Share your stories: "But I had health insurance!"

A relative of mine had a kidney stone that could not pass, she needed surgery. It was a success, but the costs were too high. She had to declare bankruptcy not too long after the operation.

But she had health insurance!

I'm stuck with all the doctor bills - plus the cost of a 300 dollar boot to keep my leg immobile - and I pay 465 dollars a month insurance.
Which includes an accident rider.

I did not know the accident rider has a high deductible, and that I should have had an additional rider to insure for "hardware" i.e. the boot.

Of course, had I known about that hardware rider, its deductible would also have made the cost of the boot "mine".
I am so disgusted.

had such pain in his testicles that we went to a walk in clinic, where we were referred to a urologist, and the urologist ended up sending him off to the hospital for an ultrasound to figure out why his nuts hurt so bad he could barely walk.

I, according to the media and repuke assholes, supposedly had the best health insurance in the nation because I was a union worker at Ford at the time.

I got the bill for the ultrasound, the insurance refused to pay. When I called to ask why, they said it wasn't an emergency!

Tell me, all you men on here, is excruciating pain "down there" to the point of being unable to walk an emergency?

First mistake. Most(if not all) insurers require emergency room before they will honor ANY other expenditures.

I had that insurance for 6 years before this incident, and there was never such a requirement.

I used that clinic regularly.

The health care plan had a few Ear/Nose/Throat/Audiologists listed but they ALL WERE THE SAME PRACTICE.


The Head of that practice was over 65 and ran it with his son.


i was told that i still had far above average hearing and that i shouldn't be worried about the loss.

I pressed for more testing and found out that their testing equipment only went up to 8000 htz instead of the full 20-20,000 htz hearing range. I was told that if i had hearing above the human conversation pitch range then it was just a bonus from their point of view because then i couldn't be classified as hearing impaired. I was told that any loss that they couldn't measure couldn't effect my quality of life. I pressed telling them my ability to continue with this job was in the balance. I was told there were other carreer fields. I suggested they do the same.

I was told a total fiction that it was normal to loose the 8000 to 20,000 htz hearing range by age 45. BULLSHIT. The computer they were running to do one of the tests was running Win98 (FIRST EDITION!) and the sound card that was in it was of lower quality than that of my work computer at the time.

I am starting to understand that musicians have hearing problems somewhat from loud levels. But there are just as many of us who NEVER exposed ourselves to high levels w/o protection and medical science really has no interest in helping us.


I was able to find out more from contacting a famous rock star friend of a friend who is famous for hearing problems and got a referral to a real doctor that i couldn't afford, but I was also able to run BETTER hearing tests that i wrote myself on my own home computer once i figured out how they were doing it.


BTW- this was Blue Cross Blue Shield.

and this summer she had to have a D&C and a bladder procedure. Both done outpatient.

NOW the insurance company won't pay because it was outpatient and not IN the hospital proper.

She now owes &12,000 and the hospital suggested that she charge it and then pay the huge fees to the credit card company.

She's voting for Obama this year after voting Repug. for many years on the abortion issue.

She's still in a rehab facility because post-op complications and infections prolonged her recovery. She doesn't know if she'll ever be well enough to go back to work and she's potentially looking at millions of dollars in medical debt. Yes, she has health insurance - for now, anyway.

My story isn't too bad, comparatively, but, in principle, makes me irate.

I came back from the UK (where I had 100% free, perfectly fine state coverage and care) in 2005. I got a job at our local, still independent bank, which provides shockingly good benefits, including BlueCross BlueShield health care. Because my parents both worked for the State of Texas, I had always had BCBS growing up and was comfortable with their system.

While working at the bank, I was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder called Hashimoto's Disease, which necessitates I take a daily medication for the rest of my life. Luckily (so far) the medication is cheap - about $10-15 per month. I was diagnosed in April. BCBS covered all the costs for the tests and whatnot, and I had no problems.

On May 1, I left the bank and my hometown and moved to Austin. In June, I finally found a part time job at the library (despite having a masters degree and 13 years of work experience, this was the best I could do!). Being a state library, they also offered BCBS. But when I went in to the lab in July for my regular blood work, BCBS refused to cover the cost, saying it was a "pre-existing condition," even though it had only been diagnosed three months earlier and while I was covered by BCBS! So I had to pay $118 out of pocket for the test, and for all tests and related expenses, for the first YEAR of my employment at the library! All because of a one-month break in coverage!

It wasn't the end of the world, but, to me $118 is a significant chunk of my monthly budget. I have a feeling John McCain doesn't get that.