Health care In US not only expensive but can be brutal

[PolskaKielbasia 67]

4 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. Why did they decline it? Did the hospital not submit the claims correctly?

Unfortunate fact is dental insurance is pretty much some of the worst sort of insurance in terms of junk. It can help for routine care, and lower costs for fillings.. but big stuff will rarely make a dent. Same for vision, for our eye exam and glasses, it barely saved hubby $100 bucks. But there's a lot more I could complain about the nature of extremely scammy and near-monopoly vision insurances in cahoots with eyewear makers. https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-eyewear-vision-plans-20190319-story.html

The biggest issue with dental insurance is the fact that most (all?) plans have a yearly max that they'll pay out, and there are often tons of strings attached. Our company's dental plan has an annual max of $1,200 with a $150 deductible that costs something like $400/year in premiums, and only covers 50% of everything until the plan pays out $1,200. So unless you're spending $2,400/year getting a root canal and crown every year, it really doesn't make sense.

 

Our local dentist offers a yearly subscription ($370/year) for cash payers that includes 2 check ups, xrays, and cleanings. Those alone are worth close to $300. Also included is 1 "problem-related" visit (eg tooth feels pain, want to get it checked out), and 20% off all dental services. Plus I put everything on my credit card and get 2% cash back and pay it of ASAP.

 

 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Yeah my husband had a hard time understanding that the money he pays to have his insurance doesn't count towards his deductible.

When I told him he still owed another 150$ from a small leg wound he had to have drained, he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact he pays 45$ weekly and it is solely to just have the insurance.

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

I currently get my dental insurance through work...I pay £4 a month(about $5), which is taken out my salary before I’m taxed on it, so it’s an even smaller deduction from my wages...and for this, they reimburse me in full for any non-cosmetic dental work and reimburse me in full for two dental check ups (with a scale and polish) per year...

 

Considering I’m a tooth-grinder, so have to have bruxism guards made every year (they retail at £260) and xrays every year, plus any fillings etc that come up...I do pretty good out of that insurance plan!

 

I told my fiancé about the plan I’m on when we were eating breakfast one morning and he literally nearly choked 😆.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

I'm in that awkward place where I'm getting too poor to afford the premiums but too rich to get help. I mean, I'm an immigrant anyway so not entitled to Medicaid, but even if I were a citizen, I can't get any help. Thankfully, emergency care is heavily discounted where I live. Just doesn't help for any chronic, non-emergent issues. I'm surprised hospitals aren't going bankrupt from the amount of patients who can't pay and insurance companies aren't going bankrupt from people opting out every year. Where do they get their money from?

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

I guess we were “lucky” because we were on private health insurance in our old country so well understood in general issues around deductibles, max payouts for particular services, in vs out of network providers, etc, even if the specifics of some things differ from what happens in the US. (I remember in my old country I had to fight with my insurance company because they didn’t want to pay for emergency surgery after an accident because I hadn’t pre-authorized it the necessary week or whatever in advance 🙄 ...so yeah, not just here where weird things happen.)

Edited April 28, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[SalishSea 18,126]

17 minutes ago, Ketsuban said:

I'm surprised hospitals aren't going bankrupt from the amount of patients who can't pay and insurance companies aren't going bankrupt from people opting out every year. Where do they get their money from?

Everyone else subsidizes this in the form if higher premiums, co-pays, and fees.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

5 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Everyone else subsidizes this in the form if higher premiums, co-pays, and fees.

Exactly. This can only go on for so long. People don't get raises every year to keep up with the rising costs.

[Redheadguy03 505]

The neighbors can claim the baby on the taxes for that year though. Hopefully, that'll give them a bit back. 

[Ontarkie 14,446]

~~Moved to Moving Here and YOur New Life, from Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration - As this is not an immigration post but a health care post.~~

[Cheschirecat 176]

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Well, hardly. Predicting due dates is not an exact science and there are many reasons not to induce labor. I don’t see it as an error, just an incredibly unfortunate timing issue. 

Didn’t the Doc want to induce?  I would think he had accurate estimates. I pray he did. The young lady didn’t want to have the baby at Christmas, correct?  My doc wouldn’t allow me to have my son on 1/01. He said it wouldn’t be fair for us to have the first baby of the year, since I’m a scheduled C-section. We opted for 12/30. 

[Daisy.Chain 317]

So if she has another baby THIS year, her deductible will be all set...

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

40 minutes ago, Cheschirecat said:

Didn’t the Doc want to induce?  I would think he had accurate estimates. I pray he did. The young lady didn’t want to have the baby at Christmas, correct?  My doc wouldn’t allow me to have my son on 1/01. He said it wouldn’t be fair for us to have the first baby of the year, since I’m a scheduled C-section. We opted for 12/30. 

She had the baby 9 days after he wanted to induce. That makes the induction date sound wrong to me, it shouldn’t be so far away from the natural birth date, and induction usually takes place when you have gone past the expected date by at least a few days, not in advance (or when there is an identifiable problem, in which case it makes no sense to refuse based on timing).  Induction is also different to c-section, much less predictable (I’ve been induced before - it ended in an emergency Caesar). In any case we have no idea what the doctor’s rationale was. Doctors also do things like this for their own convenience. Maybe your doctor just didn’t want his new year’s day plans messed up, for example. Not unheard of. 

 It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when someone accuses someone else of an “error” for refusing an apparently unnecessary medical intervention, just to fit in with a health insurance calendar. I mean, come on, seriously?

 

 

20 minutes ago, Daisy.Chain said:

So if she has another baby THIS year, her deductible will be all set...

BOGO baby!!

Edited April 29, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[C&I 18]

Well, new year or not, having a baby in this country costs a lot of money, it's just insane! We knew that prior to plan my pregnancy but OH MY GOD. We are still paying the $5000 that it costed to us. I had to have an emergency c-section and my baby was in the intensive care unit for 4 days, so that costs a lot of money.... And we are responsible of 20% of the total costs! So, you never know how much you will end up paying until baby is here because giving birth is so unpredictable. At the end of the day, the most important is the health of the baby and the mother. 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

It’s crazy expensive here. 

Another sad side effect of private systems like this (something I saw in my old country too and definitely saw here) is that while you still get the medical professionals who see it as a calling, it also starts to attract people who just want to make money, and start not only overcharging but recommending unnecessary procedures etc. all the while treating patients like they are on a production line. some of our local dentists are notorious for this, it’s not just doctors. Definitely lots to fix.

Edited April 29, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Ontarkie 14,446]

14 hours ago, Cheschirecat said:

Didn’t the Doc want to induce?  I would think he had accurate estimates. I pray he did. The young lady didn’t want to have the baby at Christmas, correct?  My doc wouldn’t allow me to have my son on 1/01. He said it wouldn’t be fair for us to have the first baby of the year, since I’m a scheduled C-section. We opted for 12/30. 

Many doctors in the US will induce for no reason at all but convenience or to let the parent pick the birth day. So much so new laws/guidelines were made to stop doctors from inducing before 38 weeks unless medically necessary. .