AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhhhhhhhh! I am sooooo frustrated with medical bills!! We met our deductible at the end of the years with Taeya's birth and of course it started over in January when I ended up in the hospital. Because we're in a rural area the best insurance we can get is not great. So far, in the past year (mostly the past 3 months) we've paid about $4,000 in medical bills out of pocket and we don't have that kind of money laying around! My deductible isn't that high but because no one I see is in network (there is no network around us!) we have to pay on our deductible and everything the insurance won't cover. Sigh. It's so extremely frustrating. Almost every day that I get the mail I get more medical bills. I just want them to stop coming!!! I know some people have it much worse but I just feel very stressed financially right now with having to work less and spend more.
What's really sad is that if we were still in CA, we would have insurance that would cover everything 100%!!! Phil had a co-worker there who had a baby and they paid $5 for the ENTIRE pregnancy! I am looking forward to having better coverage and being IN-network when we move to a less rural area so we stop getting all of the "above reasonable" charges billed to us. Sorry. I just had to get that off my chest.
7 comments:
i know how you feel! a few years ago i had that frustration (or should i say, anger) towards my dental bills. i don't even want to add up how much money they got out of me, i'll get upset all over again.
but this post is a good reminder to me to be thankful for our insurance coverage on this pregnancy. i didn't realize that not all my friends have similar coverage. i hope you're in a better financial situation soon, with the moving and job changes coming up!
Negotiate those bills. Most medical can be cut in half or more just by talking with the hospitals and doctors. Good luck..
Yuck! We finally have insurance that covers my doctors, but our prescription costs just skyrocketed, and for someone on 5+ prescriptions, it is so frustrating!
In Canada we pay nothing. I feel truly blessed to be in a Country where we don't have to pay medical stuff.
It sounds super stressful to have to fork it out over and over. I can't even imagine how you must feel. Feel free to come live in Canada!
I understand your financial stress and hope you can get out of that area soon. We will be praying for that decision. So glad to hear that your mom's surgery went well and we will be praying for recovery too.
that's absolutely redcukous...that's basically telling you where you can live and where you can't. Makes me mad. I can't go to doctors that aren't approved through the military and if I do, they FINE you, PLUS the bills! as long as I go to ones that are approved, I am covered 100%, except for dental, which is like 80% But it is VERY annoying, I can't even go to the GYN without a refferal from my primary care doctor. If I have an emergency and NEED to go to the GYn, I have to fir schedule an appt. with my regular family practice doctor. Frustrating. But, yes, I do understand about the bills, that's just awful!
hugs and prayers for you. I moved from Canada so it is especially hard mentally to deal with all the bills. Multiplied by a family of 6. I struggle with watching my friends with better insurance or state paid insurance... and not paying anything.
I agree, negotiate and mention that you are paying out of pocket. Most hospitals have financial aide as well. At the very least you should be able to get an interest free payment plan.
You might also call your insurance company and try to get an out of network exception. In some cases they will forgive the fact that you are out of network because it would be too far to drive to a network provider, especially for emergencies.
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