Health vs Money
It has been nearly three months since my surgeries in April. That means that it may have been enough time for the various bills from the various different people/companies/entities involved to have all come in. I say “may have” because America is America. I fully expect another bill to randomly show up sometime in the next 2-3 months.
For the other parts in this unintentional series, check these these previous posts:
Work vs Health
Health vs Women
To recap: I got a marsupialization to deal with the cyst and, since I was going under anyway, they also removed my tubes while they were at it. This way I wouldn’t have to pay twice for the anesthesia, hospital, etc. Essentially, I was barely paying any extra to add in a whole other procedure, which was awesome. With all that, you would think there may be like 2-3 bills right? The hospital, the doctor, and the anesthesiologist. That’s what I was thinking. Well, dear friends, I was quite wrong. In total, I got six different claims from various points. Two from the doctor (pre-opt visit and then cost of surgery), one from the hospital, one from the anesthesiologist, and two from random doctors I never met, but were apparently present.
The bill for all claims combined came in at $47,613.47 before insurance. What I actually paid, after insurance, was $3,751.26. Now, I fully admit to not being in the medical field. I have no clue how that works or what all is involved. But $47,613.47???? Are you fucking kidding me? How the hell can someone afford that? This was an outpatient surgery. I didn’t even have to stay the night. People without insurance are screwed in this country. Hell, even with insurance, $3,751.26 is a lot of money. I can afford it, something that I am supremely thankful for, but 56% of American’s can’t afford a $1000 emergency. And this was a best case since the cyst hadn’t abcessed. This is why people end up only going to the doctor when it is serious and/or life-threathening.
To sum it up, if you manage to resolve within yourself the need to take care of yourself over work and get a doctor to take you seriously as a female (even worse if you are a woman of color), then you get to potentially go into debt to hopefully solve your problem. Yay for medicine in America.
Have you had any medical things in the past year? How was your experience?
Feature Photo by Maria Orlova on Unsplash
Healthcare and billing is so screwed up!
Nothing big this year, I insist that giving birth exempts me for several years following each birth as far as big procedures go. My usual parade of health stuff keeps spawning new fun but that’s just me!
It really is. I don’t understand how people even manage it. How did they create something so awful?