I have several major medical problems. My medical bills are outragous. I have insurance throuh my husbands employment. They have been refusing to pay a lot of my bills in 2007. They have these little things added into the policy that dont mean anything at all UNTIL they dont want to pay. Then all the sudden these little comments come to life. I am so tired of fighting with them. I was in the ER in Aug and had emergency surgery two days later at another hopital. Well they refused to pay for the ER visit and the surgery! I was admitted into the hopital one morning by my dr and had emergency surgery that night. How can they do this???
They gave each of the emplyees a packet with the changes in it. I just got finished reading it and I am so mad!!
They refused to pay for my ER visits and sent me a letter telling me that I needed to find a doctor who would see me on these odd hours. WHAT???? When it is an emergency...... you cant control what hour it is!!!!!!!!
Stupid people!!! Stupid!!!!!!!! Stupid!!!!!!!
I hate insurance companies. It seems to me that they are making it harder on us who do have insurance than those who dont!!! I am so mad I could scream but it would not help!!
I have been fighting with them all year long. I am so mad! I feel like saying a bad word. If I used bad words, I would say one right now!
Last night when my huband arrived for work, they had a meeting with all the employees. They are changing everyones insurance. They will now pay less for the things they did pay for and they have added a longer list to the things they will not pay for!!!!!!!
I am so upset!
I have a very large copay for all my meds now and they are going to be increasing that!! I dont see how they can do that without me paying the intire price! each bottle is costing me $60.each now!!
Thank goodness for music or I would be in a larger stressed state than I am now!!!!!!!
I am thankful for the insurance that we do have. I know I sounded like I was not but I am. Even with insurance, my medical bills are so high. We cant pay them. We are on a plan were we pay each of three hospitals each month as well as many doctors.
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Comments: 60
I'm sorry that you are going through this. Its not something that will be easy to deal with.
No, I dont think that the uninsured gets better treatment , the ones who get treated the best, if you ask me are those who have medical cards, they dont have to pay anything.
You are one of those people who is in the middle who cant afford to pay all of these extra bills, I dont think anyone cares about people like us. All of your life you are told to work, you try to do the right thing and it seems that those who dont work and lay around on the welfare system are the ones who get the better deal.
You cant pick and choose when you will get sick. I do know of people who abuse the system, who has insurance but everytime one of their kids sneezed they took them to the emergency room to be treated and their insurance threatened to cancel their insurance. You are not one of these people. I dont blame you, I would be ticked off as well.
Our hospital is awful anymore, since they expanded as to how they collect payments. They want an itemized list of all of your bills, but they dont count satellite or cable. The payments they set are high, they dont care about anything but getting that dollar. It used to be you could pay as low as 25.oo a month but no more. Its all about greed. Sorry, you have to go through this, this makes me mad too.
They've got everyone so confused in thinking they are ill that people who are really ill are getting the worst end of the deal. Why would they need advertisements for drugs? Don't people who ARE ill already know it without a commercial. That's almost like them dictating to you as to when you can get ill, LOL. Oh wait, sure you can get sick, just not after hours. Who would think that way accept those who are part of the scam?
Our insurance no longer covers my yearly exams.. and this is something new.. you know a basic preventitive once a year exam and that's not even covered. I'm wondering what they DO cover if they won't cover that.
When I left my 1st job I had a chiropractor visit (they paid for those...) and I guess the company started using another company after I left....and so the old company said they wouldn't pay for it & the new company said they wouldn't pay for it & so I had to go all the way to Home Office for them to figure it out...I think it took more than 6 months to get it all taken care of...I was so pissed! The 1st company ended up paying for it. Also the company tried to cheat me out of my bonus & they tried to make me pay UT taxes (cause I changed my address to the new address 2 weeks before I moved (my last 2 weeks)...and I had to fight that too.
Then my last job that I quit a year ago I just got a claim taken care of after trying to get it paid for a year...Insurance kept denying it cause they said I didn't add my daughter after 30 days of having her & I yelled at them & said I did...then I went to the HR department & the HR department is full of idiots! They are nice people, but they are not very helpful (ok just the one lady...). So it took me forever & then she left for medical purposes & I went to someone else & she added it right there & it was fixed! I called the company back & let them know the change & that the bill should be taken care of through them & it finally worked out! Uggggh. I had loose ends when you quit jobs! Especially when it comes to insurance!
Connie, would you be eligible for an indigent patient program through the drug comapnies by any chance?
I dealt quite a bit with insurance companies when I worked in the Medical field, I did referrals for doctors and testing, I never could understand why so many things were denied. No this is not fair, Medical Care is a necessity
You are taught to work and support yourself all the years you are growing up, when you do and have a family hard times hit and the money is tight. Sometimes I think you really are better off to sit on your butte and collect from the government. You do get excellent health care through Medicaid so on that I agree with Vickey.
You are not elgiable for help from drug companies if you have insurance. Having insurance is a double sword.
I too help people get help with medications through our food pantry. I do anything I can do to help them but when it comes to me....I cant help.
It is the truth! I am not in a good mood this evening. Sorry to have written such a "downer" article. I do try to uplife everyone all the time but not tonight!! I am upset.
It is not just the insurance companies that are at fault for the health crisis. The hospitals, the pharmaceutical companies, the doctors, the uninsured, etc all contribute to the crazy rates and high deductibles. There needs to be reform of our health care system.
I do have some health issues that need to be cared for but we cannot afford for us to go get it taken care of...
My legs have been feeling numb almost everyday and all the time.. i have to have socks and slippers on to not have them feel like they are going frost bit.. that is very unnormal for me as i usually go barefoot.. but it feels like my legs are about numb from the calf down to the toes... there is no pain.. just they feel weird and tingly all the time...
we dont have the money up front for me to see a doc let alone all the testing they will want to do on me... let alone when i tell them my sugar levels have been staying about int he 200's ... not good i know it needs taken care of but when you dont have the money up front to get things started... nothing you can do...
and you are right... what docs office is open in the middle of the night...
Another factor in the cost of medical care is the Food & Drug Administration. Unless the FDA approves a procedure or medicine to treat a particular disease or condition, it is not done, period. With the unfortunate results being that people are dying because doctors cannot perform a particular procedure or prescribe a medicine without it first getting FDA approval.
Now I know some of you are thinking that the FDA protects us from bad medicines, I have a few words for you. Vioxx (it caused Serious gastrointestinal toxicity such as bleeding, ulceration, and perforation of the stomach, small intestine or large intestine, can occur at any time, with or without warning symptoms), Thalidomide (an anti-morning sickness drug that caused severe birth defects, primarily phocomelia or death to the fetus), and Ketoprofen (an over the counter [went by the name Orudis and Oruvail] non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) effective in treating fever, pain, and inflammation in the body which caused ulcerations, abdominal burning, pain, cramping, nausea, gastritis, and even serious gastrointestinal bleeding and liver toxicity. Sometimes, stomach ulceration and bleeding can occur without any abdominal pain.). All of these were approved by the FDA and then pulled after the damage was done
Before the advent of Medicare & Medicaid in 1962, medical services and medicine were actually going down in price.
Yes Indeed, music always has been a wonder drug with no negative side effects...
Not to make light of your situation but if I were you, I'd learn a few four letter words,I always found that a really well placed "F**K YOU".......Makes me feel a lot better....LOL...I hope everything works out for you..
it's just not fair... i don't know how they can do this to you...
God bless you and yours... i'll pray for you...
Get on the phone and argue with the insurance company. Make your point with them as you did with us. Take care and good luck.
I have argued with them until I am exhausted. It really does no good.
Checking with your state's insurance commissioner about procedures for filing a formal complaint is also worth a letter or two. Sometimes one of your state congressperson's can be of help .... particularly if they have had other complaints or are trying to push a healthcare reform bill. Same if true for your people in Washington.
If you are willing to have press, some local TV stations like investigative stories. Having no coverage for an ER visit that results in admission seems worth a second look.
Good luck.
Thanks for those tips. I have been considering contacting the State insurance commissioner but have not as of yet.
But on the "bright side", I'm thankful that I'm not my friend. Her medical bills were all being denied and then found out that someone listed her as deceased and all of her insurance was cancelled. She's having a heck of a time getting herself brought back to life because nobody wants to admit they made a mistake.
'YES' our government initiated the rising cost and decline in service. They should never have put Social Security into the general fund, and should never have instituted Medicare and Medicaid.
The health care industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Millions of dollars are spent each year lobbying by those trying to protect their financial interests. Many have their hands in the till, taking their share of the profits and none want to give up such a lucrative arrangement.
Greed is a very ugly thing.