Quality of life diminished as uninsured patiently wait

By Steve Kanigher

Monday, April 19, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Many uninsured Nevadans are anxiously waiting for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to take full effect because it is supposed to give them access to primary care doctors, prescription drug coverage and other health care that their insured neighbors take for granted.

“I’m looking for a change from what I have now, which is nothing,” says Las Vegas talent agent Leana Hildebrand, 38.

Hildebrand lost her insurance as the result of a divorce four years ago. Since then, the only regular health care she can afford has been annual visits to the Nevada Health Centers Mammovan for mammograms and to Planned Parenthood for pap smears.

She has cut out certain things in her life because if she gets injured, she has no way to pay for medical bills.

“It’s scary going without insurance,” Hildebrand says. “My health care plan is: Try to not get sick. I’ve been invited to go skiing but I’m not going to take a risk. I’ve chosen not to go roller skating with my niece.”

She misses the days when she saw her primary care doctor on a regular basis, and misses the time when she paid only $15 for medication that costs 10 times as much for the uninsured.

“When I get sick I just muddle through it,” she says.

Danyl Garnett, a 32-year-old Las Vegas hair stylist, is in the same boat.

Garnett is an independent contractor who cannot afford health insurance at the current rates available to her. She had insurance under her husband’s coverage but after he died, she joined the ranks of the uninsured two months ago. Already, she has discovered that a month’s supply of birth control pills that used to cost her only $5 to $10 now cost $75. Over the course of a year, that adds up to $900.

Like Hildebrand, Garnett has had to change the way she lives her life. She no longer goes four-wheeling, for example, due to lack of insurance.

“Something like a co-op would be fantastic for me because I would be able to join and get insurance at a group rate,” Garnett says. “Under my old insurance, I went to a regular doctor and a gynecologist. I didn’t have anything to worry about except for the $10 co-pay. I loved my insurance because I felt that if I got sick, I didn’t have to worry about it. Now it’s really frustrating.”