Now that I’m insured, healthcare actually costs more than when I wasn’t. And I’m not talking about premiums - I’m talking about copays and deductibles being non-negotiable.
For instance, I thought I may have hurt my ear scuba diving a few weeks ago, so I went to the ER to see if my eardrum was perforated (ENT visits can take months to get).
They told me it was, had me pay a $300 copay, prescribed me $130 eardrops my insurance wouldn’t cover, and referred me to an ENT.
When I finally got to an ENT, they told me that my eardrum wasn’t every perforated and the ER did didn’t know what they were talking about.
Then I got an additional bill from the ER for another $1800 because my insurance company refused to pay the bill.
Had I been unisured the hospital bill would have been maybe $250 all-in after negotiations, but since I have insurance it’s $2100 for a wildly wrong diagnosis that ended up costing me another $430 in specialists and prescriptions.
In the US, the reality is that we don’t know.
Now that I’m insured, healthcare actually costs more than when I wasn’t. And I’m not talking about premiums - I’m talking about copays and deductibles being non-negotiable.
For instance, I thought I may have hurt my ear scuba diving a few weeks ago, so I went to the ER to see if my eardrum was perforated (ENT visits can take months to get).
They told me it was, had me pay a $300 copay, prescribed me $130 eardrops my insurance wouldn’t cover, and referred me to an ENT.
When I finally got to an ENT, they told me that my eardrum wasn’t every perforated and the ER did didn’t know what they were talking about.
Then I got an additional bill from the ER for another $1800 because my insurance company refused to pay the bill.
Had I been unisured the hospital bill would have been maybe $250 all-in after negotiations, but since I have insurance it’s $2100 for a wildly wrong diagnosis that ended up costing me another $430 in specialists and prescriptions.
Jesus fuck