Just reviewed my 1st Medicare statement and I'm about to cry...

[cilla4progress]

I have made it a "hobby" to pursue incorrect and over-billings on medical bills in my day. I have reduced my medical bills several times by being diligent about this. I also worked for a bankruptcy attorney for a time and saw firsthand folks having to file due to medical debt! This is a CRIME in my view!

I've always gotten so frustrated with the opacity of medical billing. Usually requires multiple cross-referencing and sometimes actual phone conversations with industry representatives - rarely helpful (except when my husband had his union insurance!).

Anyway - my Medicare bill? Clear, transparent, understandable, well laid out and logical.

This is why I weep: we are ALL entitled to this, here, in among the most affluent of countries.

A shame, and yes, a crime.

Go Joe and Kamala: get that public option so more of us can live in peace and confidence!

[RKP5637]

1. It's incredible how F'ed up medical care is in the US and too many are too dense to comprehend

it and love the GOP solutions.

[cstanleytech]

18. Most of them comprehend it just fine. They simply are shallow mean spirited assholes that

only care about inflicting as much pain and suffering on others as they can because it gets them off much like how people got off with blood and gore in the Roman Empire with gladiator fights.

[RKP5637]

22. Quite true, I suspect there is a lot of that, especially in the Trump Cult. It's pathetic. n/t

[DownriverDem]

43. I think more folks get it now.

We need to get this done. We need to see how it will work. It appears that many folks think Medicare for All is free. What about those on Medicare now who paid into it through their jobs and pay every month out of their Social Security? Does anyone know who this would work?

[area51]

2. Yes, this is doable.

Some helpful info is in my sig line.

[LizBeth]

3. And no surprise bills. Some nobody in some other test looking at an xray after already diagnosed and

treated. A bill out of the blue that i may receive or not receive and merely end up on credit record even though I pay my bills.

Lol

My rant. I hear ya and good to hear.

[Chainfire]

4. A long time ago, my wife used to audit hospital bills for insurance companies

The hospitals hated her.

[The Jungle 1]

5. Me too

I hope I never have to deal with a private healthcare insurance company again. They stink.

[Dave says]

6. "the most affluent of countries"

We have a "most affluent" top 20%. After that, well, we're veering into third world status.

[cilla4progress]

8. I agree, and it depends

on the metric.

Based on GDP alone:

Top 10 Biggest Economies in 2020

China: $29.47T.
United States: $22.32T.
India: $12.36T.
Japan: $5.89T.
Germany: $4.59T.
Russia: $4.52T.
Indonesia: $4.01T.
Brazil: $3.60T.

[speak easy]

23. Those numbers are ... ?

World Bank

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD?most_recent_value_desc=true

[Joinfortmill]

7. Amen.

[Stuart G]

9. Medicare President Lyndon B Johnson, Democrat who saved me all my savings..every penny.

Due to enormous medical bills, I'd be broke, total broke. Lost my townhouse & every penny

Johnson signed Medicare July 30, 1965 , and I am not the only one.

I never thought that that law would save my life as well as all my savings. And yes, I remember when that was passed. It was a great moment in time..

[pansypoo53219]

10. indeed. its become insane. i wad going thru my grandma's hoard for purging I found my aunt's

delivery bill. amended bill. on a large post-it note sized paper. $42.50 in 1949. forgot the nurse. took a picture of it. added 2.50.

[GB_RN]

16. Take The Total

And multiple by 10.99 and that will give you a rough estimate of what that’s worth in today’s money ($100 then would be worth $1099 today.

[dchill]

11. I knew where you were going with this...

... I've had Medicare for years.

[Peregrine Took]

12. I heard LBJ wanted Medicare to be 100% but the repubs insisted the insurance industry

had to have a hunk of it i.e. Medicare Advantage.

[AllaN01Bear]

13. one of the things we need to get rid of right now is the income tax on medicare.

a failed ronald raygun era attempt to privatise medicare .

[Warpy]

14. I was bogus billed a few years ago

They pulled every rotten trick in the book: upcoding, phantom services, unbundling labs. I contested it, they sent it to collections, I got pissed off and put in a complaint with the state Attorney General. One threatening letter from that office and they settled for less than I actually owed.

I can't imagine how many other people they screwed over. Six months after they settled, Medicare opened an investigation of them. The place was sold soon after and I guess the scammers are now in more hospitable surroundings, maybe Texas.

I picked it up because I was an RN and had started a course in billing and coding, my GOON* plan.

If you can't interpret your bill, find someone who can. Sadly, it's up to us to catch these fuckers. Auditing just isn't there.



*GOON = Get Out Of Nursing

[cilla4progress]

25. Wow -

what a story!

[Warpy]

31. I have to think the state AG office alerted Medicare that something was going on.

I'd photocopied all relevant information plus a short article on medical billing fraud. I was ready for court. I was just glad I didn't have to go that far. I sent copies to the AG.

[cilla4progress]

32. I did something similar

with our state insurance commissioner - for a much smaller amount.

Kudos to you!

[Evolve Dammit]

28. Good diligence on your part. Sadly we have to be our own advocates and they love those who don't.

[Stuart G]

15. Yes,quote from Original Post. "We are ALL entited to this"...no truer words ever spoken.

[TryLogic]

17. I agree that Medicare reports are extremely helpful.

I use a spreadsheet to keep the medical billing agency that contracts with our health care system honest as well as other medical service groups. I have learned to be very cautious about paying medical bills before I receive the Medicare report. I paid several bills that never showed up on Medicare reports. I also discovered double billing under two different names from the same medical group. They wisely did not double bill Medicare, so it was up to me to catch them.

My wife has been in cancer treatment for several months with total "list price" (?) over $500,000. With Medicare only, our out of pocket cost has been about $14,000 (which we have been able to handle). I wish everyone could have Medicare.

[Aussie105]

19. Same for my wife.

Multiple radiation treatments, now on 3 monthly scans to keep an eye on it.
What some might consider a minor case of lung cancer.

Bills? Ain't seen any. Ain't expecting any.

But we are not in America.

Some people in other countries may cry out 'WHAT? You guys get BILLS for that?"

[cilla4progress]

27. Oh, man -

but haven't you heard of "American exceptionalism"?

[cilla4progress]

26. Oh, wow, TryLogic -

blessings upon you and your wife!

[Mr. Evil]

20. Health insurance companies are a scam.

They are nothing more than legalized skim operations. A free money gravy train. Capitalism at its worst.

[mwooldri]

21. Until I came to the States I never saw a medical bill.

My parents and family never see a medical bill. My aunt used to get two carrier bags full of medicine for my late grandfather and didn't pay any money for them. Sure for some procedures there is a "time deductible" (waiting list) but the UK's National Health Service works.

Having been in the USA since 1999, we had to file bankruptcy with relation to medical debt (and some other unwise decisions taken at that time).

I'll be happy that there is the prospect of a public option. I wish it were Medicare For All but baby steps...

[Evolve Dammit]

30. Sorry for your woes in the U.S. of A. We really have a f'd up system. #1 cause of bankruptcy. n/t

[ooky]

24. Yep. And strengthen Social Security too.

Another thing we are entitled to that Republicans want to steal.

Lift the cap.

[meadowlander]

29. I'll give a shout out to the Fedloan website for student loans as well.

Easy to work out how much I owe, when I need to pay it and what my options are. Easy to set up payments. Have never had a lick of difficulty understanding anything since the information all went online.

I always shrug my shoulders when people like Bill Maher point at the DMV and then argue for smaller government or running government like a business. Do they not realise that defunding government is what lowers the level of service? Does anyone really want government brought to you with the same level of service you get from Sprint or Comcast? HP? United Airlines? Wells Fargo? EA Games? Walmart?

[cilla4progress]

33. Exactly -

so frustratingly dumb!

[soldierant]

34. When I read your headline

I was hoping that the tears would be of joy because it is clear and honest.

Well, I was half right. I underestimated your compassion for others.

You are absolutely correct - everyone deserves at least this.

[BobTheSubgenius]

35. Universal, single-payer, socialized medicine is the way to go.

Ask anyone from a country that has it.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

36. Do you have a supplement or advantage?

[yellowdogintexas]

37. I was a claims examiner for Medicare for several years. Easiest claims work

of my career and I worked in that industry for 35 years.

I knew it was something everyone should be able to access if they could back in 1976 and it remains so now.

Medicare was originally planned as the prototype for a national health plan for all who needed it.

The Vietnam War prevented LBJ from getting it through.

Medicare is the most cost effective coverage available: the cost per claim is the lowest in the business. Medicare has the lowest error percentage and the lowest overhead.
Providers know they will receive their payments on time and accurately. It has been proven to work.

[True Blue American]

51. Medicare has a 3% overhead.

It is time to at least start lowering the age and help those in the middle years who are hardest hit by job losses. We need a simple plan that will cover all.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. I am on Medicare with an Advantage plan.

In December I had a heart attack. Went to my local hospital, got a stent was there for three days. When I finally got a bill, I owed $885.00. Not bad. I can afford that. What's astonishing is that the insurance was originally billed some $81,000. Then there were adjustments of nearly $8,000. After that some $42,000 were written off as "adjustments". My insurance (Humana Advantage) then paid nearly $31,000. Which is still a shocking amount for what happened, in my opinion. I can't begin to imagine what this would be without Medicare and my Advantage plan. I'd probably be looking into filing for bankruptcy.

I have gotten a detailed billing from the hospital which breaks down each and every charge. I will spare you the details, but it is quite interesting.

Nearly 40 years ago, when I had my first child, neither of us was working and so we had no insurance. The hospital where we planned to give birth had a pre-pay option that was a genuine bargain. So we paid ahead of time. Then, when at the last minute it was clear I was going to be having a C-Section, my husband was able to go to the business office and essentially pay the additional pre-pay amount for the surgery. A couple of months later we got a statement of costs, which was at least triple, probably even a greater multiple of what we'd prepaid. I'm sorry I no longer have that statement. It would be instructive to look at, especially all these years later.

[twodogsbarking]

39. I have paid into Medicare since it started.

No shit. I was 12. Now retired, I still have to pay every month for part B and have additional supplemental coverage and a prescription plan that is costly and barely ever used. If you have insurance you shouldn't have to buy more insurance and then more insurance, and then more insurance. I am fortunate to be able to pay. I doubt that is the case with millions of others. I still figure that I will be screwed by insurance companies if I have claims since that is the American way. I believe that the money to cover everyone for health care is there. Just removed the insurance and pay for everything. Health care isn't the problem. It is everyone getting rich off the sick. This is the sickest aspect. Stay healthy all. You don't want to find out what insurance doesn't pay.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

40. The purpose of health insurance companies is to siphon money that should go to health care.

The health insurance industry has 2 primary goals:
1. Collect money.
2. Deny claims.

[TryLogic]

48. Book recommendation: Deadly Spin, by Wendell Potter (2010)

"A former insurance company insider speaks out on how corporate PR is killing health care and deceiving Americans."

[True Blue American]

41. Most Medicare Advantage Plans

Cost nothing. The HMO plans cover most Doctors. And Prescriptions have a co pay. All are giving more benefits each year. OTC medications. I just received a Life Alert at no cost, monthly payments included! Please check. Even the back of your Medicare book gives plans for different areas.

They are trying to keep people in their homes, trips to medical apointmemts, etc.

[twodogsbarking]

50. Thanks.

It has been on my list.

[Maeve]

42. Was shredding my step-dad's old Medicare records from the last year of his life

Original bill was hundred's of thousands, "allowed" charges a fraction of that, supplemental insurance picked up all but a fraction that they could easily afford. If you don't have insurance, you can go broke in a New York minute.

A couple years ago, I had gall bladder surgery; without insurance, we would have lost the house. With Obamacare, I could write a check, no worries.

[Ron Obvious]

44. I've long ago come to the conclusion that medical bills were intentionally opaque

We were with Kaiser for a couple years, figuring that with an HMO at least all the billing would be transparent since everything was done in-house. Nothing of the sort. Labs we'd never heard of, extra insurance premiums nobody could explain, hours on the phone, bills going to collection, pages and pages of paperwork, etc. We constantly felt we were being double-billed as well.

We're back on our Blue Shield Silver plan again. It was crap, but not as bad as that.

The rest of the western world doesn't have to live like this. Neither should we.

[Doremus]

45. We've heard so often about the bureaucracy of government agencies I was expecting a major hassle

Our Part B group coverage was recently switched from Humana to United Healthcare. OMG. Horrible, evil company. Our problem required a call to first Medicare (picked up on 4th ring, call lasted 10 mins), then the local SS office (picked up quickly, had our answer in a few minutes) and finally, to UHC. We were on the phone with them nearly 3 hours over several calls and several days. Never did get an answer. Their MO is to put you on hold, say they're going to consult with their Enrollment Dept., come back on without any new information, hemming and hawing, etc.

The only way we could get it solved was by having the union contact the sales dept. Then, voila, problem went away. UHC is a vile, greedy company only concerned with their bottom line and if they have to lie, cheat or screw you over to make a buck they will. That's a hell of a company you want controlling your healthcare.

[quaker bill]

46. Medicare is vastly better

than any insurance product I have had over the past 30 years. Closer to 50 years back I had insurance that compared, but nothing like that seems to have existed since the Reagan admin.

[skip fox]

47. I, too, have Medicare and wish everyne had the chance to get it.

[Irish_Dem]

49. I have medicare and a secondary insurance.

And they operate efficiently and correctly ALL THE TIME.
Not like before I had medicare.

I have had some very big medical bills and they paid every dime of it.

The only think I complain about is my drug coverage, not always great.