Astonishing medical bills

[REWahoo]

I like that option, and would take, except it's not offered by any insurer in my zip code. The closest we can get is Plan G, which I'll sign DW up for when she becomes eligible later this year.

G is Good.

I may wish we had G if it turns out HD F is also going to be an orphan plan.

 

[youbet]

Practical advice from my (even older) neighbor re health costs and medicare:

"Things aren't going to change. Best advice is to not pay any of the bills you receive for at least three months, while the doctor, Medicare, and your supplement straighten out the details."

The "You may be billed..." part of the invoice is meaningless, and any payment made based on that statement, has a fair chance of being lost along the way.

But then, you already knew that, didn't you.

I think you're mixing up EOB and invoice.

 

[MichaelB]

G is Good.

I may wish we had G if it turns out HD F is also going to be an orphan plan.

Anything is possible, but a high deductible plan is still more likely to be the better deal, even if orphaned. If the policyholder group does shrink too far they'll close the plan, which should give you a free pass into another MediGap. I think.

 

[MBSC]

I guess the quote I ran didn't show those. The "big" insurance companies like Humana weren't offering it. I also noticed that BCBS offers plan G in TX, but not here?

I have limited access to rate quotes for some, but not all, companies. I only listed the most competitive of those I have access to. BCBSTX Plan G is $130.00.

 

[audreyh1]

I have limited access to rate quotes for some, but not all, companies. I only listed the most competitive of those I have access to. BCBSTX Plan G is $130.00.

Hey, thanks!

 

[audreyh1]

I think you are correct that Medicare is a bit different.

We pay nothing up front. The medical providers run all charges through both Medicare and our BCBS medigap plan. We then get a bill from the medical provider showing what Medicare allowed, what was paid by Medicare and BCBS, followed within a few weeks by an EOB from Medicare. Only once over the past three years have the provider's bill and the EOB not both agreed to the penny, and in that case the Medicare Explanation of Benefits specified we did not owe one of the items we were billed for and instructed us not to pay it.

Pretty simple and straightforward, even with the deductible(s).

That's good to know. Wish it worked differently for us now.

At an opthamologist's office I did hear them ask if they had met their Medicare deductible for the year, so I assumed it worked the same way. It sounded to me like they were going to charge them the deductible up front.

 

[REWahoo]

At an opthamologist's office I did hear them ask if they had met their Medicare deductible for the year, so I assumed it worked the same way. It sounded to me like they were going to charge them the deductible up front.

Maybe we've just been fortunate in selecting doctors who didn't check. But even if they asked I'd probably say, "Yes, I believe we have..."

I doubt they would bother calling Medicare to verify since the Part B deductible is only $166, plus I imagine that could be a phone tree from hell.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Here are my "Astonishing Medical Bills". Codes are 30520 and 30140 are to improve my nasal passages. ENT and Anest will charge about $2,500. ENT's suggested I go to another practice as the hospital his practice uses costs a discounted rate of about $20,000. This is after insurance for a one hour procedure. Another hospital has a PRE-discount rate of ONLY $20,000. Don't know what the discounted rate is. I do have a high deductible so I would end up paying a few grand. My problem is that this is highway robbery. My online search says that $20,000 is about what other facilities charge for hosting this one hour procedure.
Is this where I fly to XXX vacation spot and have the procedure done?

 

[pb4uski]

....The whole system is simply broken.

+1 we need to blow it up and start over. There is no way it could be any worse than what we have now.

 

[travelover]

+1 we need to blow it up and start over. There is no way it could be any worse than what we have now.

I wasn't too thrilled about being shut out from any medical insurance at all due to a pre-existing condition, so that would be a critical element to me of any new, improved system.

 

[6miths]

Others feel your pain and hope that one day it gets sorted out.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

In the last year, we have had a total billing of $188,133 with insurance paying $50,799 (about 27% of the total billed amount). This included a gallbladder removal for me (and 2.5 days in the hospital) and a quite an invasive surgery (and 5 days in the hospital including 2 days in the ICU) for the DW. Since we have Tricare, the actual amount of pocket was...well, it was minimal, I will tell you that.

Later this year, my DW will require another surgery to correct a pretty bad keloid scar that cannot be corrected by anyone that is in-network. Thankfully, we have authorization to have it done out-of-network (as was her original surgery) so I imagine we will see another 25-50K billed amount. I am *very* thankful that we have the authorization to get it done out-of-network...otherwise, it would be a VERY expensive proposition for us!