Krissy asked:
My husband and I both pay only $21/month for medical insurance…but when I had to take him to the ER, the insurance only covered $17 and I still have to pay $277! For cryin’ out loud! AND when I was injured (friggin walmart insurance co. denied my claim 4 freakin times!) Not only did I have to pay out of pocket the $300 ER bill, but now I’ve been sent to collections for $297 from the physician that I was never billed for! ***!!!??? This can’t be right, HE DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING!!!!!! I spoke with an attorney and he said lawsuits are expensive and I’d be out more through a lawsuit, than to just pay the bill! What should I do?
when all else fails…poop!
Well did you ever think about how expensive medical equipiment is? Millions. Ever think about how much Drs get paid? A lot, but they deserve it. They save lives. Their money has to come from somewhere.
Whats that slaves? Tell it to your HMOs.
Ever think bad Healthcare may cause bad things to happen — and saves no money in the long run.
The United States has the most monsterous medical system in the world. I have seen many elders turned back from medical assistance and they can not say a word!
If you take a economical medical insuarance, the deductible is likely to be high. Like the effects of the policy wont kick in till you have paid money equivalent to the deductible amount you selected.
The reason med insurance is so high is because people expect it to do too much. It’s like expecting your auto insurance to pay for car washes and oil changes.
To top it off you have people that sue at the drop of a hat and drives up the malpractice insurance for the dr.’s and naturaly they are going to pass that cost on to the consumer…IE you and me.
Reforms to our legal system would go a long way to helping out on that cost. The other well…..when you have the flu just stay at home until your fever hits 103….otherwise there is little they can do for you.
Walmart sucks; they don’t treat their employees well at all. Your best bet would be to:
1) search on the internet for affordable “gap” medical insurance that you pay monthly and that would cover expenses that your primary insurance does not. In other words, it fills in the gap.
2) try your best to get a better job and when/if they offer it to you, ask about their medical benefits package.
Medical coverage is VERY expensive no matter what. I pay almost $300 a month for myself, my daughter and my significant other – that’s $150 a paycheck! But, the most I’d ever pay at an ER is $50 and if admitted that is waived. I have a primary physician but I don’t have to have her refer me to a specialist if I need one. My office visits are $15. My prescriptions are $5. My knee surgery cost me nothing. Before I accepted this job I researched their medical/dental benefits and their 401k. I’m telling you this because good companies know the importance of providing their employees with good benefits.
Keep searching and hopefully you will find a great job with benefits to match. They’re getting harder and harder to find but don’t give up. They’re out there.
First of all, it is very important you view all of the information on your medical policy. With malpractice suits running rampant, the cost of healthcare is pretty high. You should imagine what amount your company is paying on your behalf!
Another thing, some health companies will have you pay a deductible, which is higher if the person is under a married or family plan. For instance, you had a medical bill from the hospital for $1000, and your deductable was $500 you are responsible for the $500. And then the medical insurance company may only pay 80% of that remaining amount.
Also, sometimes there are certain procedures they will only pay a certain percentage for or they do not cover. And, if you have an ER bill, it can be difficult because sometimes they may not pay for the entire bill or they may only pay a percentage of it, and it’s very important that when you go to the ER, you call the insurance company and let them know within 48 hours that you have been admitted. That is really important to do.
I had to do medical benefit orientations as part of my job, and the ER policy was very important to discuss. I remember making it very clear that if anyone had to go to the ER, they must call the insurance company and inform them within 48 hours of admittance. If you do not, there it is very likely your insurance will not cover it. Most health plans have that included in the policy.
I think the lawyer is right, because not only do you have to pay your own legal fees, but if you lose the case they might countersue and force you to pay their legal fees as well as the bill.
Just sit down and very carefully veiw your medical policy. Then, if I were you, I’d see if you can talk to the hospital about the impending billing as well as your insurance company.
You can sit on this bill for a while if you are not able to afford it, or you can ask them if you are able to make payments. The worst thing it can do is to go on your credit report. The second worst is they can sue you, but that can take years and it’s not really worth it to them because of the high legal cost. So, I can understand that it is a pain in the **** to deal with, but know your rights, know your policy and my advice is to see if you can ask them to work with you. Most places would prefer you to make small payments to them rather than to write it off.
Oh, and about the bill—-yeah, go to the doctor just for the flu or something and see what it is without your co-pay—-probably over $100. So, for the doctor to charge you such a large amount and he did nothing, it’s actually something that is very usual. It happens to everyone, and the only thing we can do is move to Canada where they offer free healthcare. ***** doesn’t it?
I hope this works out for you, and I hope this helps! Good luck and hang in there!
Oh, and another thing, sometimes you can have bills come to you for months that are the same price, then again a lower price. Why is that? Because the insurance company was too slow to pay on your claim….and the hopsital is coming to you for the money instead of the insurance company. Eventually, the insurance will pay all or part of it, and what is left is up to you.
Sorry this is long, but I’d go read my policy right now, and if you don’t have a copy of it—-call and get one or go to HR and ask for a booklet on it, I am sure you will get the answers you need there.
Key problems are insurance and medicare/medicaid. This adds HUGE overhead to docs. They are forced to use certain treatments, some HMOs even band Docs from even telling you what they would like to do. The Doc has to toe the line or the HMO drops them. Most Docs have almost as much money in processing insurace/Gov claims as they do in equiptment and nurses. So what used to be a cheap easy $10 visit is $150 to cover the cost of collecting from insurance companies and the Gov.
Malpractice insurance premiums are another big problem. Docs get sued at a drop of the hat. Often for bogus reasons. It’s cheaper to pay off than to fight the bogus claim. Fighting is very expensive. This raises the cost of health care tremendously.
Ineficiency, especially in hospitals where a sandwhich gets billed at like $15 but cost the hospital maybe $1 to make. The corporate emphisis on profitability being part of this problem. Huge scale waste being another part of the problem.
Fewer and fewer people are able to pay for healthcare for the same reasons you just described. Many would have defaulted on that bill because it’s so outragious. So those that do pay wind up footing the bill for the ever growing numbers who cannot afford to pay.
Just to aggravate things laws and rules cause major problems. For example many illegals know they cannot be turned away if they ride in on an ambulence. So instead of go to a clinic they ride in on an ambulence, sit in the ER and get treated for a hangnail then go home never paying a penny.
Translators and extra language support is another major expense. One that all of us wind up footing.
First off, if you pay that low a monthly premium for insurance, the penalty is that you will have to pay more out-of-pocket when you do get medical care – especially emergency room care. If you want more protection, you will probably have to move up to a more robust plan with a higher monthly charge. As for what to do now – check out the Consumer Reports article I’ve linked to below. It talks about how you can review a medical bill and make sure THEY haven’t made any mistakes. If you saw a physician, you’re paying for his time even if he didn’t do anything to help you, so there’s not a lot you can do about that. Write it all down from start to finish and be prepared because you’ll probably have to go through whatever arbitration system is in place on the hospital side and on the physician side, if you want to dispute the medical bills.
If you’re interested in seeing what kinds of health plans are available near you, try MostChoice.com. You can review online quotes and talk to health insurance agents for free and without any obligation to buy anything from anyone.
You can find MostChoice here:
Hope this helps,