He’s fully insured (twice, apparently) and yet after experiencing cardiac arrest, received bills for about $250,000 – that still are not sorted out: Have Good Health Insurance? Too Bad. You Could Still Get A $250,000 Bill (forbes.com)
In the U.S. healthcare is, as some have suggested, organized crime. My wife, a retired RN, questions the idea that anything in health care is “organized” – it’s just crime and corruption she says. We personally had to deal with a situation like the above, ultimately paying about $20k out of pocket to the local hospital monopoly.
I’m currently in treatment (physical therapy) for a hip/lower back issue injury. I had to get a referral from my doctor, and once the PT practice got that, it was six weeks before they had an opening on their schedule. I then had 5 visits – just two in the last month for what are supposed to be weekly visits. Then I learned the referral expired at 90 days – so it was good for just six weeks of that 90-day period due to the time it took to get the first appointment! The PT practice software was supposed to have alerted them to the need for a new referral – but the alert was never generated. I’m now in a holding pattern, with no new appointments scheduled – while waiting for the referral to get processed. They say the request went in 2 weeks ago but has now been lost … so I continue to wait.
Update: The PT practice has apologized; they made an error and had an internal miscommunication. No additional referral was ever required. They said they will contact me soon to restart an appointment schedule. Last time it took up to six weeks to get on the schedule – and presumably will take weeks to get re-started – setting me back to starting over, while in pain for a lengthy period of time. This is our health care system.
I am about to call the PT practice this afternoon and tell them I will pay cash so I can resume PT – but that may take another month to schedule the next sequence of appointments, by which time I am allegedly on vacation. Unfortunately if I had to decide today, I will have to cancel my participation in the trip (which is already paid for) because much of the day I am in moderate to extreme pain – and can only walk inside my house, very slowly, while holding on to something.
Meanwhile, I just wait, like a ship dead in the water – because our health care system is so fantastic. I have insurance coverage – but due to the bureaucracy, I will have to pay cash anyway.
