Welcome to Incremental Social! Learn more about this project here!
Check out lemmyverse to find more communities to join from here!

psycho_driver ,

My wife and I have 'the best insurance in the city" we've been told by practitioners. Standard bloodwork costs me several hundred dollars.

Appoxo ,
@Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

*Best for them :p

shalafi ,

Mom died of breast cancer. On my bd last month.

She felt a lump, didn't get it checked, figured it was a bit of fake titty that broke loose. Would have cost too much to get looked at.

Found she had breast cancer. Her chemo stent got infected, wanted to wait until Monday to have it seen. Would have cost too much.

Husband drove her 2-hours through 14° weather, snow and mountains and all, to the ER. Dead within 24 hours.

But hey! Another dead conservative Boomer! Win?

corsicanguppy ,

There's absolutely no win there. I have a similar experience just before COVID, and the only saving grace was all his treatment - and the cost when he chose plan B - were both readily available and both cost-free.

It's unmitigated cruelty that you need to grieve while dealing with that healthcare system; and second-guess with the what-if thoughts as well.

We tell the stories of the people we lost in COVID, and it helps to laugh together, and I hope you have a similar outlet to make room for some peace eventually.

Empricorn ,

Human to human: I am so, so sorry for your loss and hope you are able to accept it and eventually still live your life to its fullest. I imagine that's what she would have wanted. Nothing else I say should diminish that.

[She] didn't get it checked, figured it was a bit of fake titty that broke loose.

What does this mean!? I don't have breasts, so I have no personal experience but is it common for parts of them to break loose??

Another dead conservative Boomer! Win?

I'm sure you're hurting, but this is a lot of projection. Did anyone actually say this (either online or in-person)!? If so, they are a bad person, no matter their political affiliation or beliefs and you should stay away from them...

dingus ,

I'm assuming she had breast implants and she thought one of them ruptured. It happens and isn't life threatening.

I'm sorry that it wasn't the case though.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Land of the fee.

In Sweden there is no cost for this whatsoever. Most things are free or have tiny bills. I'm not saying it to make you feel worse, just pointing out that America is bordering on not being a civilized country anymore.

As a bonus, we don't have any Musks here.

FiskFisk33 ,

As a bonus, we don't have any Musks here.

Don't we? The "IF Metall" union would probably tell you otherwise

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

I mean, who are we talking about? I admit I don't follow news much but which Swedish guy is rich like Musk? I know we have wealthy bank families and so on of course, or Axfood etc.

bartolomeo ,

Fisk is talking about the Musk. He's there, trying to eat your labor rights.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Ah yes. But he didn't succeed. :)

bartolomeo ,

That's great! I haven't been keeping up with the news on that. What was the outcome?

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

I haven't followed it but it's hilarious to read about:

unions across Sweden banding together against the carmaker, blocking imports at ports and refusing to repair damaged Tesla chargers, among other actions.

Postal workers have stopped delivering mail to the company, including license plates. A local court of appeal also overturned Tesla's attempts to have license plates directly delivered from the Swedish Transport Agency.

unions in Norway, Denmark, and Finland have now said they're also ready to stop unloading cars from ships, according to the Financial Times.

https://futurism.com/elon-musk-destroyed-sweden-unions

FiskFisk33 ,

we dont know that yet, its still ongoing

jmanes ,
@jmanes@lemmy.world avatar

Respectfully, punching down does nothing but make people who are suffering feel worse. Posting here about how much better you have it than us isn’t helpful. We already know how messed up it is here.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Yeah I know. It's just such a contrast between how the country markets itself VS reality. We have almost exclusively American and British TV here and it really is quite a shock when you see what the country actually is.

But if there is a world war, we will appriciate support from the US of course. One thing they are awesome at is armies and weapons.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

One thing they are awesome at is armies and weapons.

You say that, but we couldn't defeat a bunch of horse-riding semi-nomads with Kalashnikovs after 20 years in Afghanistan.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

No but the US has always been bad at guerilla warfare. Same in Vietnam. Whatever nomads the US are fighting at the time are using intelligence rather than raw military power, and it's the only way to fight a more powerful force.

uienia ,

Do you know that though? Because the internet is flooded by Americans defending their shitty system.

uis ,
@uis@lemmy.world avatar

Land of the fee

Hhh. Nice.

just pointing out that America is bordering on not being a civilized country anymore.

Looking across Pacific Bathtub USSA seems to be shitshow in every aspect of life. Meanwhile about EU I mostly say "EU, I belive in you!"

As a bonus, we don't have any Musks here.

We do, but we call them Rogozins.

CPMSP , (edited )

Don't worry, every month we pay $1k for the pleasure of paying retail price on prescriptions until we hit our deductible. Only 9k to go!

CraigeryTheKid ,

I'm so used to it, I was expecting more. "that's it?" - i thought to myself, in this boring dystopia.

CptOblivius ,

I have never seen charges like this for breast imaging under insurance before. Something is wrong, either billing or the insurance. The only way I can see this if the imaging was ordered without a proper reason...but likely not.

skuzz ,

It also depends on what lab the imaging was processed. Oftentimes labs adjacent to a hospital but not actually part of the hospital will accidentally (as if) get billed as an on site hospital visit for these types of procedures unless caught. OP could also have an HDHP.

I've also seen some insurance plans will for some unearthly reason have gaps in the contract and some types of tests become billed outside of insurance even on the "better" plans.

Also, fun thing I learned, women don't need mammograms! They can get ultrasounds instead and ultrasound is actually better!...

...Except insurance won't cover it as a wellness visit because apparently medieval tit-smashing is the preferred method for insurance providers.

MacAttak8 ,

Thank you for providing some reason. I’m glad the person you’re replying to has never had crappy insurance before. This bill is completely within the US standards especially with a high deductible plan.

skuzz ,

I don't like that I've had to learn so much about medical billing to keep from getting fucked over by procedures honestly. I used to just go do things and ignore the cost because health > money. But then the prices started skyrocketing for simple things and I've had to learn to jump and dodge costs. It's asinine having to be your own doctor, lab tech, and billing department just to play within the confines of the US medical system.

I feel pointless overhead like this is designed to keep us so busy, we don't have energy left to realize how fucked we are, let alone react to it. But, "mah freedumb!"

MacAttak8 ,

You seem oblivious to the realities of most insurance plans in the US.

corsicanguppy ,

The part I think most Americans don't realize it's this:

In Canada, when I don't feel well, I go get it looked at. I barely need ID (and when I broke my arm I forgot it at home). I don't need to provide proof of insurance or a visa card, butnindomhave a medical number for records segregation.

My point is, healthcare in Canada at its current and worst post-covid state, is still a "here is my body please fix it KThx" setup, and it's comically more easy than the in-network/out-network who-bills-whom and how-will-you-be-paying mess that is America; and comically more easy while Americans don't realize it that I get stressed just remembering it from when I was there.

You don't need good health care for better pricing, although that just happens. You need better healthcare so you don't have to micromanage how you're getting it. Healthcare in the entire rest of the g7 is just so vastly different in ways Americans largely don't even realize.

MacAttak8 ,

You’re right. Imagine yourself or a dependent having complicated medical issues. Well actually, don’t imagine it. It’s a nightmare. Worst part of the illness is dealing with the insurance no doubt.

CptOblivius ,

No, ACA has rules for breast screening coverage. If it was a screening mammo and USlike this. If it was done to someone under 40 or not high risk it would not be a screening exam. If it was a diagnostic exam that is completely different. It would be covered under the general policy with copay/maximums etc. Screenings and diagnostic mammograms/US are different and not covered under preventive medicine.

MacAttak8 ,

You said it yourself. Co-pays, and deductibles.

skuzz ,

That whole diagnostic vs preventative thing we do is so stupid. The raw cost of most tests is nothing. Labwork for example, they only run one or two tests (sugar, cholesterol) unless you request more, but don't say you're in pain or it becomes diagnostic!

Meanwhile, at the actual lab, the machines run a myriad of tests on each sample as they're designed to. So the back and forth about lab billing is asinine. The machines already calculated the results as a part of their standard operating procedure. Why not just return all results the machine generates regardless of query? Why not a full panel as SOP?

Why not make body scans SOP at a younger age so we have a baseline of what a person's body operates at before they age? Etc.

They've inserted extra steps just for revenue-generating touch points. So damn backwards.

TootSweet ,

I'm having a tooth extraction at an oral surgeon later this month and I just found out I'm paying $450 for it. If there's a complication it'll be $1100. I also have insurance.

kindenough ,
@kindenough@kbin.social avatar

First of all, I am glad you do not have breast cancer.

In the Netherlands...Every year or two a buss comes to our village where one can get tested for breast cancer.for free.

agressivelyPassive ,

Please tell me, it's the Brabant Breast Bus. If not, your country has failed.

Honytawk ,

Close.

It is the Borstenbus, which translates to Breast Bus.

But it is all over the Netherlands, not only in Brabant. So it couldn't be called that.

agressivelyPassive ,

Shame. Three legged alliterations are objectively superior.

On the bright side, I now know that the Dutch use the same word for breasts we Germans use for bristles.

moistclump ,

Bristly breasts

TexMexBazooka ,

Ignore it. Throw it away. They already billed your insurance ten times that much, they made their money .

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

That's a good way to get the bill sent to collections and have debt collectors ruin your credit score. Real life isn't as simple as just ignoring your bills.

aniki ,

Credit is an unnecessary yoke of capitalism

Hello_there ,

You can't just drop that without details. Plan name. State. Monthly premium. Obamacare subsidy or no.

paysrenttobirds ,

Yeah, I wonder, too. I've done the same for $15 copay through Kaiser (individual, marketplace) and Blue cross (employer).

JDubbleu ,

I'm forever grateful to have been on Kaiser my entire life, and that all my employers have had it as an option.

It's expensive up front (~$5k per year, my employer covers it thankfully) but the most I'll ever pay per year out of pocket is $1500. Office visit/urgent care is $10, ER is $100 and waived if you're admitted, prescriptions are $20, and the most expensive surgery I could get is $150 which includes the hospital stay if needed. My partner got sterilized for like $35. The biggest thing for me is my therapy is free so long as it is virtual (my therapist is 4 hours away by car anyway), and $10 for an in person visit if I make the hike.

It's absolutely wild how much one's experience can vary with the healthcare system in the US based on their insurer alone.

Kit ,

I had a $3000 bill for something similar and let it go to collections 2 years ago. I'm not fucking paying that. I just keep contesting the charges and it hasn't yet hit my credit. I imagine it will catch up with me eventually though.

TexMexBazooka ,

After 7 years it’s irrelevant

Mereo ,
@Mereo@lemmy.ca avatar

I guess it's a good investment to have peace of mind! /s

Zerlyna ,
@Zerlyna@lemmy.world avatar

🤬

Drusas ,

I've got to be honest, as a fellow American with chronic health problems, that seems dirt cheap for a diagnosis.

can ,

As a Canadian it's horrifying.

fushuan ,

Anything above zero for cancer checkups seems way too high for me, from Spain.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

You still are paying for it but its taxes I stead of insurance

LordKitsuna ,

The problem is that Americans pay both taxes and these outrageous rates for medical. People throw around the oh it's just in your taxes as if Americans don't also pay taxes. Ours just get wasted on useless fucking defense contracts

And009 ,

But not actually defending anyone

mojofrododojo ,

oh they defend the wealthy and corporations.

dan , (edited )
@dan@upvote.au avatar

That's why it's cheaper though, and why you also don't go broke if you're poor and have health issues.

Per capita, American spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, and that's including all the people that leave things untreated because they can't afford treatment. It's not more expensive because the care is necessarily better than other countries; it's more expensive mostly because of a lot of overheads in the US system. Paying for basic health care as part of taxes usually also means that it's a single-payer system, meaning the government negotiates pricing for the entire country, rather than having lots of insurance companies that each do that separately (usually including a healthy profit margin for themselves). That's one reason why medicines are so much cheaper in other countries.

fushuan ,

I pay less taxes than the average American, therefore my healthcare is free for me in comparison. I also don't pay for private insurance either.

SkepticalButOpenMinded ,

Americans pay more in taxes towards healthcare than any other country, and then pay for private healthcare on top of that.

Drusas ,

Don't disagree, but it's not a bad price if you're an American stuck with our shitty, exploitative system.

WoahWoah ,

But they're very important, so people are more likely to pay for them. America! Lol

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I'm supposed to have a colonoscopy because of my celiac

This is why I don't

Pogbom ,

Goddamn... as a fellow celiac sufferer, I'm very sorry to hear that. If the blood tests are pretty conclusive, you can probably assume it's celiac without the colonoscopy. The downside is that if you start a gluten-free diet now and decide to get a colonoscopy later, it might now show anything since you're off the gluten. Best of luck!

LinkOpensChest_wav , (edited )
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Oh I've had the diagnosis for a few years, and I've totally adhered to the dietary restrictions I was given. If I so much as question whether cross contamination may have taken place, I don't eat the food.

I'm pretty well stable now and no longer shitting myself. But I know I'm at greater risk of things like colon cancer, which is something that my family has a history of.

My insurance would "cover" it in that it would go towards my deductible, but that's still thousands of dollars, and we had to buy a furnace this year because ours died. I'm thinking about going and having it done in Mexico. I have in-laws there.

Edit: They did more than just blood tests. I'm not going to post all my lab results here obviously, but I can tell you I took shit samples there more than once, and amid all these tests all I could think about was the cost.

The_v ,

My wife has a chronic illness with expensive drugs.

Healthcare is around 35% of our families gross income when you include in the cost my employer pays, what I pay, plus deductable and copays.

I avoid going to the Dr as much as possible because I have a separate deductible. If I went for everything I should it would be closer to 40% of our gross income.

verysoft ,

That country is fucked up. You people really have to come together and demand universal healthcare, as impossible as that sounds.

Catoblepas ,

We elected Obama on that promise and our reward was the current system 🫠

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

Obama improved a lot through Obamacare, but it's really hard to get a good system in the USA as a lot of people are strongly against free and universal health care, even though it'd likely decrease the amount they have to pay for their own health care too. I really don't understand it.

Catoblepas ,

I broadly agree with that, it’s better from the former system in the way that walking on glass is better than being on fire.

As with a large portion of our fucked up politics, the answer for why people are like this here IMO goes back to conservative talk radio post-Fairness Doctrine. For people who haven’t lived in the rural US, especially before satellite radio, I can’t emphasize enough how much the massive amounts of extreme conservative talk radio shows impact the stuff you hear every day. When the majority of Americans never travel abroad to see otherwise it’s easy to just accept the conservative propaganda that you half listen to for hours a day, every day, for decades.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

it’s better from the former system in the way that walking on glass is better than being on fire

Unless you were unemployed or extremely poor, in which case there's no difference

Catoblepas ,

How much that’s true is going to depend greatly on whether or not you live in a state that expanded Medicare. For my home red state, it’s basically the same as it was pre-ACA if you’re poor. Go pound sand, more or less. But in the blue state I live in now the Medicare expansion helps a lot of people. Definitely much less dire than pre-ACA, but still a lot wrong with it.

But since the electoral college is controlled by the most unhinged and out of touch voters in the least educated states in the nation, sucks for us I guess.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Go pound sand

Pounding sand isn't enough anymore. We need heads to roll.

shuzuko ,

Oh, it's very easy to understand. They're worried their tax dollars might help someone who "doesn't deserve it", so they'd rather not help anyone.

TexMexBazooka ,

Go, get your healthcare, ignore the bills.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I'd rather die than have collections on my ass again

TexMexBazooka ,

7 years later, it’s irrelevant

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

What do you mean by this? They just erase your debt after 7 years? Are you sure?

TexMexBazooka , (edited )

Yeah after 7 years it falls off your credit report.

On top of that, most major credit bureaus don’t even calculate small medical debts(less than 1k I think) under $500 against your credit score.

I mean don’t quote me on this, verify.

OK so I got home and did a quick google to fact check myself, here is the article regarding the subject from experian:
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-medical-bills-affect-credit-report/

Notably it falls off your credit report 7 years after the delinquency date- meaning whenever it was originally due, not when it was sent to the credit agencies and not when it went to collections.

From transunnion:
https://www.transunion.com/blog/credit-advice/how-long-do-collections-stay-on-your-credit-report

Medical collection debt with an initial reported balance under $500 and paid medical collection debt no longer appears on credit reports.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I wish I would have known this when I thought my life was over after having appendicitis the one year of my life I couldn't afford insurance. Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep it in mind.

I've got to say there's no way my debt would ever be less than $1k though. I'm pretty sure my deductible is $5k, but I've also given up on the whole credit score thing. I always get emails that it's dropped or whatever, and I'm just numb to it at this point it's just background noise

TexMexBazooka ,

I edited my reply above with some sources.

The credit score system is bullshit, but it can be played. I opened like 13 credit accounts in my early 20s and keep them rotated, because of that my total line of credit is ridiculous. I don't use it all very much, but on paper it makes my credit utilization look like 1-2% of my total limit, which raises my score significantly.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

So those sources say it doesn't stay on your credit report, but I'm not really concerned about that. My credit score is consistently dogshit, and I've given up on it. I don't really care about my credit score at all.

What I'm concerned about are legal issues, wage garnishment, and other things that would directly affect me and harm me. If I just don't pay, wouldn't they seek legal action against me? I'm almost certain they would, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't change after 7 years.

Edit: I think I misread your comment. I see now that it does say "credit report." For some reason, I misread that and thought you were saying the debt just disappears. So really, that wouldn't help me much at all. I still need to be terrified of going to the doctor. One expensive trip could ruin my life.

Instigate ,

Out of curiosity, why are they doing a colonoscopy rather than a gastroscopy for Coeliac confirmation? The disease affects only the small intestine, and so an upper small intestinal biopsy is sufficient and doesn’t require uncomfortable fasting/dietary practice before the procedure, and is a cheaper, quicker and safer procedure.

My confirmation was blood test and then gastroscopy - after the biopsy it was confirmed.

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

They did some labs and gave me my diagnosis. The way it was explained to me was that they wanted the colonoscopy to check for things like scarring and so forth.

To be clear, I'm not a medical professional, so my attempting to answer "Why would they..." is pretty fruitless. I have no idea; that's why I was seeing my doctor lol

Instigate ,

Ahh okay, so it’s not confirmatory for the diagnosis but rather assessing the impact of living with Coeliac? That makes sense. I’m having a full endoscopy/colonoscopy later this year for a similar purpose. Fingers crossed everything comes up clear for you mate!

LinkOpensChest_wav ,
@LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Honestly I could be remembering wrong. This was 2020 and 2021, and I haven't been back to the clinic since December 2021 when they charged me $200 out of pocket for just an office visit. My whole point posting that comment isn't that I have celiac, but rather that I can't afford this shit.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • incremental_games
  • mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
  • meta
  • All magazines
    •