Paul's Kidney Stone Adventure
Donation protected
One November night while in Los Angeles with the national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I awoke in tremendous abdominal pain. I rushed to the nearest ER and was diagnosed with a large kidney stone, about the size of a pencil eraser. Now, anyone who has had a kidney stone before knows, it's PAINFUL.
As someone who rarely visits the hospital, and all the way across the country from my friends and family, I was scared. To compound the situation, I was told by the doctor that I was... uninsured. "How can that be?", I thought. I was on MedicAid. I was insured by the State of NY. What I didnt know was that during the prior month while on tour, the NY State Dept of Health sent a notice to my apartment stating that I needed to renew. How was I to know from across the country that I was about to loose the most important thing that I needed in that moment?
Because of the large amount of pain, I went ahead with the scans and procedures. Being on tour, I had a urologist appointment and another hospital procedure done in Pittsburgh (which, luckily, happens to be my hometown). I had deep faith that it would be sorted out smoothly on the other side of all this. Boy, was I mistaken. Thus begun the nightmare of trying to attain insurance and payment while doing my best to pass this stone.
As soon as I found out I was uninsured, I immediately reapplied to get back on the insurance and receive retropay for my previous bills. Who knows when the next health scare or life-moment would happen? It took the state until June 13th to actually hear my appeal for the retroactive case!
The appeal was unfortunately denied because I made too much money in the month of November (near the majority of the money I made in 2016).
Therefore, I turn to you. It is never easy to ask for help. However, I do not nearly have the funds to do this alone. I am deeply concerned about how I will pay these medical bills. I am humbly asking for your help. Truly, any bit helps. Thank you for taking the time!!
With Love,
Paul McGill
As someone who rarely visits the hospital, and all the way across the country from my friends and family, I was scared. To compound the situation, I was told by the doctor that I was... uninsured. "How can that be?", I thought. I was on MedicAid. I was insured by the State of NY. What I didnt know was that during the prior month while on tour, the NY State Dept of Health sent a notice to my apartment stating that I needed to renew. How was I to know from across the country that I was about to loose the most important thing that I needed in that moment?
Because of the large amount of pain, I went ahead with the scans and procedures. Being on tour, I had a urologist appointment and another hospital procedure done in Pittsburgh (which, luckily, happens to be my hometown). I had deep faith that it would be sorted out smoothly on the other side of all this. Boy, was I mistaken. Thus begun the nightmare of trying to attain insurance and payment while doing my best to pass this stone.
As soon as I found out I was uninsured, I immediately reapplied to get back on the insurance and receive retropay for my previous bills. Who knows when the next health scare or life-moment would happen? It took the state until June 13th to actually hear my appeal for the retroactive case!
The appeal was unfortunately denied because I made too much money in the month of November (near the majority of the money I made in 2016).
Therefore, I turn to you. It is never easy to ask for help. However, I do not nearly have the funds to do this alone. I am deeply concerned about how I will pay these medical bills. I am humbly asking for your help. Truly, any bit helps. Thank you for taking the time!!
With Love,
Paul McGill
Organizer
Paul McGill
Organizer
New York, NY
