The Fight For Care

[Williss2]

I must say, before I share my little experience, for all the people on allnurses and our patients who have to fight for care, my heart truly breaks for you. So, I just gave birth to a beautiful baby. When I signed up for insurance, I signed up for the most expensive plan for myself and kids. Several months after never using my insurance, I went to the clinic for a pregnancy test. I had to pay a $20 copay. No big deal right. Well, a couple of months later, I receive a bill for the remainder of the pregnancy test. The total visit was $75. I gave $20 copay, and they still wanted an additional $25. I'm thinking, out of the hundreds of dollars I am paying monthly for this ins, they can't even cover a freakin pregnancy test .Looking at the YTD amount I paid brings me to tears. I began going to an in network doctor for prenantal visits. Now I have a bill for several hundreds of dollars for the portion of prenatal visits the ins company did not pay. Mind you, I called the ins. Company prior to seeking care to see what was covered. I had to pay $47 a month for prenatal pills(30 day supply). I ended up on terbutaline and paid $75 for it. They didn't even pay half. I had to quit working early due to complications and lost that crappy bit of insurance. COBRA prices were outrageous. I still get a prepriced bill monthly for cost of delivering my baby and I did not deliver at that hospital or through that ins company. I hope they don't expect to get paid for services never rendered. All the personal insurance companies told me to call them after I have the baby, as this is considered a preexisting condition. I was denied 2 times for preg. Medicaid and finally got it. That process deserves a thread by itself. I was seeing a perinatologist monthly as well because of preterm deliveries and LBW babies. Medicaid sent me a letter stating that because my blood pressure is good, they don't see the need for a perinatologist and will no longer pay for it. What does my bp have to do with anything? I didn't receive the letter until after my last visit. There's another bill. The last bill I just received was $300 for the circumcision of my son. Several hundred here and ther may not sound like a lot to some people, but when you don't have a lot of money, this really adds up. While I will pay all these bills, I can only wonder what people with chronic ailments and real emergencies go through. How awful this feels to know somebody can't afford the care I give. I am so sorry that people have to go through that.

[Neveranurseagain, RN]

In the USA, we treat money and insurance companies, not patients. It's issue like yours that Obama is trying to fix.

[loriangel14, RN]

I thank God I live in Canada.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

I think I know what happens to folks who cannot afford the insurance payments. They become bankrupt and depend on medicare. The system we as nurses find ourselves in is unwitting accomplices in a corrupt system that doesn't deliver.

If only Obama had supported single payer as well as had the congress. The issue unfortunately was off the table early on. With help from the media propagandists and the insurance lobby, it never got a fair shake. Here's for hope, while change has not occurred for much better, especially in healthcare, mandatory compliance with skyrocketing rates. Oh Canada, yeah wish we had your system, despite the rumors of standby waits for surgical interventions, at least one isn't gouged financially and left in a bankrupt dumpster.

[thinkertdm]

Some of the issues you describe sound a little bit like "balance billing" where the provider bills you for what the insurance company won't pay. It may be illegal where you live, or the insurance company may prohibit it, so I would check into it- call your insurance company to see.

Not saying that's your answer, but it's worth to check.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

I thank God I live in Canada.

And I pray to God to live there, because America is changing from the land of the free to a kleptocracy. And it will only get worse in the next 2 years.

[Flying ICU RN]

In the USA, we treat money and insurance companies, not patients. It's issue like yours that Obama is trying to fix.

I'll add to that by saying whomever actually does get to me be it Prince or Pauper, gets my equal attention.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

Yes nurses give equal attention to all patients, providing they have the time. But it's the hospitals and insurance companies that decide treatment for patients based on how much money they have. Death panels are real, and they exist right now.

[Neveranurseagain, RN]

Yes nurses give equal attention to all patients, providing they have the time. But it's the hospitals and insurance companies that decide treatment for patients based on how much money they have. Death panels are real, and they exist right now.

Insurance companies and hospitals are the current death panels. I'm all for medical professionals making the descision to continue medical care or not, but I want the decisions to be made by health care professionals based on rational medical logic, not financial logic dictated by insurance companies.