Physio, T-shirts, and the end of the contest!

[jbailey]

Updates of the moment:

* I can put a t-shirt on now! About 3 days ago, I got brave and decided to give it a try. So, yay, no more zip up sweaters!

* Had my 6-week checkup yesterday, and everything is looking good. The incision is still a bit red and since my skin is so sensitive, the surgeon doesn't want me in the hottub for another 2 weeks. *pout*

* I started physiotherapy today. I can only give it a mixed review. The therapist was absolutely wonderful, it turns out that I got the clinic director. However, she doesn't actually have time to see me 3 days a week. Her schedule is so booked up that I'd be lucky to see her once a week. On top of that, the receptionists and assistants were not terribly professional (tending not to articulate, getting flustered, sort of tossing sheets of paper at me expecting me to know what to do with them), and the place was not clean. It was also in one big room, so the therapy is done in front of everyone else. Blech. So I have an appointment with a different clinic on Friday. Hopefully this one will go better.

* I don't think I've mentioned Leif recently. He's walking, can open the doors in the house now, and can clearly say "All Done". He also climbed onto my lap the other day and cuddled with me. So cute!

* Lastly, this is the end of the contest of "Guess the cost!" And the final total for the bill was.... $199,849.24. Our running total is of all things combined at UCSF is now somewhere around $280k, so I'm guessing the final total for everything will be around $300k when we're all said and done. Crazy. The closest guess was by runasand at $192,000, whoever you are. Linked-in says the winner is in Norway. So finding that vegan restaurant might be interesting. I still remember Debconf 3 in Norway when the caterer told me "In Norway, we have a special way of preparing vegetables... We feed them to the animals." And the meat-eaters begging the vegetarians who were going elsewhere for food for their meals so that they had something other than slabs of meat to eat.

I think because of this, I'm going to have to award the prize to mmmmtino in the meantime, who came in second place at $185k. That way I can pay it out hopefully within the next year. I'll still keep the other as a raincheque in case I happen to wind up in Norway sometime again. =)

Further on the OMG-This-medical-system-is-barbaric, It looks like the insurance company negotiates the hospital down in price, because they're in network. I've only seen the payout information for that one day overnight stay, but the insurance company will only be paying 10% of the cost. So if I didn't have insurance, I'd have to pay $67k. But the insurance company gets to pay around $7k. Do they charge so much because they don't make enough money when someone is insured? How does that all work?

Comments

[fvinnash.livejournal.com]

How does that all work?

Welcome to the United States! Nobody has a fucking clue how to work the health care system. No, seriously.

When I had my surgery back in 2001, my insurance company said, "Sure! We'll cover that procedure! Up to $1100!" ... for a $15,000 procedure. I nearly broke down into tears - it was declared medically necessary by several parties, and my insurance company swore up and down, "Oh yes. And we're covering it!", but only a drop in the bucket for what really needed paid. The hospital ended up working a deal with me - they knocked the price down to $5600, declaring me uninsured (since they declared my insurance company to be worthless anyway - those are the words from the hospital's financial department) and requiring financial assistance. I had to get a *bank loan* for about $5000. It was insane. My employers also had declared the surgery medically necessary and actually did the loan terms - so, I paid them with extremely low interest rates out of my paychecks.

I had a lot of support, but damn. If I didn't have all of that? What if it was life-threatening?

I can't even begin to describe how much I hate the health care system in this country. Hate.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I know that I've been so lucky with my insurance company. Almost all of the tests and such came back as "no preauth required" when the various clinics checked for authorisation. Given how surprised the various office clerks were, I gather that's a bit unusual.

[aigarius.livejournal.com]

If you watch 'Sicko' and similar documentaries, you'll find out that US healthcare system is basically a token game - the hospitals charge huge sums, insurance pays 5-10% of it, but if you don't have insurance you're screwed. Oh and the insurance companies turn huge profits often with government support. That's why I think that it would be much cheaper to cut out the middleman and just have all people in US covered directly from taxes like it is done in many places worldwide. The government will drive down the prices to the same levels as the insurance companies do (as in, reasonable costs + 10% profit margin) and in the total it will cost taxpayers less than insurance companies get in government support now. The only thing that stops this is the fact that insurance companies pay pretty penny to lobbyists and give huge compaign contributions (from the tax payer money no less) so that "their business is not destroyed".

Absurd, but that's what people get for not caring about politics for a long time and trusting their media too much.

*

[runasand.livejournal.com]

No need for a raincheque. Just take your family somewhere nice when you're feeling better :)

And by the way - you can find my real blog on http://www.indentedlines.net

[queerpanda8.livejournal.com]

"How does that all work?"

Well, therein lies your problem...you're assuming that it DOES work. It doesn't and it only further promotes the separation between the "have(s) and the have not(s)".

Glad to hear that you're steadily getting better. When do we get to see new pics of Leif? I can't live vicariously with out-dated pics.

[sfllaw.livejournal.com]

* I can put a t-shirt on now! About 3 days ago, I got brave and decided to give it a try. So, yay, no more zip up sweaters!

* Had my 6-week checkup yesterday, and everything is looking good. The incision is still a bit red and since my skin is so sensitive, the surgeon doesn't want me in the hottub for another 2 weeks. *pout*

I'm glad to hear that things are going well.

* I don't think I've mentioned Leif recently. He's walking, can open the doors in the house now, and can clearly say "All Done". He also climbed onto my lap the other day and cuddled with me. So cute!

SO CUTE!!!!!

[rilkesnight.livejournal.com]

So my $3.50 guess was wrong.

Well, at least I'm not surprised. Altho, good sweet g-dd-mn!

How does it work tho, you ask? Funny thing, that. I've got a buddy, who works physical therapy down in Parkersburg, WV. Where there are thirteen chemical plants, and he will never have to worry about wanting for work. The way he explained it, went something like this. Hospital/medical practice thingee just throws out a price. Insurance says, "nah, we'll only pay this much." Hospital/med-thingee, expecting this, goes "okay." And occasionally, decides to pass some of the cost ...off to you!

Snarkiness aside, I'm really, really glad you do have the insurance you have. While I love my country, I'd hate to see y'all get raptus regaliter, especially when it hasn't even been a full year. Then again, (and I'm not exagerating) medical debt is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in this country.

Glad you're doing better still. And congrats for surviving our healthcare system.

How it w**ks

[northernflights.livejournal.com]

Yep. It means that people without insurance are guaranteed to end up bankrupt whenever they experience a major medical problem, and people WITH insurance are likely to end up dead on account of inappropriately denied treatment.

So, you get hit by a truck, and the hospital takes your house. It's part of what Herr Bush calls "freedom."

[clarencemcguir.livejournal.com]

I can't even tell what pictures you're in. And that just will not. Do. . I promise, if there's any "bad" photos (of anyone), I won't upload them.

[vanamador.livejournal.com]

But if I do not have health care insurance and suddenly have a heart attack or fall down a flight of stairs, it is going to cost me a lot of money to go to an emergency room in the United States.