Comments | jaylake: [cancer] The long and grinding road

jaylake

[cancer] The long and grinding road

Feb 22, 2010 15:20

Another hard swerve on my cancer journey. Finally got the insurance benefits statement for session one of chemotherapy. They're allowing about 9% of the $16,100 pharmaceutical cost. (This is before clinic charges, lab fees and physician fees.) Of the $1,500 they're allowing, about $600 is being billed back to me as out-of-pocket and deductible ( Read more... )

health, healthcare, cancer, politics, personal

Comments 19

triskelmoon February 22 2010, 23:29:37 UTC

Jay, this is the OHSU worker on twitter.

As I understand allowability issues, if the insurance only allows 9% of the claim due to an insurance contract with OHSU, then OHSU is _not_ allowed to bill you the balance. It's considered a contractable "write-off."

I'm sure with all your struggles with the billings this may not be how it was explained, but they don't always say it flat out as they'd prefer to get the monies.

jaylake February 22 2010, 23:31:42 UTC

I am too brain melty today (first full day off the chemo pump) to deal. Will be on this tomorrow from all ends.

And thank you.

triskelmoon February 22 2010, 23:33:29 UTC

EDIT: ACK, I meant:

I *can* totally hear that.

My offer of assistance is still open. I can always call on your behalf as your "bookkeeper" as well. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

(The comment has been removed)

Thread 8

gvdub February 22 2010, 23:30:03 UTC

Sad but typical. The best advice I can offer is to get the company benefits person involved in the dialog. Insurance companies love to send an outrageous first bill in the hopes that you'll just pay it so they don't have to. According to today's L.A. Times, Anthem/Blue Cross here in CA is looking at some serious fines for having misrepresented coverage (among other things).

manmela February 22 2010, 23:32:46 UTC

I moan about our NHS, but seriously... the amount of stress even people with Healthcare in the US must go through!

madwriter February 23 2010, 02:45:55 UTC

I've talked to folks in both England and Canada about the reputed long waits for certain surgeries. They agree that in some cases there are long waits, even on the order of 8 to 9 months...but add a comment along the line of "But I'll bet 8 to 9 months would still seem like a godsend if you don't have insurance, or they deny you, or they won't pay enough for you to have the procedure done."

la_marquise_de_ February 23 2010, 12:06:58 UTC

I'm British. If it's serious, you don't wait. I had a suspicious lump a few years back and it was all done and dusted from initial vague suspicion to final surgery within three months. And it was state-funded.

wordweaverlynn February 22 2010, 23:40:14 UTC

They kick you when you're down. It's rough enough for you, and you are well-educated, white, middle-class, insured, and self-assured. For the poor, uneducated, and afraid, this system leads to death.

sparta5 February 23 2010, 00:01:56 UTC

Can you appoint an Attorney in Fact with limited powers - say only for healthcare and related issues? This person would have the legal ability to negotiate, etc. on your behalf while you recover. I know it means legal fees to have things drawn up and recorded, but with 6 months of this kind of Accountants Running Healthcare crap ahead of you, the peace of mind might be worth it.

Still cheering you on,

~PJ~