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Dear health insurance agents of America

By Lance Weiss

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I discovered this website and came to a horrible realization: Most of the people who are involved with health insurance seem to have no idea how completely lost people like me are when we try to deal with health insurance forms and medical bills.

Even if we’re smart, we have no idea how insurance works, or even how to go about contacting people like you. Someone, please help!

I, personally, am smart. Okay, well, maybe not that smart. But, say, “decent smart.” I have a college degree from a four-year university. I live in an information-heavy city (New York). I do my best to keep up with the news and recent Internet happenings. And I still have no idea how health insurance works.

I work as a self-employed comedian, and I do have health insurance.

In the past year, I’ve gone to the emergency room twice: Once for a finger broken during an intense basketball game, and once for dehydration, after another basketball game.

Both times, I had no idea what my insurance would cover.

I’m 30 years old, but I had to call and ask my mom about how to file everything. Even the vocabulary was intimidating. I still have no idea what a “PPO” is, or what a “provider” is.  (Or, whether they’re actually the same thing.)

Then there’s the insurance card. I don’t know how to use it. Example: There are three different addresses on the card. Which one should I send claims to? 

If I, a relatively informed and educated individual, can’t figure all of this out, how are the less educated members of society supposed to understand how to get and use health insurance?

I wish someone could make all this easier. (Or, better: Come and stop me the next time I think about playing basketball…)

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