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Cowell, after being
treated for her headache, suddenly fell extremely ill.
Unable to walk, the physical weakness prompted her to
immediately go to the hospital – a typical reaction for such
a feeling. What she didn’t know was that those symptoms
would cause her to be admitted to the hospital and
subsequently led to her being placed on a ventilator.
I remember when I had a cough, just one singular cough on a Monday, and
thought it was random. Since I hadn’t had any other
symptoms, I didn’t think I’d been infected. I had been
taking precautions and had only been outside the home for a
couple of reasons – work and replenishing groceries and
household items.
I never would have thought that seven days after one fluke of a cough,
that I would feel like I was going to die with every step I
took. The unexpected onset of weakness is frightening and
all you can think of is falling to your death, something
that you don’t prepare for when you’re fairly healthy aside
from the common “wear and tear” aches and pains of getting
older.
My trip to the hospital interrupted my routine and upended any plans I’d
been making. A career healthcare provider, I was planning on
reopening my natural hair care salon, after suspending
services for six months, to care for my daughter.
I searched two years, while renting a booth at another salon, for a
suitable space to open, and I found it at the arrival of the
coronavirus in the United States. After admission to Bay
Park Hospital, the only thoughts I had were teetering
between my mortality and my unfinished work that I had to be
alive to complete. The negative air flow machine in the room
took out the particles and dispersed them outside to give me
a fighting chance to recover.
The oxygen flowing through its cannula to my nose and lungs was a
reminder that I couldn’t breathe without it and had to
consciously work to take every breath.
This was an
experience that Cowell, having been placed on a ventilator,
couldn’t have because the machine had to breathe for her.
Incapacitated for
31 days, Cowell, CEO of the Toledo Urban Federal Credit
Union, had to undergo physical and occupational therapy as
she recovered from the effects of COVID-19. Relearning to
walk and function as she once did, she was focused on her
healing when she began receiving bills for medical
treatments associated with the virus.
Having healthcare
insurance, she was blindsided by the bills just as she was
by the virus which pounced on her and swiftly changed the
course of her life. Before she became ill, she remembered
hearing somewhere that the government assured people that
they would not have to pay for medical treatment because of
the global pandemic.
According to the
website insurance.wa.gov, “You should not get a
surprise bill for testing for coronavirus.
All health plans are covering testing without coinsurance,
copays or deductibles when you see an in-network primary
care provider or are tested at an in-network facility. If
you are treated at an emergency room, you also should not
receive a surprise bill from an out-of-network provider. If
you have questions about your coverage, contact your health
plan.
Contact us if you need additional help or
if you believe you have received a surprise bill. “
Apparently, Suzette
heard correctly.
I can remember talking to the care coordinators about insurance when I
was in the hospital. I was in the process of reapplying for
health coverage after mine lapsed. I was assured that my
coverage would date back three months, so I didn’t worry
about medical bills either. When I was discharged, I came
home and had to turn around and take my husband to the
hospital.
Maybe two days later, when he was in a crisis, I remember receiving a
call from the care plan manager telling me that we weren’t
approved for insurance although I’d spoken with the
providers, stating that I was. Before the coronavirus
pandemic, I had been working with the Ebeid Center on
finances and credit. I had been on a roll and had seen my
credit score increase to a score higher than ever had. We
had paid every bill on time for more than two years, and we
were working toward more goals when we fell ill.
The often-debilitating illness was only part of the multi-fold effects
COVID 19 has on families. Most people who are hospitalized
deal with the brunt of the virus for no less than three
weeks, but closer to four to six weeks. You can barely get
well when you realize that your family has been home,
sheltered in place nearly three months and you have been off
work.
Minus one or two weeks of income is often a disaster for working-class
families. Families who live check-to-check because expenses
outweigh wages for the average resident were railroaded by
this pandemic. My husband’s job went awry, not because he
was in the hospital, but because his employer had no work
for him with most businesses being shut down for an
unspecified amount of time. This business did not have a
pandemic plan in place, as with most businesses.
After having faced death, being separated from family and friends;
having no work or working from home, the last thing people
need is a stark reminder of their hospitalization with bills
from everywhere. Doctors we only spoke to on the phone or
saw once or twice during our stay were sending statements. I
received emails from University Toledo Medical Center for
services as did my husband. Soon after, I was getting text
messages about my bill, and to date, I have received more
“potential spam” calls in the last two months than I had
been getting in the last two to three years combined.
“The influx of
medical bills negatively affected my credit score.” Cowell
says. Having been successful in her endeavors, she had
excellent credit prior to COVID-19.
It’s a slap in the face when you know you have worked hard to maintain a
good credit score. I was assaulted! Knowing how important
those numbers are, I saw my already derailed plans of
purchasing a home running away from me. It already had been
a moving target because I chose to close my business during
the winter and early spring so that income which was used to
pay over the minimum balance due. I was now just maintaining
and not paying ahead.
By the time my husband and I started to feel better, we heard about
economic stimulus checks being paid out. We received ours
and that provided some relief. Reluctant to spend it, three
months later, we are still holding onto it.
People have been receiving unemployment, food and cash assistance, we
have had some help, but we know it will end. So I put off
opening the salon until mid-June and I chose to work my
healthcare job in double shifts because I know that the
little bit of assistance the government has provided will
soon go away. Although we didn’t see much, the little bit
was worth saving.
Before financial coaching, I may have taken that stimulus check and paid
a few bills off or bought a second vehicle, for cash. It
would have been gone. But as I learn more, I decided to take
care of the car I have and continue paying my bills on time,
because on time is better than finding myself unable to pay
at all.
That headache Cowell had, has become a national migraine for people
everywhere who are grappling with major decisions that have
to be made even though there is a looming uncertainty about
what is to come one week, let alone one month from now. As
we see the numbers of infected individuals increase this
week, businesses are closing their doors again, work from
home orders is sustained and families are trying to avoid
land mines.
I watched Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods last weekend. It’s about four
black men who fought together in Vietnam, who returned to
find their fallen brother – the fifth blood. Spoiler alert:
there is a scene when the men discover gold they have been
looking for that they stashed during the war.
One of the men tells the others that his mother always told him the love
of money is the root of all evil. A successful businessman,
at one point in his life, he confesses that he lost his
fortune to mismanagement of money. Holding a gold bar, he
walks backyards yelling at them about their arguing over the
gold. One misstep leads him to a land mine that ends his
life in a gory and abrupt manner. That shining gold becomes
tarnished with blood and grime from the ground around him.
When I asked Cowell
how she was dealing with the financial crisis she faces when
she contracted COVID-19, it occurred to me that she was
focused on her plan to work with the creditors to remedy the
issue. I also learned that amidst her struggle, she has been
using her expertise in financial matters to encourage others
who have lost jobs and family members to COVID-19, to stay
within their budgets, utilize community resources like
Neighborhood Works to stay on track and receive guidance on
navigating throughout the prolonged crisis.
For myself, our financial coach’s office, like many others, are
conducting appointments online or by phone, but I haven’t
called him because my husband and I made a plan to save what
we can, use our gifts to generate income and to keep our
minds focused on the goals we set forth.
So far, it has been working, and that business space I acquired in early
March for my salon, that sat empty during our health crisis,
is now open for business. It just so happened that it is
enough space for him to join me and use his gifts to teach
art classes while I work in an adjacent space.
While we can count on one hand how often he has been able to work for
his employer since the epidemic began, we are counting every
dollar that comes in and goes out, prepared for the long
haul of unchartered territory. Should any future headaches
arise, we have learned first-hand how to treat it.
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