And yet we can't agree on health care

[jenepel]

My brother just called me from the Emergency Room. They think he has appendicitis. He's getting a CT scan, and they will probably have to operate tonight.

He has no insurance. And yeah, that's stupid of him, and it's his own fault, yada yada. But, you know, he works in a restaurant, he earns like $15000 a year, and he's lived his entire life (bar the last three years) in a country where healthcare is free. He said he has looked into it, but he needed his health records from the UK and never kind of bothered to get them, and that it would be like $100 a month for the basic care, so he was putting it off. Stupid, yeah, but I get it. He's young, healthy, etc.

Fuck the fucking US health care system. He's looking at a $20000 bill for this operation, which means that my parents are looking at that bill (I guess) because it's not like he has the money. I can't even believe that you can go into a hospital and be sick through no fault of your own and have a necessary operation and it can freaking bankrupt you like that. It is so far out of my realm of experience that I will literally NEVER understand it.

I guess in a few years, if the new bill is good, he would have to get insurance, and it would be subsidised, because he must be low income. (And I think if I'm remembering right, that it starts at $40000 income and graduates down.)

BUT WHATEVER. Not like that helps him now. Hopefully he'll call back in a few hours and say the CT scan went alright (and cost him what, $2000 or so?) and that he doesn't need the operation. But it wasn't sounding good.

The ridiculous thing is that I should be thinking about how scary it is that he might be going in for an op like this, totally last minute, and all I can think of is the money. But $20000! That's terrifying. Fuck.

Comments

[outforawalk.livejournal.com]

Fuck. I am so sorry to hear surgery may be in his future. We are lucky here, because we can go to the med school. Which, yeah. They ARE practicing, but I had to have surgery the one year of my life I was uninsured and making like 6.00 an hour and I received terrific care and didn't have to pay a penny. (They offer low income people free/reduced care until about July when the budget runs out.) I can't imagine how hard it is for people who don't have an equivalent facility.

[jenepel.livejournal.com]

And now it's in his past! Got a call from his girlfriend at 7AM this morning saying he had it and it went well. I guess when it's an emergency they just do it.

I don't know about that med school thing - you would think Atlanta would be a big enough city for that option, but he also might just not know.

[mag1.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry that he has to go through this. It is terrifying. And I can tell you that even if you have good health insurance, it's still terrifying because large portions of the treatment are still not fully covered. I just hope that he gets the care that he needs, and everything will be okay health-wise.

[jenepel.livejournal.com]

Yeah part of my whole thing is that I truly do not understand the whole US system. I know there are deductibles and stuff, and that only certain things are covered, but it's all sketchy knowledge. I know that the NHS is stressed and overworked and sometimes you have to wait a while, but man I still feel better relying on it.

[lingrem.livejournal.com]

Ugh that stinks :( Your poor brother. The USA baffles me in so many ways!

[jenepel.livejournal.com]

I know! The USA is dumb. Canada has pretty good health care, right?

[jennywren06.livejournal.com]

OMG, the story of my freaking life. As my hand was bleeding and I was in more pain than I've ever experienced, I'm yelling at my husband not to call an ambulance because we didn't have insurance (he switched jobs and we couldn't afford to pay for COBRA, so we didn't have insurance for 3 months).

My husband had his appendix out last year and the first thing I thought of were the bills. Because even with insurance we still racked up about $2,500 in bills. So, yeah, the healthcare system here sucks.

One suggestion for your brother/parents when the bills start coming in--your brother should call the hospital and see if he can be considered a "charity case" or whatever they call it, to see if he can get a big part of the bill written off or possibly written off altogether. They considered me and my husband's salaries, so I didn't qualify, but your brother might. And tell him to NOT bring up anything about his parents. They need to think he has no other option to pay this bill than his own salary. This might not work for the surgeon's bill, anesthesia, etc., but the hospital will likely be the largest bill anyway. And tell him when he gets those bills from everyone other than the hospital, he needs to call and get some of the cost knocked off there, too, not because of his wages but because there is no way in hell they would get paid that amount from an insurance company (they have their own "contracted" rates that the doctors have to accept) and he shouldn't have to pay the full amount if they don't. The billing manager where I work does this all the time for people without insurance--she estimates what an insurance company likely would have paid and charges the patient that amount instead of the full cost that is billed.

[jenepel.livejournal.com]

That's actually really helpful, thanks! I just cut and pasted your reply to my bro, so he'll see what he can do. How does he not bring up his parents though? I mean won't they ask about family assistance? Should he just lie and say they can't help or what? I suppose it might help that we're all out of country, but I wasn't sure exactly what you meant by that. Anyway, I appreciate the input - none of the four of us have ever had to deal with US health care in this way, so we're pretty clueless overall.

[dogearedhelen.livejournal.com]

I've never understood it either - the US is great in many ways, but I can't understand how (as you said), you can need urgent healthcare and possibly not get it because you don't have the money. Someone I know in LA wanted a home birth for her first child, but there were complications (short version is that her uterus slipped outside and she would have died if she hadn't been rushed to Cedars Sinai where they had a surgeon on call).

That was the person I was referring to in my wall post on your FB - she wasn't working and her husband earnt enough for their basic living costs, and they managed to get the bills written off. I forget how (or who with) now, as this was about 3 years ago. I can ask, if you like?

As you said, the NHS has its flaws and long waiting lists, but if push came to shove, I'd take the flawed service over one that might mean I have a bill I could never repay.

[bighugs] for you and everyone right now - for a speedy recovery, and for the worry you must all be feeling.

[jenepel.livejournal.com]

Sure, ask away if you get a chance! I think any and all advice will be helpful.

ITA on the NHS. It's been really good for my family and I will always defend it to people.