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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNobody mentions the financial devastation...
…that comes with a bad case of Covid. People are selfish. They feel physically invincible, they’re not worried about Covid killing them. They simply can’t imagine that. But the financial devastation really should get their attention. Covid bankrupts families. They will never pay off the medical bills if they get a bad case or if they give it to their kids or relatives…they risk not only their health, but their financial security/future. We should stress this very important reality when we get the chance.
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PoindexterOglethorpe
(28,493 posts)Even in countries where financial ruin doesn't happen from medical bills, the prospect of being sick for a very long time is scary.
JCMach1
(29,202 posts)To get back to work soon. Just hope I can actually do the job physically
Sending good wishes for your full recovery....
malaise
(296,149 posts)
Indykatie
(3,868 posts)Employee contributions and premiums are set based on total plan costs. 30 days of Hospitalization is easily a million dollar plus bill. I'm pissed reading about the organ transplants that COVID patients are getting. Some have gotten double transplants. How they got to the front of the line for organs is a mystery to me. Many patients die waiting on an organ.
Ms. Toad
(38,648 posts)The goal is to get the organ into the person closest to death who is not so sick that giving the organ to would be a waste, taking into account how geographically close to the organ you are.
No reason to be pissed about it. If they are given an organ it means that the assesment is that it gives them a chance to survive (i.e. they aren't already too far gone) AND they needed it more (i.e. they were closer to death) than any other compatible recipient in the right geographical area.
But you are right that many patients die waiting on an organ - but the organ allocation rules are crafted with the goal of maximizing the use of precious resources to save the most lives - not on rewarding those who got in line early, or whose lives might be deemed more worthy, etc.
(My daughter has a rare liver disease. Some of our friends with the same disease have had as many as 5 transplants. So far she is lucky and seems to be in the slow lane, which has its own challlenges. As to this disease (primary sclerosing cholangitis the MELD/PELD scores are bad measures for how close people with this disease are to the end of life - so perhaps a third have to find a living donor to avoid dying because our scores are disproportionately low relative to how damaged the liver is. So I get the frustration. But aside from quirks like that, the problem isn't a flawed allocation system as much as it is too few peope willing to donate their organs.)
rickyhall
(5,509 posts)This country is still so fucked-up.
OMGWTF
(5,131 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)there is government coverage for most of those not even covered by insurance.
Point is, these rubes know the odds are small they personally will end up in an expensive hospital. If they do, the government they detest will bail their rube red rears out.
The rest of us get what you are talking about. As a citizen, it’s our responsibility to society. Rubes don’t understand that either.
OMGWTF
(5,131 posts)That's not how it works in the country.
yellowdogintexas
(23,696 posts)If you don't you will be wiped out.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)
NJCher
(43,170 posts)I have learned to skip reading such posts. The little red logo is very helpful. It means scroll.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)"Health care providers who have conducted COVID-19 testing or provided treatment for uninsured individuals with a COVID-19 primary diagnosis on or after February 4, 2020 can request claims reimbursement through the program electronically and will be reimbursed generally at Medicare rates, subject to available funding. Providers can also request reimbursement for COVID-19 vaccine administration. Steps will involve: enrolling as a provider participant, checking patient eligibility, submitting patient information, submitting claims, and receiving payment via direct deposit."
"To participate, providers must attest to the following at registration
"You have checked for health care coverage eligibility and confirmed that the patient is uninsured. You have verified that the patient does not have coverage through an individual, or employer-sponsored plan, a federal healthcare program, or the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program at the time services were rendered, and no other payer will reimburse you for COVID-19 vaccination, testing and/or care for that patient.
"You will accept defined program reimbursement as payment in full.
"You agree not to balance bill the patient.
"You agree to program terms and conditions and may be subject to post-reimbursement audit review.
For whom can claims be submitted
Providers may submit claims for individuals in the U.S. without health care coverage.
What's covered
". . . . . . Treatment: office visit (including telehealth), emergency room, inpatient, outpatient/observation, skilled nursing facility, long-term acute care (LTAC), rehabilitation care, home health, durable medical equipment (e.g., oxygen, ventilator), emergency ambulance transportation, non-emergent patient transfers via ambulance, and FDA-licensed, authorized, or approved treatments as they become available for COVID-19 treatment."
https://www.hrsa.gov/CovidUninsuredClaim
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/uninsured-patient-covid-services-poster.pdf
https://www.hrsa.gov/coviduninsuredclaim/frequently-asked-questions
https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/limitations-of-the-program-for-uninsured-covid-19-patients-raise-concerns/
https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/coronavirus/covid-uninsured-program-webinar.pdf
For those who will respond, but what if the providers won't participate, the answer is simple. Most uninsured people do not have the means to pay for extensive treatment. So if these providers want to get paid, there really isn't much choice but to accept the payments above.
littlemissmartypants
(33,649 posts)The average cost of hospital care for COVID-19 patients without insurance or who receive out-of-network care varies greatly by age – from $51,389 for patients between 21- and 40-years-old to $78,569 for patients between 41 and 60 years old, according to updated cost analysis data from FAIR Health.
Hospitalization charges for patients under 20-years-old without insurance averaged about $68,261. For people over 60-years-old, that figure was about $77,323.
The highest averaged allowed amount paid to the provider under an insurance plan was $40,208 for people over 60 and was lowest for patients 21 to 40 at $26,152.
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/average-cost-hospital-care-covid-19-ranges-51000-78000-based-age
###
This is just one estimate and average cost. The more medically complex the case and the higher the number of days of hospital stay the higher the bill. This doesn't take into account the fact that rehabilitation costs in cases of long covid, after hospital discharge could be high, too.
NJCher
(43,170 posts)Those young people would just take that $77k and blow it on their college education.
And as for the others, they might have used it for retirement or to knock a big hole in their mortgage. You do see it’s more important to assert your “rights,” don’t you?
littlemissmartypants
(33,649 posts)I guess no body has heard it's either "pay a little now, or pay more later." Those silly whippersnappers.
Just in case...
S/
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)That won't wipe the majority of uninsured out. Now, being out of work might.
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)... insurance people will fall through unless there is a level of privileged involved in being sick.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Further, I don't believe white wing anti-vaxxers think about the consequences to themselves or others.
Point is, we won't convince rubes to get vaxed by appealing to their financial security or to what is best for society.
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)The cost of medical treatment to an uninsured will be covered by the Cares Act. How can they be wiped out of if government pays for the treatment and the providers can't bill the patient for excess charges?
Maybe you ought to read the Cares Act coverage before asking another question about it. TIA
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)The cares act does not promise to pay for everything related to the effects of covet just the treatment and treatment only.
Trueblue Texan
(4,469 posts)Most folks have very little money left after paying their bills. Most insurance pays 80% of hospital costs. The insured pays the remaining 20%. 20% of a hospital bill after 40 days in the hospital, half of that on a ventilator is overwhelming, not to mention the loss of pay from being out of work. Furthermore, many will lose health insurance when they are out of work because their paychecks paid the premiums. No paycheck=no insurance. But even if you don't get very sick with the virus, you'll miss income because you'll have to quarantine. Most folks don't have the money to miss work for 2 weeks. This is reality. Two weeks without pay will push them further underwater.
Have you seen how poor some of the Trump supporters are? I always want to ask them, "Just how poor do you want to be?" I cannot understand why they keep shooting themselves in the foot.
Trueblue Texan
(4,469 posts)...medical bills can wipe you out even if you're insured, not to mention loss of income from not working.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Jarqui
(10,909 posts)I think the headline overstates some.
Their definition of long covid is "one or more symptoms that persist for at least 12 weeks."
A bunch of cases resolve after 12 weeks.
I know of two cases where it is serious and lingering. One is a promising 30 something lawyer who had just been asked to be a partner. Her doctor says she will be out a minimum of a year and in the worst case, will never work again.
For every person the Republicans kill with this anti-vaxer nonsense, they're probably disabling at least one other seriously. Crazy.
SheltieLover
(80,494 posts)Women, especially, tend to lose their hair.
Tendons shrink, making walking very painful to impossible.
Major organ damage for many! 
Brain fog & brain deterioration.
Digestive issues that make eating nearly impossible.
Sleep disruption.
None of which medicine can fix! Doctors tell people they are imagining things.
Precisely why I am maintaining all of my pandemic safety measures.
😷 
Jarqui
(10,909 posts)With her vision
Fortunately, for her, it cleared up
But she is still having brain fog issues
SheltieLover
(80,494 posts)
😷 Trueblue Texan
(4,469 posts)I see a lot of these in my work in home health. Anti-vaxxers are risking everything to hold onto their ignorance. All of my Covid patients come home on oxygen, and only 2 have recovered enough that they don't require oxygen all the time. This is in addition to the muscle wasting, kidney, heart, chronic pulmonary, and neurological problems I see in recovering Covid patients. Life will never be the same for most of these people.
brewens
(15,359 posts)I'm just now paying it all off. It will be much harder for many that got COVID, especially if they were screwed financially in the first place. Millions have been ruined by the pandemic while those at the top have come out ahead. That's who they should be pissed at. They take most of the money when things are going well, use a little of it to pick and bribe our leaders, but when they fail, the working class take the hit.