[CA] Income-wise, we are making a lot less than at this point last year due to my husband being contractor and he’s getting about 1/3 the jobs he did last year. Premiums/Subsidies were based on last year’s income. Is there any way I can get a lower premium?

I am absolutely terrified and so sad right now because of what just occurred today. I have just moved out of my parents’house, recently graduated from college, and into IN with a new job as a Staff Accountant, so I have a pretty decent income but not good enough savings. But I feel absolutely all alone.

To start off I have been having shortness of breath and pain when I breath around the end of June right before the July 4th weekend. I went to urgent care, and they told me it wasn’t anything. I was absolutely confused and decided to endure the pain. It comes this week, and I start having chest pain. Then on Friday, I could taste acid in my mouth, gas, my stomach was bloated, it hurt to eat, and I was still having chest pain. I decided to get some Prilosec OTC because I had a history of heartburn back in high school. I took it and there was a cooling effect for an hour or two and it made me feel a tiny bit better, but then the pain came back and my stomach was burning. I became desperate and googled home remedies for it, and I decided to buy some apple cider vinegar and mix it with water. It helped a little bit while I drank.

Afterwards, on Saturday, I woke up absolutely horrible. I had diarrhea where only water came out. I took another dose of Prilosec, and then I decided to eat yogurt for some probiotics after 30 minutes, but I only ended up with diarrhea 3 additional times. After like an hour or 2, I tried eating some oatmeal with banana and almond milk blend for fiber, and I was able to pebble stools, but my stomach was absolutely burning and aching. Afterwards, I laid around and slept, and woke up incredibly with breathing that felt like I was only getting half of the air that I should be. At that point, I had called my dad, and we discussed that I should go to Urgent Care tomorrow.

I was an absolute idiot thinking I was fine Sunday, and I decided to cancel it, but I was so worried about the cost of going to Urgent Care during the weekends. So I might have to pay the cancellation fee Idk. But I decided to eat congee, and my stomache had pains and burn. Then I ate a banana and there were literal bubbles in my stomach. Absolute horrified, I walked into the urgent care and got care. They decided that it could be a possible GERD/Heartburn and me pepsin and zofran to treat the nausea and acid reflux and get a referral to a GI doctor. I also got tested for COVID which was negative, and I knew it wasn’t COVID because I have these chest pains/shortness of breath and the two times I test is always negative. I’m the only one in my circle that wears a mask at work and I just feel with these chest pains/shortness of breath, I absolutely 100% can’t afford to get COVID. I also have an inhaler for some wheezing problems, but I have never been tested for asthma. I actually still don’t know if I even have asthma. Near the end of the appointment, they checked my heart rate, and she said that it was abnormally high. It was at 100 while I was urgent care. I didn’t want to go to ER because of the costs, and she told me all of the warning signs of heart attack. I left to go get the medicine, but when I was driving I started to have neck and shoulder pain, and then I was starting to feel dizzy. I have googled the symptoms of heart attack before because I was worried about the case of heartburn turning to become heart attack somehow. I remembered the big symptoms were breathing difficulties, chest pain, muscle pain, and dizziness. The doctor immediately told me to go to the ER if I had dizziness and muscle. Absolutely freaked out that I was having all of the symptoms, and I also have a family history of blood clots. So, I was like I am absolute dead meat, aren’t I?

I somehow managed to get to the ER room while being dizzy and having absolutely no idea where I was going because I’m not from the town. I googled and drove there somehow. I went into the ER and pretty much got into the ER really fast. The doctor came in, and I told him all of the symptoms for half a month, and then the doctor told me I had a 122 heart rate. And I could only think I was absolutely such dead meat. They did so many tests (EKG, Blood test, X ray, CT Scan, etc. etc.) and a pregnancy test when I explicitly told them I was not pregnant (because I am single and never dated in my life, let alone had intercourse or artifical insemination. I didn’t say this because I was absolutely not thinking properly, but I had already told them that I wasn’t pregnant!) I did feel better after I got the IV inside of me. After all of the tests, they determined there was actually straight up nothing wrong with me, and I’m perfectly healthy. Absolute how and what. The doctor said I may have some pleurisy that is causing me chest pain/shortness of breath which I have been diagnosed before when I went into quarantine but tested negative for COVID. They are giving me steroids and nacortics for the pain, and constipation medicine. So I have a bunch of medicine to take now.

I’m so upset now and I don’t even know if it was the right decision or if it was me just absolutely panicking. Ever since my first year of college, I have only gone to the ER because of appenciditis and that was after I went to class and could barely stomach food because of stomach pain and threw up almost 5 times before I made the decision to go to the ER. Then COVID happened and I started to have shortness of breath but tested negative. Sometimes I still get shortness of breath but it usually goes away quickly. This was the first time it lasted for 3 weeks.

I have Anthem, and I’m horrified if my insurance doesn’t cover it because there are links where Anthem doesn’t cover non-emergency visits. But I pretty much had most of the symptoms for a heart attack and a family history of blood clots. On the summary and benefits list, it shows that on the Emergency Room care, the limitation, exception, and other important information says (——), so does that mean I am safe for insurance to cover it after my deductible? I am so confused, scared, and sad.