I need to sound off and blow off some steam because inside I look like this.....
OKAY! So we recently received the insurance statements from Alec's ear tubes surgery and I was baffled. There must be some mistake! Why doesn't the bill for the Surgery Center fall under the deductible but the Doctors Clinic does?
I got my answer. The Surgery Center did fall under the deductible but we have to pay our 10% coinsurance out of pocket up to a specific amount for the year (last year we met that balance of $2400 by October and didn't pay a single bill out of pocket from then on... so why didn't we do the tubes in December? DAAAHH!). So now I understand.
GREAT. (with deep sarcasm) Moving on to my next question....
Why are there two identical charges from the surgery center adding up to such a large sum that I'm starting to question if it's cheaper for me to give birth to a NICU baby than it is for me to have tubes put in my child's ears? Nick made that call and found out that they charged us that astronomical fee twice because both ears were worked on... so $1500 for the left ear, and $1500 for the right. WHAT the HECK!?! I understand that not everyone has to have both ears worked on, so maybe an increase for the extra ear makes sense but IDENTICAL CHARGES across the board? So if we had decided that Alec only needed work on one ear it would cost half as much even though it would take just as many nurses, just as many chairs, just as many rooms/beds being used, but two minutes less time in the surgery center?!!!! Who would have thought that 2 measly extra minutes could cost SOOOO MUCH FREAKING MONEY! DAHH!
I'm grateful for good insurance that only makes me pay a $300 individual/$500 family deductible and 10% copay up to $1200 individual/$2400 family out of pocket yearly. I know many people have much more financially demanding insurance or no insurance at all. I appreciate the sense of security that if one of my precious children, my dear husband, or I were ever really really sick we wouldn't lose our home and end up in the poor house because we didn't have good enough insurance to cover our medical bills.
At the same time I hate that they have made me wonder if we should just hurry up and get tubes in Lyssa's ears this year so we don't end up paying the extra deductible next February when she inevitably needs tubes (genetics are not on her side). I hate that medical companies and surgery centers feel like they can over charge you crazy amounts of money and get away with it. I wish I could see a break down and know just how much they ended up charging me for that Clifford book they "gave to Alec" for being such a good patient. Baaahhh!
Okay. I'm done now. I'm going to go pay my bills, emptying out a nice portion of my savings account, and eat some chocolate. I wonder if there is still a piece of chocolate cake in the fridge?
4 comments:
Yeah. Where to even begin about insurance companies? I love that we had to drop my husband from my insurance because it was going to cost us $900 a month to keep him on with the kids and I. (We did find separate insurance for him). I love that I have been denied payment for services because the doctor's office used the wrong code. I love that I received a $700 hospital bill 9 months after having J. Sadly, it was not a mistake & not covered by insurance. I don't blame the doctor's offices. They are handcuffed by the insurance companies, limited by how much they can be reimbursed. They also bear the burden of those Medicaid or uninsured patients who don't pay a dime, putting more of the burden on the dwindling population of those of us who still have insurance.
Those $3,000 ear tubes must be made of platinum - perfect for your little Prince. :)
It's true, Amy. He is in fact my little prince. Thanks for understanding my frustration. :-)
GGRRRRRR!!!! I am frustrated for you! Don't you wish that things were different sometimes!!! I hope there was a piece of cake and that it melted your frustrations away!!! If not let me know and I can bring you some of my personal chocolate stash!
The healthcare industry is terribly messy and inefficient. Many hospitals make horrible mistakes and waste hours and hours of time because they have not kept up with the improvements in information technology. They are, in essence, living in the age of the typewriter while the rest of us have graduated to the Internet. On the other hand, the industry invests ridiculous amounts of money on medical technology that is no better or marginally better than what they had before. This is an industry that has largely managed to escape even basic cost-benefit analysis, an economic principle that children seem to understand better. Then you have massive numbers of people that cannot or chose not to afford insurance. Since they rarely pay their bills, the formally insured are essentially paying for their insurance. That is why it costs an extra $1500 for two minutes of your doctor's time.
Since I have no children yet, I can largely avoid this mess by NEVER going to the doctor. I exercise consistantly and eat mostly healthy food in hopes that I can stay out of the doctor's office for as long as possible. When you have kids the game changes. That is one part of being a parent I do not look forward to.
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