I thought I had good insurance till I got a bill for $3800.00 I tore my knee open during a fall on cement and smashed my nose. The hospital bill is over $1000 out of pocket due to me being a outpatient. I did pay $75 just to get in the ER. Days later The Knee filled with blood like a large boil and blew a large hole in the skin down to my knee cap. So they sent me to wound care "another specialist" I paid $40 co-pay the first time and the wound was cleaned. After that I had to go back till it healed, which took 10 weeks. They showed me how to care for the wound at home and I did 6 days a week then back to the wound center to the wound center have it checked. Wound was healing fine. I had to flush it and change bandage every day. At the wound center they took of the bandage and flushed it , said it looked good and put on a new bandage. A five minute or less check. Now I get a bill for services rendered by the wound center for that service for $475 plus $40 co-pay for 10 check ups. It went to the insurance as a operation. It was not It was a check up. I appealed and lost. I appealed to medi-care and lost. now I am in the process of appealing before a judge. If I would have been given notice of these costs I would of cared for it myself. Long story short. Two mounts after everything was done I was sent the bill SURPRISE. So make sure ant specialist is covered for services and of any co-pay. The receptionist even told me the codes were messed up. Then they tried to tell me I was out of network. Well they found out they were wrong. So now I am waiting for my hearing which medi-care got some other outfit to handle. I can feel the shaft now.

Hope everything works out for you. Going through a lot of outpatient tests. Hope it ain't all the same.

Medical insurance is a joke. Co-pays, uncovered services, and out-of-pocket limits are so high that if something serious happens, you are financially wiped out even if you do have insurance.

If I had back all the medical insurance premiums I've paid over the years and paid for my own health care out of pocket, I'd be a relatively rich man.

Our healthcare delivery system is in a terrible mess for most Americans. If one is not very wealthy, or on welfare, a serious medical event can ruin him financially and take an inheritance from a family.

The system needs fixed and now I hear my friends who have always had great coverage through their employer starting to moan as their contribution increase every year.

I never had to pay for my HC insurance 'til three years ago. Now the percentage of the cost I pay goes up each year and the cost of the coverage does too. A couple folks I know go to work everyday and nearly 2 weeks of each months work goes to pay for their insurance plan. They were told that if the tax cuts came through it would likely mean an increase in the employer's part of the coverage. They are still waiting.

The profits made by the drug companies, lawyers, for profit hospitals, and insurance companies are enough that they will continue too buy influence/offices and have them protected

Costs are out of control

We pay more for worse health outcomes when measured by many metrics

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsod...care-per-person

The cost of HC being so high, and the fact that it effects nearly all Americans, has made it a huge drag on the economy and the strength of the country.

You are charged that because you have to pay for the medical costs of all those that don't have insurance and those that dont pay anything.

^^^ True statement.

Don't buy into all the BS that is put out there by the health care industry. Drug companies profit margins are some of the highest in the country.

They charge what the market will bear and when you're over the barrel that is a lot.

And government healthcare is higher because you now have the added cost of them having to pay for favorable legislation.

Don't get sucked into the medical vortex if you can help it. We have been, and the last year has been a nightmare that costs us thousands of dollars. The latest debacle hasn't really ended yet, but involved a hospice company that had nurses that were not treating my Bride in a professional manner. It all came to a head last week when I blew my stack. It wasn't my finest hour at all, and I ended up using very course language to one of the nurses over the phone. Ain't proud of it at all, but I had reached the point of utter exasperation and worry. She tattled to our family doctor. He declined to spank me. I'm being good now, but my Bride and I sure wish we could tell the whole bunch to go fly a kite.
Good luck to you and I hope the knee heals up 100%.

It is truly amazing how complicated it can be. Everyone is charging as much as they can. It’s impossible to figure out what you owe or not. I hate it.

My dad had diverticulitis and it had gotten badly infected. He spent about 4 to 5 weeks in hospital. When he asked how much they charge for some of the things they were doing they asked him who is insurance was.

I think I understand it the office used the wrong codes the insurance then processed it but showed up as out of network. It sounds like you appealed the first claim which was messed up. The office corrected it. It's the last claim you should file an adjustment with the insurance. An adjustment is different from an appeal the adjustment makes the claim reviewed and reprocessed.If you have to pay anything it should be just the copays.

I found there's several prices for the same procedure/medicine's.