Don't have health insurance?....no problem!

[Saphire]

The company I work for does offer health insurance for employees, and dependants, but it cost about 400.00 a month. We have not had health insurance on the kids for about 2 years, and were planning (still are) on getting them covered with hubby's raise. Well, it was a roll of the dice, and we lost. Daughter came down with serious illness, and had to be hospitalized for 10 days (5 days in ICU) and I'm told that our bill is in excess of 80,000.00.

Well, the hospital is willing to work with us, as they know that we could never pay it off completely, and if I bring all my proof of income, the bill could be as low as 4,000.00! Maybe nothing!

I had to take her to the emergency room, and they made the same deal with me. No insurance, no problem. Just pay the hosp. 700.00 within 30 days, and that would be the entire bill. Happened to us two times.

The way I see it, people with insurance are getting screwn, and people without are doing alright. Even with insurance paying 80% of the bill, it would still be an enormous bill for us to pay off.

There was a special on this the other night on TV, with two people injured in a ferry accident, and the same thing. The man with no insurance, and no hope of ever paying his bill received much better care than the woman who did have insurance.

We are still getting the insurance coverage for the kids in April, but it sure makes me think twice about it. Seems to me we are financially better off without.

[Purveyor]

1. Simple example. Neck brace with insurance - $380, exact same brace bought off the net - $49.95 n/t

[iamjoy]

2. Yeah, Thanks Lady!

Now I have to pay your darn medical bills!

I don't see why you're whining about having to pay $400 a month for family coverage, that's only $4,800 a year. That's really quite comparable, if it was a good plan. And you should have been smart enough to put some money aside in a Flexible Spending Account to help with your medical expenses.

I would mark this as sarcasm, but it isn't. I am pretending to be a Republican or Libertarian, and this is what some of them really think. I will put what I really think in another post in this thread.

[Lorien]

3. Maybe in Texas, but not Florida

a brief trip to the emergency room cost me $8,500 without insurance. No deal, no way-even though I was unemployed at the time. When I went again to the emergency room more recently with a gallstone attack I was refused treatment because I couldn't show proof of insurance-as were 40 or so others in the waiting room .I treated the gallstone attack with a Chinese cure my mom found on the net. It worked, thank goodness-a friend of hers required surgery for her gallstones, which set her family back $25,000 and bankrupted them. They have no idea how they'll send their kids to college now.

It's great that you beat the system, but it doesn't work the same way for many of us.

[Saphire]

6. just my point....how could a bill go from 80K to less than 4K?

someone is getting screwed. I have paid into the healhcare system for many years, but things happen and it became a choice of eating or getting health care for the kids. It's just amazing that the hospital could be so nonchalant about it, like it was no big deal that we couldn't pay. Just pay an extremely small portion, and that's that.

Sometimes life throws curveballs, and this was just one of them.

[datadiva]

4. Well it may work for some people

but I make about 100.00 a month too much. No health insurance, just got a toe amputated and have cellulitis in my foot. Now, I am about $8,000.00 in debt and God knows where I am going to get the money to pay for it. I hope you do well though. .I didn't qualify for the plans they had available because I make just above what they required. Oh well.

[Saphire]

7. yeah, I'm sure we will make about $50 to much to quqalify, that's

usually the way it goes for us.

[iamjoy]

5. I Hope Your Daughter Is OK

and no, just in case you weren't jesting, you are not better off without insurance. Although, it does give one pause. I think the case of "better care without insurance" is more the exception than the rule, or due to other factors. I think preventive care is very important.

Just a warning, you may not be able to add it in April (even if your husband gets a raise) because that is not a qualified change in status and most plans require that in order to add (or change) benefits. Furthermore, the insurance company can exclude pre-existing conditions if the covered member has had a gap in creditable coverage for more than 60 days. So, even if you do pick up coverage, if your daughter's condition recurs within the next 18 months, they could refuse to pay for any treatment.

Have you looked into SCHIP? (State Children's Health Insurance Program)?

[Saphire]

8. She will be fine, thanks. The pre-existing thing I know about. Also,

the hospital wanted her to have physical therapy, but with no insurance, that's out of the question. When I told them, they just said, "Oh well" and that maybe i could do it myself.

We will have the coverage, and hopefully, never have to use it. Like I said, it was a roll of the dice, and we lost. There are still millions of kids w/o any insurance in this country and it's really a crying shame that it's come to this.

Preventive care is of utmost importance, but unfortunately, the most lacking.

My daughters condition, however, was not preventable or something we could wait on. It was an emergency situation.

[loyalsister]

9. Tax dollars may pay for that

Many hospitals can budget for "indigent" cases because they can go to the state and ask for a bail out.
We really need to stop this back door crap and insure everyone.

[Dora]

10. Not all hospitals are as cooperative as yours.

Therein lies part of the problem. Health care is a for-profit venture, and many hospitals simply will not negotiate payment plans or waive expenses.

My husband had an uninsured ER visit after a rollerblading incident. It bankrupted him a year later. He had been paying on the bill every month, but without warning the hospital sent it to their collections department, and their collections department said Pay Up Or Else, and my husband went for the Or Else.

It was really the best thing in the long run, but it was infuriating at the time.