godlessgrrl Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Well. We got the spouse's hospital bills today. Added up to $13,000. Woo! And that doesn't include the doctor's services - that gets billed separately. I wonder if they'll take a personal check. How 'bout these 3 bottle caps and an old sock? Y'know, beyond a certain amount of debt-to-income, it just becomes laughable. That's all I can do, laugh. I think of what the spouse and I earn, then I think of our total debt, and it's like, well - whaddaya gonna do? Ya just gotta keep chipping away at it; that's life. The spouse is doing better, btw. They got him on some affordable meds and his mood is better overall. Still looking for a therapist, tho'. But there it is. At least we got our health, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 You have no insurance, or was this what they billed the insurance? Every hospital over-bill their services. Was it surgical? In-patient, out-patient? I bet their cost wasn't more than 2-3,000. We do workers comp, and we see a lot of these overcharged bills. There are some regulations to what they can bill. And a lot of times, you can make a deal with the hospital, and cut it down to a lot less. If you can't pay, they won't get anything, and that's a worse position for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 My neck surgery and associtaed visist/medication came up to close to $100,000 total. I didn't pay a dime of course since I was in the military. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianka Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Did you know that most charity hospitals have a program that will help people with their bils if they qualify, and most of the time you don't have to be very poor. Of course they don't just tell you that, you have to look into it, and that's if you went to a charity hospital, not if you went to a county hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 My neck surgery and associtaed visist/medication came up to close to $100,000 total. I didn't pay a dime of course since I was in the military. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 Whoa, Vixen, that's quite the total. Glad it was covered. The crappy thing about our situation is that we do have health insurance, but it covers no mental health care whatsoever. (Fuckwads. I hate insurance co's.) So if he'd, say, broken a leg, that would've been covered at something like 90%. But since he broke his brain, not covered. <sarcasm> Because, of course, we all know that mental health care isn't real health care. And, of course, we all know that it doesn't matter. And, of course, we all know that even if it did matter, it'd be too vague and expensive to cover. </sarcasm> The hospital has a charity care program we've applied to. Just takes some time to figure out if we're going to qualify, and for how much. Ah, well. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip. We'll figure something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Military covered my shrink visits, meds and a nice 10 day stay in a mental hospital. That was another $10K or so iirc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 The crappy thing about our situation is that we do have health insurance, but it covers no mental health care whatsoever. (Fuckwads. I hate insurance co's.) So if he'd, say, broken a leg, that would've been covered at something like 90%. But since he broke his brain, not covered. Damn! That's so ridiculous! The system is screwed up, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 Damn! That's so ridiculous! The system is screwed up, that's for sure. Yeah. Dude. Tell me about it. It's so fucked up. I mean the lack of mental health care in general appalls me enough. There's so many people out there that need mental health care help, and I'd bet for most of them it isn't that complicated. I do volunteer work on an online forum for abuse survivors and I can't even count how many folks there need that kind of support, and how much it improves their lives when they're able to get it. I'd bet every single one of them has some mental health don't-care horror story though. It appalls me even more that anybody ever thought that a fucking insurance company should have any say in what kind of medical care any person needs, and how much, and when. That's fucking BULLSHIT. Insurance companies shouldn't get to make my medical decisions. Period. Like some fucking actuary knows what meds I need better than my doctors do. Assholes. I have yet to see an insurance company that was about anything other than their own damn bottom line. And it pisses me off that people suffer because of that. I mean as much as I'm whining about it, I know I'm doing okay. I know people that are doing way worse and the whole thing is just disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 I'm convinced that if there is an afterlife of some kind, Socrates, Jefferson, and the person who invented the idea of insurance companies are all sitting around a table commiserating over what their once great dreams have turned into. I think that's the thing that pisses me off most about insurance companies. Most of the folks who founded these things back when they were first starting up genuinely wanted to help people in need, and ran their businesses accordingly. Unfortunately, it seems you can't prevent capitalism from taking its natural and inevitable course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Why don't they just call insurance what it is...gambling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MQTA Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 most of the time insurance seems to be false security. gee, that sounds famliar. you THINK you're protected, but whatever your case is, that's 'not covered' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brutal Brian Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Car insurance is just as bad. Well it is in Michigan anyway. I have the basic no-fault policy and none of it in the fine print covers fixing the actual car, its all lawsuit protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Why don't they just call insurance what it is...gambling? I think the correct term is Maffia or Mob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I think the correct term is Maffia or Mob. Yeah, that too. Racketeering is what you're looking for, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aexapo Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Because, of course, we all know that mental health care isn't real health care. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> With state reimbursments for mental health in my state being drastically cut, psych hospitals and psych departments in regular hospitals have been closing left and right. In a hospital near me, they had to close the psych department -- even though they were at 100% capacity with a waiting list virtually all the time. Why? State cut the funds, and the private hospitals couldn't make a profit from it any more. It's not only psych, though, cuts in medicare and medicaid are starting to affect elder-care, so we're also starting to see geriatric wings being shut down, skilled nursing units, etc. I don't blame the hospitals, because if they didn't make money, they'd be in bancruptcy in a heart-beat . . . but the "system" needs to change, or healthcare delivery will eventually collapse. And it isn't a "lawsuit abuse" problem, it's a health coverage problem . . . with more and more layoffs, and more and more people simply having their benefits cut (small business employees, usually), healthcare coverage is slowly becoming a "privelege," and not something accessible by everyone, even if you have a job. It's sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godless Dave Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Car insurance is just as bad. Well it is in Michigan anyway. I have the basic no-fault policy and none of it in the fine print covers fixing the actual car, its all lawsuit protection. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's because you have liability coverage, usually the only kind required by law. Look into comprehensive or collision coverage. It costs more, but it's usually worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Unless your car is a POS. Hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts