. She has been denied for two reasons:

1) A single trip to the Novato Hospital Emergency for severe abdominal pain. She was dehydrated from being alone for five days, and was too sick to take care of herself properly. She did not want to incur the cost of a doctor. She was given intravenous fluids and a sonogram, which revealed two fibroids. She was told the fibroids appeared to be shrinking.

2) Her weight. She is 60 pounds overweight, even though she eats healthily. She eats no junk food, but does have bagels, bacon, etc., a few times a week, and occasional deserts. Obviously, something doesn’t add up, and a medical work-up is needed.

Other than this, she has NO HISTORY of disease or medical issues, and no indication of chronic disease.

This seems outrageous to me. I worked in a Sutter hospital. All employees had full coverage whether they were healthy or had poor health habits.

The self employed fall into a black hole. This has to change!

Patricia, An Angry Parent

Comment: Patricia is right. No one should be denied health care because they chose to strike out on their own, have happened to visit an emergency room once, and have weight issues! Under a single-payer, Medicare for All-type program, everyone is covered for life, regardless of medical condition or job status.