$1,264 for a 7 Mile Trip In An Ambualnce....

ambulance bill

My neighbor was kind enough to let me scan the bill she just received from the Horsham Fire Department.

She was experiencing so much pain from 2 kidney stones that she called 911 for help.  She was in tears and curled up in a ball on the floor.  So much pain that she couldn't stand up.

The ambulance took her to Abington Memorial Hospital emergency room.

No painkillers or other drugs were administered during the 7-mile trip.

Total bill -- for the abulance alone -- $1,264.00.

That's one very, very expensive, 7-mile taxi ride.

Her heath insurance company, Blue Cross / Blue Shield, may not pay.  This bill is under review.  They may deem kidney stone pain a non-emergency.

Healthcare inflation?

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Expect the Unexpected: How Life Insurance Can Actually Save Your Life

Many individuals who need to secure life insurance policies for themselves and their families neglect to do so because of the dreaded health screening. Not wanting to be gouged for higher premiums based on pre-existing health conditions that may or may not justify the price difference, many roll the dice on the financial security of their families and go without. However, very few people consider that the health screening required by most life insurance companies could actually be a blessing in disguise. Sure, the results of the testing may cause you to pay more than you wanted for life insurance, but what if the same health exam that you have been avoiding could play a role in actually improving your health, or even saving your life?

I know first hand that such a thing is possible – my husband might be dead today if we had not applied for life insurance two years ago.

When I became pregnant with our second and third children (twins) I began to press my husband to get the life insurance that he knew we both needed. We had been married for four years and had one child already, so life insurance should have been a priority long before then. However, my husband, like many others, hated the invasiveness of the required health screening, assuring himself that he was as healthy as a horse and did not need anyone trying to prove that he wasn’t. The reality was that we needed to be taken care of in case of his untimely demise, and knowing that eventually pierced his heart - we soon called a life insurance agent about policies for him and me. The application process went very smoothly; our agent was kind, helpful, and prompt. We even scheduled an in-home health screening for our convenience. Everything about this insurance company and their representatives was impressive – that is, until the nurse came to our home for the health screening.

Our first impression was positive - the nurse was friendly, professional, and surprisingly not preoccupied with trying to discover hidden illnesses or ailments that we had not disclosed. She asked some basic health questions, drew my husband’s blood, and took his blood pressure reading. The reading, however, seemed to confuse her, as if she had not been nursing for very long. Eventually she became convinced that her gauge was broken, and left to get another. Upon her return visit, she still could not figure out what was going on with the blood pressure reading and had to consult with one of the insurance company’s doctors. As a former athlete and someone who knew that he had elevated blood pressure levels in the past, my husband was surprised that this nurse could have botched such a standard procedure; no one else he had ever encountered found such a simple task to be so frustrating. Later that day we got a call from the insurance company. Their doctor advised my husband to be seen by a medical professional immediately. The nurse was no novice – she had just never seen a reading that high before and assumed there must have been a problem with the meter. My husband’s blood work proved that what she had seen was no mistake, but a crisis for an unsuspecting family.

After getting a second opinion from a local clinic, my husband rushed to the hospital for emergency care. Although he felt fine, my husband’s blood pressure was so high that the emergency room doctors were astounded; they had never seen anyone with such high numbers who was not having a stroke. One of the doctors actually asked him, “Did you walk in here?” The reason that they were so shocked was because his blood pressure had been measured consistently at approximately 290/185 – according to the American Heart Association, a normal reading for a healthy adult is a less than 120/80. My husband was immediately hospitalized and placed in the intensive care unit (ICU). Having no experience at all with hospitalization, he asked me why he was constantly being monitored by nurses and visited by different doctors. I explained to him that the ICU is where hospitals treat people who are facing extreme health deterioration and may not have much longer to live. That week he spent in the hospital was a very sobering time; it made us appreciate not only life, but the need to be prepared for the unexpected in life.

Now, after two years of consistent treatment and monitoring, we are ready to search for a life insurance provider again. My husband’s health has improved, but not so drastically that it will not negatively affect our insurance premiums. However, we are extremely thankful that the entire ordeal took place – had it not been for the life insurance company’s health exam, my husband might have lost his life. He recalls how by the time he arrived in the emergency room he had begun feeling a little light headed. Had we not applied for life insurance, that day I might have just advised him to lie down and get some rest, not knowing that he was in grievous, mortal danger.

Now I have a much more meaningful understanding of the old adage, “Expect the unexpected.” Our family can expect this: 2010 will be the year that we find a life insurance provider to suit our insurance needs, even if we have to shop around and pay slightly higher premiums than most.

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This American Life on The Health Insurance Industry

My favorite radio program This American Life recently had two episodes about the American healthcare system in general, and the health insurance industry in particular. Very informative and entertaining, as usual. If you want to understand how we arrived at the crazy system we have today then listen to these shows.

The first part can be found here.

The second part can be found here.

NB: When you visit the above webpages, Look for the Full Episode link to listen to the above programs for free. They'll stream over your live Internet connection and play on your computer.

Enjoy!

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How Cancer (And A Lack of Health Insurance) Cost My Mother Her Life

We all know the damage that cancer can do to lives and families. Not one of us has gone untouched in some way by this terrible disease. Almost as terrible, is the fact that a lot of people who have cancer either don't have insurance or cannot afford it. With President Bush and his veto of a bill that would have provided health insurance funding for children in low-income families that make too much to get Medicaid (but not enough to pay for private coverage), I don't see it getting any better. I'm here to tell you my mother's story, because she is no longer here to tell it herself. If, through telling this story, I can keep one person or family from going through what I've been through, then I've done something right.

My mother was a happy, vibrant, great person. At age 40, she had been through her share of struggles- a rocky marriage to my father, and then an abusive relationship with a man who almost beat her to death more than once. She managed to leave him, and rose above her circumstances. She met a wonderful man, who treated her with love and respect. A year after they met, they were married. Life was great, and for a year and a half everything went smoothly.

And then that peace was gone.

It started gradually. My mother would try to act as though nothing was wrong, but I knew something was up. She began to make a lot of trips to the restroom, and began to complain of bleeding and stomach cramps. After a couple of weeks of this, I urged her to see a doctor. She was reluctant to do it, because she didn't have health insurance, and could not afford to buy it. We were hard-pressed to get her the medical care she needed. Tired of seeing her suffer, I took her to the nearest emergency room because I knew that the doctors there are obligated to treat every patient who comes in.

When the doctor finally saw her, he took note of her symptoms, and gave her a (very) cursory examination. All in all, the whole process took less than ten minutes from start to finish. I kept expecting the doctor to order a round of tests, or want to draw blood, or something, anything. I was surprised when she was given a diagnosis of a severe urinary tract infection (UTI), written a prescription for antibiotics, and sent home. I'd been with her since the symptoms started, and I knew from the bottom of my heart that something was really wrong.

After almost six months with her illness getting worse day by day, I found a gynecologist who would be willing to see her, and work with her on a payment plan. I went with her to her first appointment, and I was very impressed with the quality of care that she received. Within a half hour she got a complete exam, and the doctor found that she had a tumor roughly the size of a baseball. He immediately made her an appointment for a biopsy, at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

I was both angry and dumbfounded. If the attending physician in the ER had been more thorough in his examination and treatment of her, the tumor would have been found a lot earlier. Looking back, I wonder if the fact that she was uninsured had anything to do with the way her treatment was handled.

She went for a biopsy two days later, and we all prayed and hoped for the best. But, when she got the results, I knew what they were before the doctor even opened his mouth. My mother had cervical cancer, and it had already begun to spread. If she'd been able to afford proper health coverage, she would have received care when the symptoms first started, and she certainly wouldn't have had to wait six months to see a specialist.

"Although cervical cancer used to be one of the most common causes of cancer death among American women, in the past 40 years there has been a 75% decrease in mortality. This is primarily due to routine screening with Pap tests (Pap smear), to identify precancerous and early-invasive stages of cervical cancer. With treatment, these conditions have a cure rate of nearly 100%."

http://www.answers.com/topic/cervical-cancer

The staff at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center were outstanding. They gave her the care she desperately needed. I was with her through hospital stays, radiation treatments, and daily chemotherapy.

My mother was worried sick about how she and her husband were going to pay the bills. By the time it was all said and done, they added up to almost $200,000. I wasn't concerned about that, I was scared for her. The chemo and radiation took its toll on her, and she was getting sicker every day.

At an appointment in the beginning of October of 2002, her doctor asked me to leave the room so that he could speak to her in private. I excused myself, and went to the waiting room. When she came out, she could barely walk, and was trying not to cry. I asked her what was wrong, and it took a few minutes before she was ready to tell me.

"My doctors told me there's nothing else they can do for me- my cancer is terminal." She was given two months to live. This couldn't be happening! I had so much more to tell her. I'd just found out the same week that I was expecting a baby, but I didn't tell her because I didn't want her to know about a grandchild that she'd never get to see.

We tried our best to pack a lifetime of love, laughter and tears into the next few weeks. Then, three weeks after her 41st birthday, she began to have breathing problems, and I rushed her to the hospital. Her doctors examined her and said that her internal organs were shutting down. I knew it wouldn't be long before she was gone. She passed away on November 4th, 2002. I was inconsolable, and the stress made me so sick that I almost had a miscarriage.

For all the things my mother went through, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. That's why having AFFORDABLE health insurance is so vital. Hopefully, President Barack Obama will remain true to his word, and implement some sorely needed health-care reform.

"According to a U.S. Census Bureau report, the number of uninsured people in America has increased by 1.3 million to 46.6 million, including 400,000 more children." http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec06/insurance_08-30.html

Please, please make sure you and your family are covered. If you cannot afford insurance, look into your state's eligibility requirements for Medicaid. If my mother had done that, she might still be here today, and her husband wouldn't be under a mountain of unpaid medical bills.

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