September 10, 2007
When I complain about our healthcare system.
Just in case you didn't know...the US healthcare system SUCKS. Doctors see patients, charge outrageous prices for doing practically nothing. They write prescriptions for medications that cost $1.00 to make, but cost $50.00 to buy. The insurance companies pay whatever they want, sort of a pick-and-choose mentality, and what they don't want to pay they just call it a pre-existing condition and hang you out to dry.
Forget having an emergency. Whatever you do, don't pass out, get a concussion, and have to go to the ER for stitches. That definitely won't be covered. Oh but wait, if you let the hospital admit you and spend a day in the hospital, then the insurance company will pay the bill. They'll pay a $1500 bill for an emergency room visit plus one day hospital stay, but they' won't pay the $500 emergency room visit by itself. Interesting mathematics, that is.
When your insurance company won't pay, and the bills just keep coming in, what can you do? Make payment arrangements, nickel and dime your way through thousands of dollars worth of hospital bills. But it gets better! Miss a payment...and you go to collections! Then the fun begins.
They send you love letters in the mail. They call you at work. They're really not blood-sucking monsters, they're just the nice friendly person at the collection agency. They just want your money. They want a LOT of your money. They want you to pay 10% of your monthly income to appease the collections gods.
Oh wait! You have depression? You need antidepressants? Well, that's a mental health issue, and your insurance company doesn't pay for mental health issues. Go ahead and go to the doctor and pay the bill out of pocket, and then your insurance might pay for part of the prescription.
Don't even get me started on Medicare and Medicaid! I've seen the way they screw people over. People that are needy, the people who can't afford to pay the bills necessary to sustain their lives are treated like cattle. They're given a number, processed through a doctors office at the slowest pace possible, forced to wait days or weeks to get approvals for routine tests, and even then sometimes they're sent bills for things that were supposed to be covered.
Preventative medicine who? No. They'd rather wait until you're sick and falling apart before they take care of you!
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And just when you're in the middle of ranting about it you get an email from your HR department that says this:
These have been taken care of, checks will go out tomorrow. I have spoken to both places and have informed them that the "check is in the mail"..
Glad I could help....
Miss F.
That kind of just took the wind out of my sails. I just had over $2,000 in hospital bills taken care of. Can I get an AMEN?
I'll drink to that. :)
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jktty at 2:15 p.m.