In times past I have heard of people who lost their homes because of medical bills.
The Affordable Care Act offers a plan that would reimburse a patient for 90 percent of their bill while they would pay the other 10 percent out of pocket.
I have heard of hospital bills being more than $1000 per day. I have heard of people who stay hospitalized for more than 120 days.
How much might this 10 percent "out-of-pocket" cost equal and isn't there still a risk that the sum of this might result in a patient losing their life savings unless county funding or other types of funding are available to them?
What funds are available to any patient if that 10 percent out-of-pocket cost is equal to everything they own? Could they really lose it all or is this just a paranoid idea?
Yes there is a limit. My friend's child was stung by a scorpion and had a bad allergic reaction. She was rushed to one of two hospitals that carries the antivenom and had to receive two doses, at $20,000 each! No I am not kidding. That plus the other accompanying bills came out to a huge amt of $$. They had to pay 20%, but the annual deductible was $2000. They met that and then the kid didn't get charged anything for the rest of the year for all follow-up visits and other medical related bills.[/quote']
That is the best thing about high deductible insurance. I used to hate it but now I like it.
My uncle had several back surgeries (fell off a ladder) and later had problems with COPD, A-Fib, artificial valve (twice, the first one was put in incorrectly), and was on about 19 medications. He finally got on disability after years of trying. He reached his lifetime max when he had a pacemaker put in. Well, a year later he goes to the ER with abdominal pain, spent 9 weeks in CCU before he died of a ruptured colon (exploratory surgery upon admission noticed a "spot" but didn't investigate further; colon ruptured two days later). Six months to the day after he died, my aunt lost their home to foreclosure because the medical bills were too much for her to pay (she had those and his previous bills she'd been paying on). She had to leave the house they'd built together and raised their kids in and move in with her elderly mother. Even with a death certificate and letter of "no estate" the hospital still wouldn't write off his medical bills.
My uncle had several back surgeries (fell off a ladder) and later had problems with COPD, A-Fib, artificial valve (twice, the first one was put in incorrectly), and was on about 19 medications. He finally got on disability after years of trying. He reached his lifetime max when he had a pacemaker put in. Well, a year later he goes to the ER with abdominal pain, spent 9 weeks in CCU before he died of a ruptured colon (exploratory surgery upon admission noticed a "spot" but didn't investigate further; colon ruptured two days later). Six months to the day after he died, my aunt lost their home to foreclosure because the medical bills were too much for her to pay (she had those and his previous bills she'd been paying on). She had to leave the house they'd built together and raised their kids in and move in with her elderly mother. Even with a death certificate and letter of "no estate" the hospital still wouldn't write off his medical bills.
I'm sorry to hear that.
This brings the question of how someone can actually protect their estate from the medical profession. I do know of people who have done this.
I guess what I'm trying to find out though, is if these types of losses will still happen now with Obamacare in place.
I have heard rumors that they can't take away your house anymore to pay a medical bill and I was not sure if this is valid or not.
One of the problems is that even with good health insurance coverage, you could end up filing bankruptcy anyways. A lost of one income for the person that is ill. Reduced income for the person having to take off work to take care of that person.
chrisrn24
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