The upsides of a hospital bill
Remember Zoe's ambulance trip to the ER back in May? Well, the bills have started to roll in from our 6 hour stint in the hospital (they actually didn't treat her in the hospital at all...they just monitored her. All the medical help was delivered in the ambulance and she was pretty stable and calm by the time she arrived at the hospital.).
So far, we've paid a $125 bill, and now this $250 bill has come.
Why is it so much if we have insurance? Well, each person on our insurance plan has a $200 deductible to meet each year before services are covered at 80-90%, and Zoe had met $0 of her deductible.
It hurt a little to pay the deductible, but I comforted myself with the thought that at least anything else that happened to Zoe this year would be covered.
Not so. While talking to the phone rep, I received the unfortunate news that the plan year resets on June 1st, so we paid $200 to meet Zoe's deductible, and it only lasted for a week or two.
Boo.
However, I'm the Pollyanna type, and I've managed to think of some things for which I can be grateful.
1. Zoe (and the rest of us) are rarely sick enough to meet our deductibles. We routinely arrive at the end of a plan year with only a minimal part of our individual and group deductibles met. Honestly, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to take my children to the doctor for a sick visit in the last 5 years (and the other 5 years would probably only require my other hand)...their charts are filled with almost nothing but well-child visits, and I'm so thankful for that.
2. This is probably a one-time occurrence, not an ongoing illness, which means that in the grand scheme of things, it's really not that expensive. If our portion of Zoe's hospital bills are in the hundreds of dollars already after a 6-hour non-admitted, monitoring stay in the ER, I can only begin to imagine the hospital bills for children who have chronic or life-threatening illnesses. A couple hundred dollars is nothing compared to that.
3. I live in a country where good medical care is available and hospitals are plentiful. I've lived here all my life so I often take this for granted, but there are millions of people on this planet who live in countries where medical care is almost non-existent. That's just not the case here...the medical system isn't perfect, and not every physician is up to par, but it's as good here as it is almost anywhere else in the world (and the 911 emergency system here is pretty darn good too.).
4. We have insurance. It's not fabulous insurance (the stories I could tell you!), and since we're sick so infrequently, we usually end up spending more money on premiums than we would if we just paid for our doctor visits out of pocket. But, I'm grateful it's there in case something serious does happen to one of us.
5. We have the money to pay the bills for her care. For a lot of years, we weren't able to set much money aside into savings (despite faithful frugal living!), but we have more income now (yay for a career switch from warehousing!) and so we are in a better place. And though a hospital bill still isn't my favorite piece of mail, we'll pay it and we'll be fine.
6. Most importantly, Zoe is alive and well, and no amount of money would be worth trading for that. I'm so, so thankful for our 911 system, for the ambulance and for the paramedics who helped Zoe, and I'm VERY grateful that there's nothing seriously wrong with her (it was just a bad case of croup). We love our Zoe to pieces, and we'd all be a wreck if something happened to her.
So yeah...an ER bill or two is not the end of the world. 🙂
Today's 365 post: Warning: This post contains a toad.
Another great post. I love the way thet you think (and act) as well as the intersting variety of blog posts. You're family is graced by you.
Yes indeed i am glad all is well with Zoe and i love your stance on this! I too had to put myself in that situation when my daughters bills started rolling in from an hour and a half long ambulance ride,week in the hospital for me and 64 days in for her coming home on her due date. All starting around thanksgiving. But alas she is a beautiful smart and most of all healthy 5 year old who is starting kindergarten tommorrow sniff sniff! Its funny how we can be soo able to just be thankful for things we can manage.
From the mom of a child with a chronic illness, I appreciate your perspective on the bills, the insurance coverage and what's most important, the state of your child's health. I could not agree more with your statement the bills to be paid. You have your healthy little girl and that's what matters most. Have a great day! 🙂
Yes the most important part is zoe, and thank goodness for the insurance.
I would love a 200.00 dectutable, Mine is 500.00 per person total of 1500.00.
It is fustrating, that you paid the deductable, only to have it reset in june.
Great attitude, I do think it is odd though. Typically deductibles are determined base on the date of treatment...not the date the office bills the patient.
Yes, her treatment was before the June 1st reset...we just got the bill after the reset date.
The other upside is that your deductible is relatively low. I know families that have $2000 deductibles per annum. I'm fairly blessed, mine is $350/person or $700/family, and I put more than enough into a Flexible Spending Account which helps reduce my taxable income. I put a few grand in that account to cover the annual deductible, monthly medicines for me and my kids, and also general co-pays.
We used to have a higher-deductible plan with an HSA and we loved that (we paid really low premiums and just put the saved money into the HSA). But my husband's current employer doesn't offer a plan like that.
I agree with Monica, that what counts is you have a healthy little girl! We have 2 children with a very rare disease (and 2 healthy), and have to see a team of doctors regularly. Thankfully we have good insurance and wonderful doctors to help our family get through this! I remember at the start of this (back in Feb. 2007) when we were trying to figure out what was wrong with our son and seeing bill after bill for thousands of dollars.....money doesn't matter when you have a sick child! 🙂
I'm so sorry to see you had an emergency trip to the ER! That's so scary! But I'm thrilled to read that you're in a place to not be stressing about the medical bills! While my husband and I have very few medical bills, our daughter has a team of specialists. Thankfully, we've gotten things figured out and stabilized, but I never know when that's going to change. We have an HSA with a $3000 deductible and lower premiums. It works out, but I definitely think of others when I'm paying my bills! It seems unfair that everybody doesn't have the luxury to not be worrying about how to pay their medical bills when they have sick kids. So glad to hear that your daughter fought the virus and is having a healthy summer!
Last year my 6 year old had a run in with a marble window sill requiring 13 stitches to her forehead. Total cost : $1511.00, that was with no IV medication, and no xrays, and I drove her to the er. WE had paid our deductible for the year, so it was entirely covered, however it made me realize that something so seemingly small ( in the big picture) could quickly cause significant strain on a family's finances. I am very thankful for our insurance and good medical care.
Here, Here on the fact that insurance covers something! Brenya's 5-day stint in the NICU after she was born was $20,000 after insurance plan rates (I'm not really for sure what they're called...the hospital charges you less for the deal they made with the insurance). That was just the hospital bill. Then, there was the bill from the team that airlifted her from the hospital she was born at to the NICU hospital, that was a cool near $900 bill. A bill from a specialist that seen her...I don't remember what that totaled...something like $90 though...and that's not including the bill from giving birth, getting my epidural, or the charges from the ped that cared for her for 15 minutes before shipping her off to the hospital with the NICU. (approx $5,000 total). So, without insurance, we would have owed more than $27,000! At the time, Ryan didn't even make that in a year.
I can thankfully, and appreciatively say that thanks to insurance, and a write-off the hospital gave us for our poor income, we paid nothing. Had the hospital not given us the write-off, though, we still would have only been responsible for $2000 that the ins didn't cover, which is a whole heck of a lot less than the original bill!
Because of the excellent care she received, she's happy and healthy now, and that's all we can ask for.
I'm very glad that your little girl is well!
We are very thrilled with the SCHIP coverage our kids have, whereas my husband and I, with his being self-employed, have high deductible policies... we think of it as catastrophic coverage. My pregnancy was covered (not that it it was a catastrophy by any means, lol!) but with the high deductible, we still had a hefty bill. Fortunately, we were able to work out a very doable payment plan with the hospital -- and now, two weeks after my son's first birthday.... I am sending my final payment this week! I was really thankful that the billing department was so ready to work with me -- they didn't charge interest or anything like that, and slowly but surely, they are paid in full 🙂
deductibles are so hard. those bills are unexpected. our deductible is $1500/person. so really stinky insurance except in major medical. and that's her dad's insurance who is a firefighter.
but i completely agree. i'd find a way to pay that huge deductible every year if it means my angel is healthy and happy.
glad zoe is ok.
your insurance sounds fabulous. I just had my daughter and we have to pay $800 OOP. and that's with a $1300 monthly payment (but no deductible). Where do I sign up for yours??? Plus I loved reading your upsides. Thank you for those. Good to remember!!
I really liked this post. Your perspective is a good one. With regards to health care, I'm very grateful I have a group of doctors and dentists I like and trust. I'm also grateful that my medications are mostly covered by insurance, even if out of pocket is still $90/month (3 prescriptions, $30 each, with a 3 month supply even). I would much rather take them pre-emptively than end up in the hospital.
And wow, just realized I sound very sick in that comment - I'm actually pretty healthy, but I do have chronic severe depression that flares up if it's not managed, and can turn into an expensive stay in the psych ward (which I am also very grateful exists).
Kristen,
You should forward thus post to the ambulance company. My husband is a Paramedic, and he really appreciates hearing feedback. Paramedics spend a tremendous amount of time on calls that are truly depressing, (drugs, child neglect, etc.) so something like this would really make their day.
-Katy
I am so glad that Zoe is OK and that all turned out well. I feel so blessed to live in Canada where we never have to worry about these kinds of costs. I know how hard it can be for many of you in the U.S. to manage the insurance and then the hospital and other costs on top. I like the idea that good health care is not a privilege for only those who can afford it but a right for all.
I do appreciate that the U.S. has an excellent emergency system and many top-notch hospitals and health care professionals. And while I admire your perspective on your own situation, I have lived in and traveled to poorer countries with better basic care for a greater percentage of the population. I know many hard-working parents in my state (which would have the sixth or seventh largest economy in the world were it a country) who do not have health insurance. Their children are covered under a state plan. And I know a few other families who are paying through the nose for COBRA after a spouse's layoff. A broken arm can cost $5000 or even $10,000 without insurance. A more serious illness or injury can bankrupt a family. It does every day. That doesn't seem right to me. I don't see any easy answers, but I do like to hope that we can do better. (I wasn't intending to take this in a political direction--really! The economic downturn has helped me see how vulnerable many families are--even those who are working but don't have insurance.)
I was thinking of places like Haiti or like the bush in Africa...places where people still die of illnesses that are rarely fatal here.
I do think health care here is way too expensive, but I'm not sure what the solution is. I am intrigued by the handful of doctors who operate without insurance by simply charging a reasonable fee for their services, though.
I have wondered myself whether an insurance-free system would work better because doctors would have to charge reasonable fees that people could afford.
Yeah. Then there's the problem of malpractice insurance, which is so expensive that doctors have to charge an arm and a leg. It's all so complicated.
Then again, with insurance contracts, doctors sometimes don't end up getting paid that much when it's all said and done, so maybe they'd make more money without the insurance!
Do you have an emergency fund for unexpected expenses like this 🙂
Actually, we have a medical savings account at ING for this (we'd use an FSA, but we don't currently have access to one).
We have an emergency savings account as well that we'd tap into if we ran out of money in the medical accont. 🙂
agreed! a healthy child is the most important. so glad that we have health insurance. there have been many times without it & my son has asthma & has required many ER trips. once i worked per diem at the very hospital & we couldn't afford insurance yet people on medical assistance would take an ambulance for a diaper rash ( that couldn't be seen) yet my husband and i (through taxes) paid their way for free. we need a better system. i know some people NEED assistance but some totally take advantage & come in drug seeking. yet if you are hard working & need a little assistance but you make a bit too much, you can't get the help. ugg!
Over 13 years ago, I delivered our second son in our car. We had to take an ambulance to the hospital and imagine our surprise that we were billed for two! Both my new son and I received care and a ride, therefore, we each got a bill.
They graciously took one of us off (it was just over $500 each) ... However, our county has a plan called "Fire-Med" where we pay an annual fee (just over $100) and are then covered for anyone in our family that needs an ambulance ride. We became members of the plan immediately after that experience and it is a great relief. One does not want to think about $ in an emergency, but it does factor into whether or not to call 911 when the bill will be so high. Also, we are so grateful for our local paramedics that we consider it worthwhile to contribute toward even if we never need another ride. (I did need another ride w/ baby # 4 though...so we were especially glad to be covered then!)
That's so interesting. Here the ambulance is totally free (well, it's paid for with tax dollars, of course).
It is "free" where I live if you are a tax paying property owner....part of the taxes goes towards the services provided by the fire department. What happens(according to my local fire department) is that they will bill your insurance company and write off what is not covered.
I love your Pollyanna perspective.
We are getting slammed with bills right now due to my husband having a heart attack (he's 37!) and having to be air lifted from one hospital ER to another. Two ER bills, all the testing, HELICOPTER RIDE, emergency surgery in the middle of the night, two days in ICU and a week in the hospital! Can you imagine the bills? However, I also am looking on the bright side and focusing on the fact that the medical staff was there and had the knowledge to help my husband. It's only money after all, and I'd rather live in a tent with my husband and no money than not have him here! That's what money is for - to PAY for things - and I'm glad that I have the option of having medical care for my family!
Great post! I completely agree!
I completely agree that money IS there to PAY for things! What's the point if we don't use it wisely?
"the medical system isn't perfect, and not every physician is up to par, but it's as good here as it is almost anywhere else in the world (and the 911 emergency system here is pretty darn good too.)."
typo? The US healthcare system is the WORST of the first-world. It's not "as good" as anything.. the only way it does shine is when you compare it to the countries where people have no healthcare whatsoever -- as you did in your post. Otherwise the American medical system can only bee seen for what it is: a colossal money-drain that leaves it's citizens both bankrupt AND uncovered. Adequate healthcare in the USA is a luxury of the rich, everyone else either gets to suffer or pay dearly.
I haven't experienced other first-world care (though I have experienced government-run military health care, and I wasn't too impressed!), but from what I hear from my overseas friends, their care is pretty far from perfect. There are some upsides to it, yes, but there are also some pretty big downsides.
And in Europe, good care is often a luxury of the rich as well...if you want prompt care, you have to pay for private doctors, and that doesn't seem like an improvement over our current state (and as I said before, I think our medical system is really flawed).
When I wrote this post, I was mostly thinking of areas of the world where Zoe could have died from her croup attack, and I am very grateful that I don't live in one of those areas! 🙂
So glad to be Canadian. We might have to wait in the hallway for two hours, but no big bills show up later on down the road!
I love your perspective and post. Although, I must admit to being a bit envious of your insurance!! Our deductible is $5000 (down from $10,000 last year!) and our monthly premiums aren't great either. I'm having a hysterctomy in November and since we are healthy, we haven't used much of our deductible. Thank goodness for an emergency fund that will help with that expense. 2 years ago, we wouldn't have had the money in savings to pay for it. God is great and always provides for our needs!
I am so glad Zoe was okay! That is truly all that matters 🙂
We actually received a phone call this morning from the hospital where my 3 year old had an out patient dental procedure. This is getting very expensive and our insurance doesn't seem to be helping. I am trying to stay positive, but it is oh so frustrating! It was a very necessary procedure, so she is a happy and healthier girl as a result, but we are not made of money!
I agree with all of your "Pollyanna Points", there are so many blessings, sometimes it is just hard to make sense of the language of medical bills. I guess we have to be careful to not grumble too much and then just look into our dear children's faces and remember that it is worth it! But the hospital will understand what we think about this! 🙂
If her treatment date was BEFORE the end of your plan year, your deductible WAS meet, and that bill should be paid at your 80/20. I know this because I used to work for an insurance company, and I have a daughter who was born with a congenital heart defect and I'm constantly getting payments straightened out after getting our EOB's. It goes by treatment date, not billing date. And you will have up to 1 year to contest it. Good Luck.