Monday, June 28, 2010

I hate insurance companies

Seriously - why are health insurance companies so difficult to deal with?  We have been paying a shit ton of money for all of my doctor appointments.  It's really pretty insane to me that we already pay a ton for insurance, then we also end up paying 20% of all our appointments, lab work, x-rays, hospital stays, etc.  20% of the entire bill! 

Remember when I went to the hospital a little while ago?  I was in the hospital for about 5.5 hours.  They did some lab work (urine culture, internal check), ultrasound of my kidneys, and monitored baby girl's heart rate and my contractions.  I had no medication, no IV, no other procedures.  The entire hospital bill was $1200 (we were responsible for $20%).  Is that not insane?!  Ugh, thinking about what the labor and delivery will cost us gives me a headache.  (I SO think I should be discounted for refusing an IV and other medications when I go in, but, that so will not happen.)

People may be confused as to why we pay this much.  I am confused as well.  But, with me in school, we are under Ian's company's insurance plan.  Out of the three plans offered by them, we picked the best insurance plan possible that allows us to see whichever doctor we choose and costs us the most per paycheck.  That being said, the insurance plans his company offers are simply bad choices.  The company switched insurance plans this past year and clearly chose plans that would allow the company to pay less, and the employees to pay more.  It's incredibly frustrating!

We basically go into every appointment not knowing what the hell we'll end up paying out of pocket.  It's frustrating to get a bill in the mail that surprises us and worries us.  Luckily, we planned for big medical costs this year by putting a lot into a flexible spending account.  But still, with that being depleted quite quickly, it reminds me to be grateful that we even have insurance.  But it also reminds me that the health insurance issues in our country need to be resolved!

2 comments:

  1. Good for you in putting money into a flex spending account! But I seriously know what you mean by insurance being so frustrating. I hardly know what we'll pay or when we'll see the bill. We will also pay 20% out of pocket up to a certain amount. It still sucks and I don't understand it all! But you and Ian are so smart to have put money away for the big bills. Major props!

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  2. Insurance does suck the big one. But its good you're prepared for the big bill after the birth. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think, I'll keep my fingers crossed. We pay 10% coins and my hospital bill even with the epidural was only $600 because Midwives don't like to use expensive (and unnecessary) interventions, so you're doing everything right. She will be here so soon, you must be getting excited!! :)

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