Biggest Budget Buster ever....

[JandT'smom]

We have as many others have posted pay extra for more complete coverage. The cost has forced to cut back in other areas and give up things but we figured it was worth it for more complete coverage if we ever need it.

 

[disfan07]

Our cap is $10,000 i think....we met our OOP expenses with those 2 bills...our insurance coverage year just started in september

luckliy we have been able to pay for everything right away so far but our savings is dwindiling right before our eyes.

We meet the deductable and OOP every year for me.
We probably rack up an average of $200,000 in medical bills/year just for me.
6 doctors, medications, testing, procedures, ER visits and admittance.....it's a cycle we're stuck in and it does not look like we are getting out anytime soon

ETA: we have a low deductable but a high OOP....it's what we could get but coverage wise (ease of getting specialists, no referral needed, ability to go out of network, etc)it is worth it.....i mean in reality, when its $10,000 out of a 6 figure salary...we're better off than most....you just always wonder what you coul dbe doing with that money instead...KWIM

 

[DawnM]

You all are making me want to go back to work for my previous employer. We had 100% insurance covered for the entire family. We paid copays at the doctor's office, but no monthly cost.

In fact, when I worked and had it 100% paid by my company, I had two C-sections and pregnancies were 100% covered so I paid $0 for even the pre-natal care.

I MISS it! I could go back there if DH would agree to move back to CA.

We now pay $600/month through DH's company. It is $2000 capped per person OOP total. So each co-pay counts. It used to be $1000 per person and we hit it twice with my youngest son two years in a row for his surgeries, but didn't pay more than that.

We are hitting open enrollment now and I am looking over it again.

I HATE paying so much!

Dawn

 

[annsteere]

To answer the OPs question rather than suggest insurance that she doesn't have right now, YES we've been in that situation.

Our part of medical bills was over $14,000 one year. I went to the providers and told them what we were able to pay monthly. Then did basically a debt snowball: when the anesthesia was paid off that $100 was added to the $75 monthly that we were paying to the hospital.

At first the hospital said "we need to get more than that monthly on a bill of this size." I told them "it is all that we can do. But, I promise you, you will never have to chase me. It will be here every month right on time. And, when some of the smaller bills have been paid off you will start getting more each month."

It took nearly three years but we paid it off.

Then, we had a pizza party to celebrate.

 

[momx2]

My illness/treatment lasted over the course of 10 months with lingering problems following but nothing major after the 10 months.

When I became ill I was covered under my employers plan. After a high deductible we had an out-of-pocket max of $8,000. Two months into the illness my employer did a major layoff and since I was unable to work I was one of 25 who were laid off. My insurance coverage ended at the end of that month. Cobra was going to be $1,200/month which we couldn't afford with me not working.

Fortunately for us it was one of the few times in our lives that dh worked for a place offering insurance and because I lost my job we were able to pick up coverage through his employer immediately and had no time without coverage. Bad news was that this policy was also a PPO with a new $1,500 deductible and this time a $5,000 out of pocket max per family member or $10,000 total per family. During this time is when dh had his injury.

A few months later it was time for his employer to do their open enrollment and the new policy years began. New policy year meant a new deductible to meet and a new annual out-of-pocket max.

Yep, for one 10 month illness we had to hit three deductibles and then pay 20% three times working toward annual out-of-pocket maximums but at least we had coverage.

Oh my goodness, that is really tough! It is just crazy that medical expenses can just about bankrupt a family who is doing all the right things. It just makes no sense and something has got to be done about it!

 

[crisi]

My sister was. She had decent insurance, but there were some things for breast cancer treatment that weren't included - and they may not have been necessary, but were important to her well being (for instance a private room after mascetomy). And her treatment ran over the course of three years, so she maxed every year for three years.

I just did the $4k braces payment this morning. After insurance.

 

[indimom]

When DS was 11 months old, he spent 24 days in two different hospitals, had an ambulance ride to larger children's hospital in the city, four doctors, tests, tests, tests... Final diagnosis: severe pnuemonia and an unidentifiable (I'm not joking, they were mystified) blood infection of a type normally seen in critically ill patients with no immune system?????
The larger hospital charged $800 a night for the bed alone in a four-bed unit.
We maxed out our insurance completely ($5,000 plus antibiotics which our insurance did not cover). I didn't complain, the total bill would have been over $50,000. The only bright light was that it was February, so we didn't have to pay for any other medical expenses that year, like tubes he got for ear infections, and the 8 months of follow-up x-rays until his lungs were fully healed.
It took a year to pay off the bill and we had to cut EVERYTHING at our house. No satellite, cell phones, internet, eating out. One car.
We learned our lesson, within another year of hard work, we paid off our car (three years early) and got ourselves out of credit card debt. Now we keep an emergency fund for this type of thing and have better insurance.
Talk to the hospital about a payment plan, this worked fine for us. We got a monthly bill and no nagging or phone calls. Worked out fine. I'm not sure I would use a credit card to pay off a medical bill, not with the interest rates being jacked up. Also, you could look into the tax deduction for medical expenses, but you may not qualify. We tried and were about $1,000 shy of getting it.

 

[dijid]

Just a reminder to check the cap on what you're responsible for. It may be the $10,000.00, but the most I've ever seen when shopping for coverage is $5,000 annual cap that the patient is responsible for.

You obviously haven't seen my DH's employer's new plans! They've dumped all the HMO/managed care plans and now starting in 2010, everyone will have what amounts to catastrophic coverage. This is from a fortune 20 company.

There are 3 plans to chose from with different monthly premiums/deductibles. What you pay depends on how much you make, how many are in your family and whether you smoke. Deductibles for our non-smoking family of 5 range from $2000 - $4000. By paying high monthly premiums, you can buy yourself a maximum cap of $5000 - after the deductible is met! All totaled - premiums, deductible and after deductible max, we can pay over $12,500 next year for our health care costs. To top it off, no choice has a co-pay for prescriptions. Intead, they all have a deductible and then meds are covered only 70%.

Talk about a budget buster - we're going from $15 PCP/$30 specialist co-pays with $12 Rx co-pays and expecting our health care costs with at least double next year. No choice about it either! DD just had minor (very necessary) surgery last week. We paid $125 total for everything, including 3 rounds of anti-biotics. Had this all happened two months from now, we would have paid several thousand.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

As a Type I diabetic it's important that we always pay for the most expensive coverage through DW's company. It's not the best, but it certainly prevents us from going broke on all the supplies I have to get every month.

I know people like having more money in their pockets every month, but insurance is named that for a reason, you're spending that money ahead of time to be insured when the need arrives.

When we had our DD we paid a total of $250 OOP. That included 9 months worth of OB/GYN visits, ultrasounds, delivery, and 3 days after delivery.

To the OP, I know a lot of people who are feeling the crunch because of medical bills. The only advice I can offer right now is that many companies are now in their 2010 enrollment phase, so take a look at what each plan offers and try to find a way to get the most coverage. It may mean a little less "spending" money per month, but when the need arrives, it's good to know you're covered.

Good luck.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I have a $4,000 deductable family plan. After that everything is covered 100%. It's a super saver plan or something. Then we have a health savings account that before tax money gets put in every month up to a maximum each year.

 

[DMickey28]

We opted for the high deductible plan last year, starting April 1st. I did the math and even if we had a circumstance which caused us to hit the high deductible it would still cost less over the course of a full year with the savings off the monthly premiums and the monthly RX's we were on at the time. Our co-pays were pennies less than the full RX cost.

Wouldn't you know it, May 2nd my DH ends up in the ER and then the ICU for Myocarditis. THEN he found a new job and just started a few weeks ago ... I am paying the hospital off as much as I can per month. Lots of fun. I'd rather have paid more per week than do it this way but I learned my lesson. At least his new company is a LARGE legit company and our new EPO insurance is great and still cheaper than the high deductible plan at the old job. We are now paying $180/month for all insurance including life/disability for the family. Sweet deal ... finally.

 

[Ava]

DMickey28, you are happy with your EPO? My current employer offers an EPO option but I didn't choose it because I've always had PPOs in the past. The EPO is a lot more in premiums, but (it appears) everything is covered 100% after you meet your deductible. The only thing that scares me about our EPO is there is no out-of-pocket maximum. I'm too afraid I'd somehow end up owing $$$ if we have the unexpected happen. At least with my PPO I know my OOP max is $2500/person. I also have an 80/20 co-insurance, which the EPO doesn't have. On paper, it seem the only OOP costs with the EPO are the premiums, $100 deductible, & co-pays - I am just too afraid I will get stuck with high bills because of the no OOP max! No matter how many times I look at the insurance information I still don't understand what is covered, not covered, subject to deductible/co-insurance, not subject to deductible/co-insurance, etc etc. Which is why I just stick with the PPO because at least that way I have a maximum that I can possibly have to pay each year. I really hate the insurance system.

 

[disfan07]

Our deductable is $500/person, $1500 max/family and $10,000 OOP

We always get an itemized bill. We've never had to request one form this hospital or these doctors. Its automatically sent as an itemized bill luckily.

Luckily, our hospital gives an outstanding discount if you carry one of the insurance plans they accept. For the EP study the discount was about $23,000 of the $50,000 bill.