Insurance And Finances

[micheller]

What do you do when you can't afford your appointments and tests? Our copay is $60 for a specialist. Between my neuro and gi I end up having at least 3-5 appointments a month. Plus the cost of the tests. It really adds up. I already have payments set up for the $800 I owe for an EGD. We are barely scraping by and he makes just over the income limit for any state assistance. I've applied for disability last year (denied twice) since I can't work but of course they want to see all of this on paper and test results. We just can't afford it. Double edge sword.

[sue1234]

I so hear you on that. I have an $1800/yr deductible, which now sounds small compared to you coming up with $300/month for co-pays! It is all alot of money anyhow you look at it...and of course, this is all on top of the monthly insurance payment. You know, you could almost scrape by for a year or two if we knew we would get something in return for all that money spent on testing and specialist visits. Something in return, like a cure or at least helped to be functional.

[arizona girl]

Not sure who your insurance provider is, but there are things you can do with your plan during the open window that can help with keeping out of pocket down.

Also most plans have a total out of pocket cap. I hit mine every year because of the cost of my infusions, but after that I can go to who ever I need to without worrying about the out of pocket cost. There are two that have to be met in network, and then out of network if you have no choice but to see an out of network provider. Sometimes you can get an out of network provider considered in network, if there are no other doctors available.

We opt on our plan for a higher monthly premium and a lower deductible with lower out of pocket caps. Even though it is more each month it ends of being cheaper by the end of the year. I also am on a plan that requires no referrals. Also sometimes if you are in a hardship situation your provider can wave or lower your copay and/or put you on a payment plan. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[micheller]

With our family plan, the yearly deductible is $3700. By the time we hit it it will be time for it to renew, go figure. Lol I'm not sure if we would still have to pay the copays after we hit the deductible. I was added to my husband's insurance in August so I'm not too familiar with it yet except for forking out the money. His monthly payment is pretty low so I will have to ask if we can raise that to lower the deductible. I had state insurance before I was added to his and didn't pay anything but a few dollars per med. I will have to ask about waving or lowering it. It sure is expensive being sick!

[Leigh8]

I wonder if you can skip some of your appointments and just follow-up over the phone?

[SeattleRain]

I pay $125/month for a $2,500 deductible. That's up from $110/month before the Obamacare ruling. It includes a $7,500 co-insurance limit - where I pay $35 appointment co-pays, $150 ER co-pays, some lab work co-pays (like x-rays, etc), and prescription co-pays. I went through the deductible immediately after my first ER visit. Since July I've paid a little over $6,000. My insurance company probably hates me, lol.

I've saved a good portion of my income since I turned 19 - so I'm fortunate to not have to have financial stresses on top of medical ones - which I'm sure causes a lot of anxiety for people. I'm even more fortunate to be working from home making my own hours - so when I became practically bed ridden, it didn't have an effect on my income.

A friend of mine ended up in the ER with no insurance a few times and owes something like $20,000 to the hospital. He says he just pays a couple hundred dollars a month and they leave him alone (He's in Minnesota). I noticed when I was paying my bills online, each medical center had a section for signing up to a payment plan for people that can't afford their bills.

[micheller]

I've seen this neuro only once but I will definitely ask about follow ups over the phone! My neuro in Milwaukee wouldn't do it, I thought they would be more accommodating for people that have quite a drive to get there.

Rain, that's about what we pay for a family plan. No matter how many people are added, it won't increase. For a specialist visit it's 60, ER is 150, urgent care is 100, primary is 30. I'm not sure how they figure out the copay for testing, I think it's a certain percentage but not sure. My last med refill was 10 each so that wasn't bad. Next year shouldn't be too bad since we will hit the deductible in no time but until then....

I've been looking to work from home but that was a dead end. Do you mind if I ask what you do? That is a big medical debt, poor guy! I will look for that on their site. Thanks!

[arizona girl]

One more thing to consider about your plans family deductible out of pocket cap. Though it list total for the family there are usually lower numbers per family member. So, I met my individual deductable and cap, but my husband has not, as he is healthy. I think mine was 1,500.

I can access all my plan information on line, many plans can. If yours does you can read everything there and even see your claim history.

[SeattleRain]

I've seen this neuro only once but I will definitely ask about follow ups over the phone! My neuro in Milwaukee wouldn't do it, I thought they would be more accommodating for people that have quite a drive to get there.

Rain, that's about what we pay for a family plan. No matter how many people are added, it won't increase. For a specialist visit it's 60, ER is 150, urgent care is 100, primary is 30. I'm not sure how they figure out the copay for testing, I think it's a certain percentage but not sure. My last med refill was 10 each so that wasn't bad. Next year shouldn't be too bad since we will hit the deductible in no time but until then....

I've been looking to work from home but that was a dead end. Do you mind if I ask what you do? That is a big medical debt, poor guy! I will look for that on their site. Thanks!

That's a great plan you have!

It was a big chunk of change but I'm just glad I have insurance. My Mom bugged the crap out of me to get it and all the while I was saying "Nah, I'm young, I don't need insurance!". Mothers are always right!

I got started working from home in 2008 doing "affiliate marketing". Did well, but transitioned into running an online advertising company in 2010 and have been doing that since. Most guides/how-to's for making money online are scams or the information is so outdated that the info is useless. If you're lucky, you could find a company that hires people to work from home (there are some, but they're hard to find).

If I were to recommend something, I would highly suggest learning HTML5 & CSS3. It'd take 3 months. 1 month to learn, 2 months of practice. A good web designer with these skills can easily make $10,000 a month. The market is so huge, and the demand so high - most designers are booked with clients. "Stylin' With CSS" Volume 3 by Charles-Wyke Smith is an excellent starting point for a beginner. If my business went down the drain tomorrow, this is exactly what I'd do.

[micheller]

Thanks for the info! I've been looking for something to do from home to contribute to finances but most were scams like you said. Is there online classes to learn those? I'm not really creative but I am computer savy so this might be perfect.

[SeattleRain]

Thanks for the info! I've been looking for something to do from home to contribute to finances but most were scams like you said. Is there online classes to learn those? I'm not really creative but I am computer savy so this might be perfect.

Being computer savvy is the important part - you'll understand things better and learn faster. The "Stylin' With CSS" Volume 3 book I referenced is where I would recommend starting. I wouldn't recommend taking any classes. Most are outdated, overpriced, slow-paced and not put together very well. I think you'll find after reading the above book (or Kindle version/ebook) you won't need additional training per say - and from that point on it's just getting experience under your belt. There's CSS/HTML forums like there are for everything else - and they're good resources for if you have questions/get stuck on something.

[Elegiamore]

Michelle, so sorry about your challenges; my heart goes out to you. Yes, the Catch 22 of having bucks to get tested for disability is tough.

With me, I HAD TO GO get the expensive tests, go to Cleveland Clinic and both Mayos, because I WAS repeatedly in CRITICAL condition. So the money had to be spent, the tilts and other junk had to be done, whether I was broke or not; no hospital in my city of 5.5 million could help me.

But those tests helped me get approved first time through without a "no," along with extensive documentation, letters and failing the SSDI physical (thank goodness I was so sick that particular day that the dr. called an ambulance for me!).

My adjudicator told me if you can stay alive, out of the hospital and sit up long enough to do a dr visit...WITHOUT THE EXPENSIVE TESTING to SAVE YOUR LIFE (viral, immune, cardiac, neurological, tilts, etc.), then you probably are not sick enough to be declared disabled from POTs/dysautonomia by Uncle Sam.

Also if you THINK you can handle a part time job from home, you might want to think again about whether you are disabled because unfortunately, you probably aren't. For instance, it has taken me almost an hour just to type these short bit in a thoughtful manner.

If you've been turned down twice, you can get an attorney to look at your case for free (he just gets paid from your proceeds when approved). No way that could hurt and might help. We will keep you in our prayers.