There is a sweet young lady whose Mama posts on Facebook. This adorable young lady’s name is Emma. Emma has brain cancer, and so instead of starting kindergarten this week, she is recovering from surgery because a new mass was found.
Sad story – yes. But the tragedy gets compounded. You see, Emma had surgery on August 16th. On her brain. And was sent home first on August 15, because the insurance company said she had no reason to be in the hospital!!! Wait, it gets worse – on August 19th, just 3 DAYS AFTER SURGERY, and after having MORPHINE to dull her tremendous pain, Emma was sent home AGAIN by her insurance company – with TYLENOL!!!! Sorry folks, it doesn’t take a medical degree to know that the difference between Tylenol and Morphine is the difference between water and Everclear!
So, little Miss Emma is being treated by an extra doctor – her insurance – who has only the almighty dollar sign in mind. So I put this out there to ALL OF YOU – before you go to bed tonight, get out your health insurance policy. Read it. All of it. Make note of ANY AND ALL words you do not understand, and then look them up. Write down all deductibles, copays, and limits. Know exactly what they will and will not pay for. Next, starting now, starting today, keep track of every single dime you use your insurance for. But I’m not sick you say. I’m healthy as a horse you say. So what??? Keep track NOW – make it second nature NOW. Heaven forbid that you or a loved one gets sick. However, trust me on this one – if you do get a life altering, life changing, or terminal illness – or even if you just get a case of the flu – you will not like it when your insurance comes back and denies you treatment – or simply refuses to pay your bill.
Consider it this way – an average office visit for a doctor is around $125 – some more, some less depending on the doctor and the area of the country. Most antibiotics run in the $50-100 range for a course of treatment. If you need an antibiotic, chances are you will miss a day of work. Now lets, for argument sake, say you make $10 an hour and you work 40 hours a week. After taxes, you bring home roughly $320 a week. If you have to go to the doctor and get an antibiotic – you just spent $225 of your $320!!!! But wait – there’s more! Because you had to take an unpaid day off work to go to the doctor, plus another unpaid day because of your condition. Take another $160 off your $320, leaving $160 – but your bills are $225. Get the picture?? This is life without insurance – imagine it being your life if your policy decides you have spent enough and they aren’t paying anymore. Or worse, imagine if they tell your doctor he has to send you home, even if it is “against medical advice” (which is how they would put it if it were your idea) because your insurance is no longer paying!
Now put yourself in Emma’s Mama’s shoes – this is her baby. She is having to take care of her – and listen to her cries, when they gave her nothing but a ticket home.
Know your insurance coverage, please. Discuss this with your doctors. Pay attention to your expenditures – so that when this is YOU – you aren’t surprised.
Please, please share this one – everyone needs to know their coverages. No one, EVER, should be treated like beautiful little Miss Emma has been. NO ONE!!!!!
Thank you for your time reading this – please allow me 30 more seconds to share. For Emma, and all the other little ones – and the big ones too.
margiehudson81 