2 hours in the emergency room cost me......

[Kath2003]

$5000?! Good lord, that's almost double what I will pay (when I start my job!) for both my healthcare AND my pension in a YEAR (and the whole thing, like every other medical treatment, would have been free).

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I'm a freelance writer - so health insurance through a company would not be an option - and I am also a single mother with four children. They are grown now, but I can't imagine how I would have managed if I wasn't living in Canada. We don't even have a co-pay, so I was always able to take my kids to the doctor or hospital when needed, without worrying about the cost. I really appreciated that!

Most of my emergency room trips have been for asthma attacks (me or my kids) but about ten years ago I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my ankle in three places. Off to emergency, had surgery on my ankle, two metal plates and eight screws installed, four days in the hospital, a return visit four weeks later to have everything examined and the cast changed. Total cost paid out of pocket: $75 for the second "walking" cast.

I'm sure there are US insurance plans as low as $100 a month, but isn't there often an issue about pre-existing conditions? I had a friend who, like me, is a freelancer and single mother. She moved to the US to be closer to her family. Because one of her children had serious asthma problems, the cheapest insurance she could find was over $1,000 a month and even that had some pretty big deductibles and exclusions.

Teresa

 

[golfgal]

I'm a freelance writer - so health insurance through a company would not be an option - and I am also a single mother with four children. They are grown now, but I can't imagine how I would have managed if I wasn't living in Canada. We don't even have a co-pay, so I was always able to take my kids to the doctor or hospital when needed, without worrying about the cost. I really appreciated that!

Most of my emergency room trips have been for asthma attacks (me or my kids) but about ten years ago I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my ankle in three places. Off to emergency, had surgery on my ankle, two metal plates and eight screws installed, four days in the hospital, a return visit four weeks later to have everything examined and the cast changed. Total cost paid out of pocket: $75 for the second "walking" cast.

I'm sure there are US insurance plans as low as $100 a month, but isn't there often an issue about pre-existing conditions? I had a friend who, like me, is a freelancer and single mother. She moved to the US to be closer to her family. Because one of her children had serious asthma problems, the cheapest insurance she could find was over $1,000 a month and even that had some pretty big deductibles and exclusions.

Teresa

Insurance laws have changed and as long as you maintain coverage they can't exclude preexisting conditions. I have to say that your friend must not have looked very hard because $1000/month is EXTREMELY expensive for ANY insurance plan here. Again, even in Canada you PAY for your insurance, it is just in your taxes and I bet you pay MORE for your insurance then most of us in the US. Yes, there are people that don't have insurance but for most there IS insurance available they simply choose NOT to pay for it. There is insurance available to EVERY US citizen but yes, they have to do a little work to get it, fill out some paperwork mostly. You will hear a lot of complaining about people not having insurance but like the OP, it is their CHOICE that they don't have coverage, not that it isn't available.

 

[ilovefishsticks4]

$3100 just for the emergency room, the doctors fees, cat scan and blood work fees are separate.

I had abdominal pain and I was thinking it could be appendix so we went to the emergency room at our local Tenet Hospital and i was taken in since not a lot of people, had a doctor come in check me and ordered an cat scan and did blood work and came out negative. He said I did have some gallstones but it was not on the side of where the pain was. So I asked him, well why the pain? and he mentioned maybe it could be associated with a herniated disc which may be giving pressure there and that go to my regular doctor and get a MRI to be sure.

So I was in an out within 2 hours cost $3100+physician fee+cat scan fee+blood work fee. Should come out to about $5000+

Oh and I have no insurance . I will have to probably charge after just having paid of my American Express.

now thats alot of money, do u have insurance?

 

[lovetoscrap]

I am waiting for the bills from my ER visit a few weeks ago. I went to the Urgent Care and then they called an ambulance and I too had a CAT Scan at the hospital and was there for several hours.

I did turn to DH at one point in the ER and say "Well, at least we have met our deductable now!" We have a pretty high deductable, but the insurance pays most everything after we meet it.

But I am not looking forward to the bills. I can't even imagine what they will be. I have no idea what even an ambulance ride costs around here.

But I agree with some of the others here that have said to talk to the hospital. They should be able to discount your bill, and let you work out a payment plan. That will be better for you than putting it on the AmEx. As long as you make regular payments hospitals are very good about working with uninsured patients.

 

[Mischa]

Our problem with the ER at our local hospital is that at first they coded the bill wrong so the insurance company kicked it back for a better explanation. The ER sent the bill to us saying "insurance company won't pay". We called our insurance company and wanted to know why - they said "you are not responsible for the bill, we requested a better description" so we called the ER explained and they said "well, we don't explain to the insurance company. It's your responsibility to pay if the insurance company won't pay." So then we asked for an explanation of the bill and were told "we don't explain." WTH?? I told the person, "well, if you want payment you better freaking explain the codes/bill!" It took a while but it finally got explained and paid (by the insurance company).

We had the same problem with one of the doctors. His office coded something wrong and the insurance company kicked it back. Luckily we keep all our statements from the insurance company that states "you are not responsible" or "you owe "$0".

Unfortunately, it's happened again with the ER but they are being adamant that they will not explain anything and insist that we pay (this bill is $900+). And I asked about a payment plan (because we don't have the money right now since DH isn't working due to his medical problems and we're just making it paycheck to paycheck). I was told that since we have insurance they cannot provide us with a payment plan - we "must" pay the entire amount. DH has said that the ONLY way he'll ever go to that hospital again is if he is unconcious because if he is awake he will refuse to go there!

 

[JR6ooo4]

Yep, 22 hours for DW cost $16K!!!!!

Mikeeee

 

[Chicago526]

Insurance laws have changed and as long as you maintain coverage they can't exclude preexisting conditions. I have to say that your friend must not have looked very hard because $1000/month is EXTREMELY expensive for ANY insurance plan here. Again, even in Canada you PAY for your insurance, it is just in your taxes and I bet you pay MORE for your insurance then most of us in the US. Yes, there are people that don't have insurance but for most there IS insurance available they simply choose NOT to pay for it. There is insurance available to EVERY US citizen but yes, they have to do a little work to get it, fill out some paperwork mostly. You will hear a lot of complaining about people not having insurance but like the OP, it is their CHOICE that they don't have coverage, not that it isn't available.

Right, they can't exclude you but there is nothing in that law that says they have to charge your an affordable rate. Rates also vary state to state, they could be cheap in your state but high in another state. If the poster's friend makes to much to qualify for state programs and can't afford $1k a month, she's basicly stuck.

My DH has diabeties. My worst nightmare is us losing medical insurance (we both get it very cheap via our employers). If we lose coverage, we would almost certainly not be able to afford coverage for DH, and should he get sick, it will bankrupt us. We'll lose everything.

OP, contact the hospital, many will offer payment plans and some also are willing to reduce costs for those without insurance. A good friend of mine was without insurance when she had to have emergency surgery (a ruptured ovarian cyst). It was a Catholic hospital and once she showed them proof of income (she was temping for $9 a hour at the time, ironicaly she was to start full time at a company with benifits two weeks after she got sick) they cut the bill down by half and put her on a reasonable payment plan for the balance. It doesn't hurt to ask, the worst they can say is "no" and then you won't be any worse off than you were before asking.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

It would be interesting to do the math and see if my taxes work out to be higher than a US insurance policy would cost me. I don't think they would be, because my income is fairly low, but I couldn't begin to do the calculations. But honestly, when I was on my own with four little kids, the peace of mind was a huge factor. No worries about "will this be covered? will that be covered?" (and I've seen other posts from people on the DISBoards who ran into all kinds of situations where things they thought might be covered were not) and no worries about deductibles or co-pays or doctors that aren't included in the plan.

What makes sense to me is this: insurance is cheaper when bought through your workplace than if you buy it on your own, because the risk is spread out over a larger number of people. The healthy people who don't need much medical care balance out the people who will need more. Well, it then seems to me that you'll get the lowest cost by having the largest possible group of people - say, the entire province.

I'm not saying the Canadian system is perfect and I realize many Americans are happy with the system they have. I do know that it has been an excellent system for me and my family!

Teresa

 

[Feralpeg]

I had to spend two nights at the hospital a little over a year ago. I had a bout of double vision and a bad headache. My sister thought I was having a stroke and insisted that I go to the ER. They admitted me and did a bunch of tests. When I got the bill, it was $23,000. Thank goodness, I do have insurance. It still cost me a pretty penny. By the way, it turned out to be a migraine.

So sorry, OP. I can't even imagine.

 

[pr surfer]

Tell them you will not pay a cent until you receive an itemized bill, and then if you see any discrepancies, have the bill audited.

People have had $3k+ bills reduced to under $700 by holding the hospitals responsible for their billing mistakes

 

[minnie56]

I cannot imagine a bill at all let alone that size! Sad--must make some folks have to choose between seeking medical help and not

 

[minnie56]

Insurance laws have changed and as long as you maintain coverage they can't exclude preexisting conditions. I have to say that your friend must not have looked very hard because $1000/month is EXTREMELY expensive for ANY insurance plan here. Again, even in Canada you PAY for your insurance, it is just in your taxes and I bet you pay MORE for your insurance then most of us in the US. Yes, there are people that don't have insurance but for most there IS insurance available they simply choose NOT to pay for it. There is insurance available to EVERY US citizen but yes, they have to do a little work to get it, fill out some paperwork mostly. You will hear a lot of complaining about people not having insurance but like the OP, it is their CHOICE that they don't have coverage, not that it isn't available.

I am one of those people that do NOT think our taxes are exorbinant!
I went to 3 Specialist's last week and see another this Wed. Cost to me NOTHING. The thought of persuing medical issues does not cross my mind and I think it shouldn't!

We have been looking at Properties in Florida--homes less than half the value of mine have double the property taxes?? I fail to see where things are that much cheaper State-side!

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/faq/taxrates-e.html

 

[phorsenuf]

Every week I groan at our insurance deduction, but not anymore. I had a heart attack last Friday, stayed in the hospital until Tuesday and had to have a cardiac catherization. I can't even imagine what that bill is going to be. Since I was admitted to the hospital from the ER that deductible is waived. We won't have a to pay a thing.
I can't imagine not having insurance. Oh and the week before that my DS had his appendix out. Talk about an expensive month for our insurance company!

 

[sandy2330]

We have great insurance and it costs DH and I 7.5% of our income to pay our premiums. If we got NHC I am sure my taxes would increase by more than 7.5%, my wait time would increase and my coverage would be less. I need no referals. I could go in and get bypass surgery and they would pay.

 

[SeeVee]

I'm a freelance writer - so health insurance through a company would not be an option - and I am also a single mother with four children. They are grown now, but I can't imagine how I would have managed if I wasn't living in Canada. We don't even have a co-pay, so I was always able to take my kids to the doctor or hospital when needed, without worrying about the cost. I really appreciated that!

Most of my emergency room trips have been for asthma attacks (me or my kids) but about ten years ago I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my ankle in three places. Off to emergency, had surgery on my ankle, two metal plates and eight screws installed, four days in the hospital, a return visit four weeks later to have everything examined and the cast changed. Total cost paid out of pocket: $75 for the second "walking" cast.

I'm sure there are US insurance plans as low as $100 a month, but isn't there often an issue about pre-existing conditions? I had a friend who, like me, is a freelancer and single mother. She moved to the US to be closer to her family. Because one of her children had serious asthma problems, the cheapest insurance she could find was over $1,000 a month and even that had some pretty big deductibles and exclusions.

Teresa

Universal Health Care: Taxing the snot out of me to pay for your healthcare so that you can buy stuff I can no longer afford because my taxes are too high.


So, while someone cant go to DW because they are paying for those without insurance, someone else is not paying for insurance so they can go to DW.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I'm really curious where some of the people on this thread live, that insurance is $100 a month. I live in upstate NY, and the lowest we could get for our company was over $400 for n individual and almost $800 for a family every month. This is with a small group plan. If someone were to get the same insurance as an individual, not through a company, it would be more. It will be going up again this year.

When it comes to saving for Disney versus having insurance every month, it's not even in the same financial ballpark. I do have insurance. However, for those living paycheck to paycheck insurance may just not be an option. Say, for example, if after paying off all debt and expenses every month a person had $25 left over. That $25 wouldn't touch a monthly premium, but putting it in a savings account would allow you to save up for something after many years. No matter how much you save though, it won't bring you $400 more a month into your budget to pay a premium.

However, now that the OP is in debt due to medical expenses, that savings would be better spent to pay off that debt instead of a vacation. Also, now that it appears you're having medical issues that may incur expenses in the future, I would create an emergency spending savings account instead of saving for a vacation. It won't make actual insurance more affordable, but it will help to cushion you against future debt.

 

[SeeVee]

I cannot imagine a bill at all let alone that size! Sad--must make some folks have to choose between seeking medical help and not

The choice was not "between seeking medical help and not." It was between seeing medial help and DW.

 

[HelenePA]

The choice was not "between seeking medical help and not." It was between seeing medial help and DW.

Not even that it was choosing between Disney and Insurance.. We pay less than 30$ a week for family coverage with bc/bs from dh's work. OP if you dont want to pay all out of pocket for insurance how about looking into a part time job that offers insurance? Lowes does. I know a few other places do as well. Their rates are very cheap too. I'm not sure about coverage but it has to be better than what you have now.. which is nothing. And I would also expect your bill to be MUCH higher than 3100$ I dont want you to have a heart attack when you open that bill, my dd's MRI was over 8k alone. Good luck.

 

[spima3]

Well, I don't know where everyone lives, but I know when I was looking for individual coverage that our employees could buy on their own ( I use to work for a very small company, 5 employees), although I could find health insurance carriers, none of the Dr.s in this area accepted the insurance. So it really wasn't as simple a matter as many statements made here.
However, things may have changed in the past couple of years, so maybe this is easier to do?
Does anyone have a good link to where you can find these great rates?