Comments on Dog Ate My Finances: Ah, The Joy of Health Insurance

Good luck. It's never easy to deal wtih them.

2008-08-05T19:49:59.897-07:00

Good luck. It's never easy to deal wtih them.

Back in 1988, when on chemotherapy and NOT SEXUALL...

2008-07-31T19:56:25.739-07:00

Back in 1988, when on chemotherapy and NOT SEXUALLY active, I had a trip to the ER for a bloddy nose. (Bloddy noses are common with some treatments -- in my case, my blood counts were off, had very little clotting ability, a vein was rubbed raw from an oxygen tube and I'd bleed horribly.)

The ER fix would be pretty easy - but one ER - convenient to my home, but not my regular hospital, charged me a HUGE amount of $$ - they took all sorts of blood work. When I reviewed the bill, I too was charged for pregnancy test.

I did a 3-way conference call with the hospital billers and insurance company. I said "NO WAY" to the billers - neighter I nor my insurer would be paying for that test - if the doctors' had asked, then they would have known there was NO WAY for me to have been pregnant.

Over the past 20 years I've really learned that I have to be an active partner with my doctors and insurance company to assure I have the best care possible, but that no one over bills or miss bills for medication or treatment that is not necessary.

That pregnancy test is one small example of our healthcare system overcosts.

Just as Barb and everyone said, your portion above the co-pay seems reasonable. What I've found is if you call the hospital's billing office they will either (a) work with you to set up a payment plan or (b) give you a 20% discount if you pay for the bill during that first phone call.

I'm sure you're paying $200 co-pay for the visit, ...

2008-07-31T11:50:23.693-07:00

I'm sure you're paying $200 co-pay for the visit, but you're also probably paying the 20% for part of what was done during the visit. If you owe $1500 and only send them $200 because that's all you 'feel' you owe, good luck. Call them up and I'm sure they'll explain it to you.

Yep, that's about right. If you have to pay 20% of...

2008-07-31T09:13:08.455-07:00

Yep, that's about right. If you have to pay 20% of 7700--I believe it would be $1540. It is even more likely that you have a deductible of several hundred dollars and then you pay the 20% after you pay the deductible. I have to pay $350 as my deductible before insurance even starts to pay. Then, I have to pay 20% up to $3000. After I pay out $3350 of my own money (excluding co-pays and other bogus charges not included $3000 total), insurance pays it all except for the co-pays and bogus charges!
Of course all that is dumped and goes back to zero at the anniversary of my policy each year and I have to start paying out again... :( Like Barb1965 wrote---medical bills can quickly destroy a family/person financially.
BTW, unless your insurance company or hospital has made a mistake in calculating your part of the bill, it will ruin your credit if you don't pay the bill. They'll match you up and make you feel better, but they'll destroy you when it comes to nonpayment when you have the means (and when you don't).

I'm not sure why you're so surprised. All policie...

2008-07-31T06:22:02.856-07:00

I'm not sure why you're so surprised. All policies require a co-pay of some amount after which they will then pay a certain percentage of the bill -- usually 80% or 90%. After the insured party (that's you) pays the maximum out-of-pocket total for the year, then, and only then, the insurance company will pay 100%. You're apparently still young enough that you've never before incurred any major medical expenses or this would not surprise you. Welcome to the wonderful world of medical care in the USA. Now you'll understand why unexpected medical expenses can sink those without the income to pay them.

Barb1954