<p>@arabab, we are fully able to pay our medical bills now, I just don’t like how much we are charged. Why use my HSA now when we can pay? When we enter retirement we will have a nice amount set aside for medical expenses.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone I meant to say medical expenses not premiums </p>
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<p>Those medical procedures were covered, under her normal insurance policy. She has chosen a high deductible, and has not yet reached that deductible.</p>
<p>If they hadn’t been covered, she’d have paid a whole lot more than $1500.</p>
<p>Yes that is why I miss our old insurance. Hubby’s job switched to the high deductible 3 yrs back. It’s fine when you are healthy but when you are not, it can bankrupt you. Hospitals are relentless about their money. After we are billed, I normally get them to knock off 20% and then I pay the balance. A lot of employees at the company probably make 10-15 bucks an hour, and I can’t imagine how they are dealing with this high deductible plan. </p>
<p>Yes, it would scare me to have a high deductible policy, as I believe it would make us more reluctant to seek and receive medical care. H, I and both our kids have chronic health conditions. If we get regular care and take medications as prescribed, we do VERY well, but if we don’t things can get pretty bad. I’m glad not to have to agonize about whether or not to see a MD or call in the Rx because I’d have to pay it all myself vs. just paying a small co-pay.</p>
<p>I understand that from the insurer’s point of view, they LOVE high deductibles because then they are only on the hook for catastrophic medical care instead of the many things we do to keep a chronic condition under good control and live an active, healthy life. There sure is a LOT of room for improvement in our current dysfunctional system.</p>
<p>Yes himom, it does make you delay visits. Last year, I had the flu, of course I didn’t know it was the flu at the time, so i was just trying to let a virus run its course. After i couldnt take it anymore, I went to the clinic at Kroger because its really convenient and no wait. I was eventually billed for $150. The fee for service and the flu test. I then had to go and get my tamiflu script filled, so that was more money. Yes, we do okay financially, but that stuff adds up especially with two in college. </p>
<p>Tamiflu works best if you take it within 24-48 hours after first symptoms, so delay really can lessen the options available to you as well. I have been glad to have Tamiflu at least two or three times, where it literally stopped the flu in its tracks! The docs did NOT require me to test for it but just let me take the Tamiflu and I was so much better so quickly that my MD brother said I obviously didn’t really have the flu. I don’t care–was just grateful that it worked since I normally am pretty healthy and REALLY don’t like feeling like death warmed over.</p>
<p>It is a struggle–I just got an explanation of benefits regarding lab tests D took. They are disallowing over $1000 in lab fees, saying they only pay if it is for diagnosis and treatment of a condition and that the lab tests disallowed weren’t! I’m not sure what the tests were but am sure the doc wouldn’t have ordered it if not for diagnosis and treatment of her conditions! Hopefully they will recode and resubmit the claim, but ARGH!</p>
<p>@LasMa – I do not have a definitive answer for you but wanted to pass along my recent experience. I have paid for a flu shot at Costco in the past (maybe $20?) so I expected to pay when I had one at Walgreen’s this month. Instead, the pharmacy worker filled out some paperwork, ran something through the computer, and after signing paperwork, I didn’t have to pay. So……I don’t know if something changed nationwide or just in my plan. Birth control pills have not had a copay since the start of 2013. I did not obtain a flu shot last year so do not know if it was free of charge then also. </p>
<p>I have received emails from CVS and the like saying ‘flu shots may be covered by your medical plan’, so perhaps this still varies by plan?</p>
<p>Interesting comments about doctor not being able to discuss any ongoing medical conditions during routine physical. I have not had that experience but I could see how the coding would be affected. Will have to wait and see how things unfold next year.</p>
<p>@partyof5 – feel your pain….we blow through the $6K deductible faster than we should as all expenses, including prescriptions, accumulate. We hit it in May one year but usually do not until September. (We live in a high cost area so medical expenses are also higher, thereby hitting deductible sooner.)</p>
<p>I learn so much beyond college info on this site!</p>
<p>How can it meet even the minimum standard of care for a doctor to examine a patient but for the patient to be prohibited from raising potential issues? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. </p>
<p>Ah, the the patient COULD have brought up issues but would have been billed significantly more if she did so. It does seem to be “window” dressing instead of any serious medical visit–one more box insurer can check off because it offers “wellness visits” at no charge with NO interaction. Sheesh!</p>
<p>Very strange. </p>
<p>I recently had my yearly physical when I got new insurance. The insurance company even gave us a premium incentive if we made an appointment within the first 60 days of enrollment. It was my usual doctor so we went over meds, etc. No co-pay. </p>
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<p>I chose a higher deductible plan among my employer’s choices. The way it was offered was that if one were healthy, the high deductible plan would be significantly cheaper, while if one were a high user, its cost would be similar (lower employee share of the premiums and employer subsidy of an HSA offsetting the higher deductibles) – presumably, it was also cheaper for the employer. Both were from the same insurance company with the same PPO network.</p>
<p>Obviously, the comparison may be different with different levels of employer subsidy for each plan, or buying and individual or family plan with no subsidy.</p>
<p>Of course, part of the reason insurance companies like this arrangement is that it gives the users “skin in the game”, as opposed to encouraging users to use as much medical care as they can with no regard for cost (also, more medical care is not necessarily better medical care, as the recent news about the questionable value of PSA screening and mammograms shows).</p>
<p>@thumper1 , its not foolish to pay out of pocket if you can afford it, actually it’s good retirement planning. It’s money that is growing tax deferred. We are already limited on what we can put in his 401k so if we can sock away more money pre-tax and let it compound that’s a better financial move. </p>
<p>@HImom , that tamiflu was like a miracle elixir and I definitely took it outside of the 48 hr window. Remember, I thought I just had a bad cold so I didn’t go to the doctor for several days. As soon as I took it, I was feeling fine within two days!</p>
<p>Money in my HSA doesn’t earn interest. It’s only growing because I’m paying every month.</p>
<p>Really twoinanddone?? That stinks!</p>
<p>Yes, I am a strong believer in Tamiflu and never fly without bringing it along in my emergency kit with antibiotics. For me it kicks in within about 12-24 hours and really knocks down my symptoms–eliminates nearly all of them so I can rise from my bed and feel human! Great stuff!</p>
<p>“It is a struggle–I just got an explanation of benefits regarding lab tests D took. They are disallowing over $1000 in lab fees, saying they only pay if it is for diagnosis and treatment of a condition and that the lab tests disallowed weren’t! I’m not sure what the tests were but am sure the doc wouldn’t have ordered it if not for diagnosis and treatment of her conditions! Hopefully they will recode and resubmit the claim, but ARGH!”</p>
<p>I’m sure you know to call your carrier asap. but for others who get anything disallowed always call your ins. co. I was diagnosed with a chronic condition last year. It was two months of trying to figure out what was wrong and then a few months of specific treatment once diagnosed. I racked up thousands of $$ in med. bills and there were quite a few mistakes due almost exclusively to how the provider coded the claim. </p>
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<p>It does depend on the HSA – it can be invested in various things, but many of the employer-based HSA arrangements have very limited choices (or high cost choices) that make it difficult to get investment returns higher than measly bank account interest or equivalent.</p>