I am NEVER going to the hospital again.

[Aegon]

Are you insured? This may be of interest to you: Hospital Bills for Uninsured COVID Patients Are Covered, but No One Tells Them

You can also directly negotiate with the hospital over your bills. I don't know any details about your stay, but I certainly hope you didn't pay for an entire hospital stay OOP.

Not the point. What the insurance does not pay, comes out of your pocket, and what they do pay they get a tax deduction. Both are over priced and a scam. And I can tell you that insurance companies will look for a reason not to pay out. 

Oh no, I paid the entire fucking thing off just now. I don't want that shit hanging over my head. 

And I was not in for covid, I was in for something else, I brought up that other guy because his bill was nearly 1 million for a month, and even he is not sure how much his insurance will pay. I only had two visits to the ER and the first time one over night stay. And that was like buying a new car, just for two visits.

Yeah I'm aware that private insurance sucks and the whole system is a dumb, amoral, inefficient mess. I work in health policy, that's why I'm concerned. You can fight your carrier tooth and nail to cover more and more. You can also work with the billing department of the hospital to lower the costs. Literally all healthcare costs in the United States are arbitrary. They are not based on anything real, they're only based on how much they think they can milk your insurance. This means you have more negotiating power than you think, and hospitals would rather have a lower pay-out then spend even more money trying to get paid for your original bill.

You probably know this. I'm probably preaching to the choir. But it's vital that you understand you're not powerless despite the fact that it may feel that way.

They already gave me a discount. . But that was nothing compared to the total cost, and quite frankly, I am not getting into that with anyone here. I already have monthly bills, and have had car loans and have had to pay off a credit card. I hate long term payments. I had the money to pay, so I did. 

The point of the post is nobody should be drained of their savings or be put on long term debt, insurance or not.

Anyone who has gotten a gigantic bill, even if the insurance company paid out, is still getting ripped off. What they do pay out is covered by paying virtually no taxes and the increasing corporate and and CEO breaks they keep getting from the GOP, which adds to the long term debt, which outside the top percent, gets passed down to the rest of us, not only in taxes, but higher costs.

So, you’re unhappy with the size of your bill. That’s fine, I can your point. But you also seem unhappy about insurance companies. I don’t understand how those two work together - if you’d had insurance, your bill would have been much smaller. I did a little research and there are a lot of policies that pay around 80% on a covered claim. So, if you’d had one of those, you’d have saved 80% on your bill, wouldn’t you?

Boru

If only it were this simple.

Brian votes straight ticket ( D ) and you are surprised that he thinks someone else should pay his medical bills?