Is it any wonder the uninsured do not go to doctors?

[Mothernature]

Thank gosh my husbands company uses Benemax to pay the difference of the insurance. I calculated we would owe the Endocrinologist $1200 after insurance for this sole visit. $1200!!

Originally Posted by Jillianleanne I waited over a year to go to the doctor because I was uninsured. By the time I had my biopsy I was told I had less than 3 mo. before tumors obstructed my air way so I needed treatment ASAP.

Was this thyroid cancer? I am sure you posted this somewhere. I can't find it:shrug7:. Congrats on the year remission btw

"pre-existing uninsurable" so my options are limited in the future

I am a "pre-existing uninsurable" too. I told DH we have must become super aggressive with saving starting next year. Auto-immune disorders appear in clusters (as we see in Splash's post). Insulin and needles are expensive. Never mind all the yearly doctor visits, test strips, and lancets. Should DH lose his employment, we have additional full price medical expenses.

I have seen it over and over again in the HUTC threads and the like about the uninsured costing the insured, yadda yadda. I don't live in their world where nobody has ever fallen on rough times. Anywho it is starting to sound like I am venting so I'll stop

This is why I did not post this in that HUTC forum. I did not want this to turn into finger pointing vs. sharing in a safer forum. I also like to redact my posts often

Originally Posted by splash We have no insurance, cant afford it and don't qualify for help so we can't do doctors. DH is walking around needing hand surgery but no go because has to be paid for up front. His back is bad messed up. My right hand has broken bone sticking up against skin but can't afford dr. I have lupus and ra so is hard for me to get over injuries but again no funds for drs and/or medicine. So we are both walking around with messed up hands trying to work 7 days a week like this. It really sucks for us but even more so for those in even worse shape than us and there are others out there who are worse off than we are.

I am so sorry you have to go through this. My MIL is a uncontrolled type 2 diabetic. DH hears the cues when she says things like " All of a sudden my panic attacks reappeared". She had IL state insurance at $1300/month. Either my ILs stopped paying or they dropped her due to her mounting health issues. She is uninsured.

It is terrible that you two have to work in this shape and can not get proper medical care because it is so expensive.

Originally Posted by queenofthehivemomof5 I have posted this before but I was charged $300 for an ace bandage when I was uninsured. Lame!

The funny thing is I found sealed Ace bandages at a garage sale for $.25/each. I remember when I had my c section, my sinuses bled. I was charged $80 for a small bottle of nasal saline (salt water) from the hospital pharmacy.

I was charge $200 for an A1C that costs $9 at Wal-Mart (lab accuracy).

I'm trying to find ways to alleviate the costs because this will eventually work against us.

[hbaqueen]

Yea a couple months ago DH was having massive chest pains middle of night really scared he was having a heart attack all the symptoms added up.
ER visit was over 4,000 and all they told him was probably just acid from eating tomatoes.
One Dr who came in charged an additional $300 and he went in trying to get them to come down if he payed cash. She wouldnt do it because the most she could charge to knock it down to a charity case was what it would be that medicaid would pay and you know what it was $12!!!

I went to the Dr bc I had some upper respitory crap and could not breathe theyre open till 9 I was there before 5 and I had to wait in the waiting room for over 2 hours and they not only billed me the $180 but also the $50 past hours fee!
Oh yea and what they gave me after looking at me for ohhh 2 minutes didnt work and I had to go back. Another $230 AND the meds they gave me I couldnt take bc of my other health issues and when I called the nurse said well thats the best thing. Well its not the best thing if I cant take it. She was suppise to call me back well she called my husbands number and he gave her mine and she never did call me back. I called back and they were like well you just need to come back in. Umm NO. Those two visits and the meds cost us a weeks salery (sp?) no I cant come back in and expose myself to all the stuff in your waiting room and get the run around again and pay another fee.

[Jillianleanne]

Was this thyroid cancer? I am sure you posted this somewhere. I can't find it:shrug7:. Congrats on the year remission btw

No it was hodgkin's lymphoma and thank you :)

"I'm trying to find ways to alleviate the costs because this will eventually work against us."

Try price shopping like you would anywhere else. It cost $96 to get blood draws with my oncologist but only $26 at my local clinic so most times I can get the blood tests done there and have the results faxed to the cancer center. I still end up having to go to the cancer center too for the check up but it still ends up cheaper to go to both places rather than just the cancer center.

[Mothernature]

Originally Posted by Jillianleanne Try price shopping like you would anywhere else. It cost $96 to get blood draws with my oncologist but only $26 at my local clinic so most times I can get the blood tests done there and have the results faxed to the cancer center. I still end up having to go to the cancer center too for the check up but it still ends up cheaper to go to both places rather than just the cancer center.

I am calling the insurance company and requesting all claim summaries for this year. I know DH tossed several of them. I need to see which dr charged for which service plus gross charges to my insurance company.

I called Joslin and requested a ball park figure of the standard services to see a doctor. Their financial department could not give me an answer. I found this highly suspect.

[nurseannette]

Originally Posted by queenofthehivemomof5 I have posted this before but I was charged $300 for an ace bandage when I was uninsured. Lame!

Yikes! Did a DR apply the bandage? I'm a nurse and am horrified at the charges that are legally incured. I know where I work, for things like that you charge for the item AND applying it. It is so out of control.

[nurseannette]

Originally Posted by Jillianleanne No it was hodgkin's lymphoma and thank you :) "I'm trying to find ways to alleviate the costs because this will eventually work against us." Try price shopping like you would anywhere else. It cost $96 to get blood draws with my oncologist but only $26 at my local clinic so most times I can get the blood tests done there and have the results faxed to the cancer center. I still end up having to go to the cancer center too for the check up but it still ends up cheaper to go to both places rather than just the cancer center.

I hope you 're okay!!!!!

[sns4063]

Originally Posted by kimandkathess My stepsons stepson needed do be mercy flighted....guess how much it cost. $9,9xx!!!!Thats right almost $10,000 for a 20 mintues mercy flight.....INSANE.....its reduculous how jacked up the prices of things are....im sure it doesnt cost that much to run that thing. ~~Katrina~~

I am no expert on medical transport prices via a helicopter, but I do know that they just started a program in our area that helps with the cost if you pay a small yearly "membership". My local EMS is also planning on offering a similar service. Maybe this is something you can present to your local area's EMS/medical transport.

AirLife program could help defray costs

[foggierbard9]

Originally Posted by Mothernature I am calling the insurance company and requesting all claim summaries for this year. I know DH tossed several of them. I need to see which dr charged for which service plus gross charges to my insurance company. I called Joslin and requested a ball park figure of the standard services to see a doctor. Their financial department could not give me an answer. I found this highly suspect.

I know that our insurance company emails us to notify of a new claim. We can then get out the website and view all the claim summaries as they are paid by them. Then they also send us an indepth claim report every quarter. If we didn't get them through email/on the website then I wouldn't have any clue as to what is being charged/paid.

[XUfan]

When my husband lost his job to company downsizing a few years ago, we still had insurance through his company for a year. After that, our choice was Cobra ($1,300/month) or find our own coverage. We found a policy that would cover all three of us for about $375/month. But, every 3 or 4 months, the price increased. After 18 months, it was over $600/month, and we could no longer afford it. For the past 2 years, we have been without insurance.

When we had insurance, our Dr. visit copay was $30. Without insurance, it's $50. When we had insurance, my stepdaughter needed x-rays. When we got the bill, the insurance company had paid $26....we had to pay over $200. We paid thousands of dollars over that 18 months, and they hardly covered anything!

I have arthritis, bursitis and sciatica, but have not been to see a doctor in over 4 years. We just can't afford it. The office visit isn't the problem. It's the tests and meds that we can't afford.

My husband sees our doctor twice a year...which is what he requires in order to write a prescription for high blood pressure meds. Kroger and Target carry both of his prescriptions for $4.

Also, my husband is finally working again and after he was on the job for 90 days, was offered health insurance. For the basic coverage for the 3 of us, the cost was 1/3 of his take-home pay. We are still uninsured. Who can afford that????

[Ggbwg]

Yes, it is awful how prices are. DH just looked into health insurance from work and it would cost over 1/3 of is paychecks. Also all our health problems we have won't be covered because they will call them pre exhisitng conditions. Asthma, allergies. Right now were battling some sort of flu not sure if it is reguar flue or swine flu but we all feel horrible. I have to spend $70.00 OOP just for my daughter to be seen. That does not include any tests, meds etc. I also wanted to ad this would be just at a quick clinic. Our regular Dr. charges $150.00 just to walk through the doors.