This is how broken the American health care system is. And those proposing to fix it are attacked, demeaned and scorned by some. It's a sign we are not really a civilized country given the reality of all the civilized nations handling health care.
'I live on the street now': how Americans fall into medical bankruptcy
Having health insurance is often not enough to save Americans from massive debts when serious illness strikes
“I had thousands of dollars in various medical debt which made the majority of my claim. The last bill I got that really pushed me toward the bankruptcy was for a routine lab test that my insurance refused to approve because of a billing mistake. That bill was about a thousand dollars,” Hillman said. “I couldn’t work and had no way to pay these.”
At the time, Hillman was receiving several collection notices in the mail for past hospital stays and tests amounting to several thousand dollars, often having no knowledge of the bills that health insurance didn’t cover until receiving the collection notices.
“One of the biggest hurdles you face as a patient is just the sheer confusion of the process. You think you just show up and present your card, sometimes pay a copay, and that’s it. You don’t expect all these plan limitations and authorizations,” Hillman added. “What are you going to do if your authorization gets denied? You don’t really have a choice to not go get care. All these processes that are in the finest of fine print. And sometimes it feels like you are literally paying for nothing.”
'I live on the street now': how Americans fall into medical bankruptcy
Having health insurance is often not enough to save Americans from massive debts when serious illness strikes
“I had thousands of dollars in various medical debt which made the majority of my claim. The last bill I got that really pushed me toward the bankruptcy was for a routine lab test that my insurance refused to approve because of a billing mistake. That bill was about a thousand dollars,” Hillman said. “I couldn’t work and had no way to pay these.”
At the time, Hillman was receiving several collection notices in the mail for past hospital stays and tests amounting to several thousand dollars, often having no knowledge of the bills that health insurance didn’t cover until receiving the collection notices.
“One of the biggest hurdles you face as a patient is just the sheer confusion of the process. You think you just show up and present your card, sometimes pay a copay, and that’s it. You don’t expect all these plan limitations and authorizations,” Hillman added. “What are you going to do if your authorization gets denied? You don’t really have a choice to not go get care. All these processes that are in the finest of fine print. And sometimes it feels like you are literally paying for nothing.”