Duncan Roberts

The fact you can buy cancer insurance kind of sums it up really.

hanry

I don't have any assets. We don't have any. We're in out twenties and renting an apartment, having previously lived with our parents. I came to the US with a few thousand pounds in my UK bank account. Nothing else.

I feel so fed up and dejected right now. My wife is going to speak to her employers today. If that fails, then I'm f**ked. We are f**ked.

But hey, we can always just hop on a plane back to England and never return here again.*

*Please spare me the "oh, very mature!" responses. I'm not in the mood, sorry.

fatbrit

That's actually easier -- you don't have much to protect and you aren't a particularly tempting target for a lawsuit.

Jerseygirl

I'm sorry you're going through this...I'm sorry anyone living in the richest country on the planet has to go through similar.

I don't know what the implications of leaving the US would be. Please look into it further before you do...you may not think you will want to return but what if your wife's parents or siblings are taken seriously ill or worse?

Bluegrass Lass

In that case, you may not have the assets, but they can still garnish your wages and force you to pay the bill.

You said your wife was in the process of adding you to her insurance. Had she already turned in that paperwork prior to your episode? If so, find out what date that coverage became effective. It may be possible that your effective coverage date would be retroactive to the day she turned in the paperwork. I think that is your best hope at this point. If the coverage won't be effective until after your episode, you definitely need to look into any kind of help they may offer to the uninsured.

Good luck Hanry. I'm very sorry to hear how awful your marriage is beginning. You have every right to be pissed off at the system. But try to take a step back from the situation, take a deep calming breath, and start researching what options may be available to you. Take back control of the situation, before it does spin out of control.

hanry

Apologies for my previous angry post.

I just spoke to my wife who told me that the HR department at her workplace had confirmed that the insurance is retroactive to our wedding day.

It's a ray of hope but I'm really not counting my chickens just yet. I know nothing about insurance companies and how they operate, other than the fact that they always try and worm their way out of paying your bills.

I'd always heard the term "pre-existing condition" brandished around a lot. Well I have one of those - I'm diabetic. That might scupper my chances, I really don't know.

Fingers crossed.....

Thanks for the replies.

md95065

Fortunately group health plans (which is what your wife is almost certainly enrolled in with her employer) cannot exclude pre-existing conditions if you have previous health coverage with a break of (I think) no more than about 3 months between it ending and your current coverage commencing. The good news for you is the the NHS counts as "previous coverage" so I think that you will be OK on that score although you may have a lot of arguing and explaining to do ...

Jerseygirl

You should be OK in that case...pre-existing conditions should be covered.

How rude of me I don't think I've welcomed you...so...welcome to BE. Now you've found us there is no escape.

Michael

I would tend to believe the HR department if the information was given by the HR department manager. The HIPAA regulations are the minimum but companies can negotiate a better benefit (at a cost). Generally insurance companies do not try to weasel out of their obligations under company group insurance plans. The premiums just increase the following year if the insurance company paid more than was expected.

hanry

Hello all,

Just wanted to update the thread for anyone who is interested.....

I got my medical bill in the post yesterday. $33,700

But wait for it.....they've given me a whopping $25,300 discount.

So I'm left with $8,400 to pay.

For whatever reason (they liked me, they felt sorry for us..etc..etc..) they were able to do it. I didn't think it was possible. My wife was shocked - she says she's never heard of a discount that huge.

I guess when you have a medical system that's so unpredictable and charges whatever the hell it feels like, pulling figures/amounts out of nowhere, the system can also work in your favour too. I dunno. The only knowledge I had of US hospitals was what I'd seen on the Michael Moore film, SICKO.

Anyway, still don't know what's happening with my wife's insurance. Just waiting for my insurance card in the mail any day now. Hope we can use it. But if not, $8400 isn't too much of an unattainable amount to pay. It's not ideal, but I can manage it with installments.

Thanks everyone

Sally Redux

Not too bad then. Thanks for the update and hope all is well with you.

nettlebed

That's great news, I'm really, really happy for you.

And it reinforces just why commercially-driven health coverage is a staggeringly bad idea for most individuals. That they were able to give you a 75% discount probably means the profit margin is 300%, at least for your treatment...

Sally Redux

Isn't it crazy?

jackattack

Well, I know it's hard but try and look on the bright side of things:

1. Most importantly, you're alive. Slight scare, definitely; but alive none-the-less. You and your wife should be happy about that.

2. The bills could be worse. They're shockingly high for someone used to the NHS but I agree with you, the numbers seem to be pulled out of thin air. You may be paying the bills off for a few years to come but $8000 isn't really worth going bankrupt over.

A friend of mine had a sick kid, and she received a bill from the Hospital for....$1,270,792.04
Yup, you're reading that correctly. That was for a bone marrow transplant but not the 4 months of care afterwards. Total cost hit $2.8m and still counting. Yikes.

Hang in there.

Brit3964

Last year, I had 3 visits and 4 nights in the ER and exploratory surgery on the first visit and the total bill was about $40k. I ended up paying $5.5k of it with group insurance through the company.

I fail to see how this country is gonna be able to continue with a mostly private only system without ultimately having to do what the rest of the world already knows and does ie. a single payer system...bring it on!