So sorry to hear you have gone thru so much attempting to get health insurance. This is a major nationwide problem many people face. I can imagine you must be terribly frustrated by now with all the hoops you have jumped thru.

Instead of paying the high costs of going to an ER or dentist, it would be better to put those $$$ into seeing an ENT. You should get scoped where the doc sticks a very thin tube with a camera on it down your throat to see whats happening. It could be anything. Until you get to the correct specialist its unlikely you will ever get this taken care of with being diagnosed.

Since this has been going on for so many years, I would doubt its anything too serious. As far as smoking goes, quit now and give your throat a break from all those known cancer causing chemicals. It could simply be irritated and by avoid what is irritating it will give your body a chance to heal. I know its not easy to quit, I am a former smoker.

An STD test will not show if you have oral cancer from HPV. There is no test to determine HPV in men. As far as HPV goes, most of the population will pick this up at some point. Most people will have it clear their bodies without it doing any serious damage. Only a very small percentage will have HPV go on to cause cancer. Your highest risk factors are the smoking and drinking. Those are optional and can be eliminated.

Hope you can get yourself checked out by an ENT soon so you know what is going on. It could be acid relux or some other easily fixable condition. Good luck!!!