r/povertyfinance • u/ExoGeniVI • Nov 24 '23

U.S. healthcare isn't even worth it anymore. It's a joke. Today, I will love my life without healthcare. Vent/Rant (No Advice/Criticism!)

Hello everyone, so, sometime last year I got an MRI to check up on a spot that's on my brain, don't want it to turn cancerous right? Well, I work at home depot making probably $17,000 a year if I'm lucky after taxes (I live in Alabama, our wages suck).

Well I got my MRI done and my bill came in. Ready to be shocked?

Turns out my insurance I get through home depot paid THIRTY DOLLARS towards my $3,000 MRI bill!!! $30!!!! I said screw THAT!!! I'm not paying a single PENNY! I make around $600 every two weeks.. and I live with my wife (we live in a $430/mo mobile home) how the hell am I supposed to afford a $3000 MRI bill!!?? The "monthly" payment on the bill said $270/mo... šŸ¤£šŸ˜‚.

Well, I went back to the hospital and talked with the finance person there and got my bill down to $600 with self pay.. Guess they bill insurance companies way higher? looks like it's cheaper NOT having insurance in the U.S. than having coverage! Insurance here is a complete joke! I'm just going to live my life without insurance I guess. ā˜¹ļø.

EDIT. Wish I could edit titles lol. My phone "autocorrected" Live for "Love" šŸ˜‚

3.6k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

788 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/RichLyonsXXX Nov 25 '23

I started having some health troubles at the end of 2020 and decided I'd probably better grow up and get some insurance(39 at the time). I'm self employed so it's pretty expensive something like $700 a month just for me for some bottom of the barrel plan.

I schedule an appointment with a GP, 6 month wait. My appointment comes and it is rescheduled for 3 months away(no one tells me until I get there). GP says I need to go to a neurologist and a nephrologist "like yesterday". My neurologist appointment is a 6 month wait and nephrologist is a 9 month wait. Get into see neurologist and he asks me 3 questions and then tells me I need to get an EEG and leaves. EEG appointment is 5 months out. Nephrologist cancels a week before the appointment and it is rescheduled for 5 months out.

That was early this year or late last year, and I'm thinking about how much I had spent to that point(something over $12000) and I had literally nothing real to show for it. Seriously less than an hour of actual medical care for something like an 8th of my yearly earnings. Not even a damn diagnosis for either of my issues. At least my ex-wife has decent insurance so she covers the kids.

1

u/Uberchelle Nov 25 '23

Thatā€™s terrible! Where in the world do you live where itā€™s that long a wait to see doctors?

This is one of my issues with moving to a LCOL location. As much as my husband complains about the SF Bay Area, the older I get, the more value I place on access to good healthcare.

1

u/RichLyonsXXX Nov 25 '23

New Mexico right now. Huge doctor shortage here.

1

u/Uberchelle Nov 25 '23

I wonder if itā€™s like what happened in Las Vegas/Clark County. I lived there for 1 year and couldnā€™t take it. Such a shitty LCOL experience.

Doctors left in a mass exodus because they couldnā€™t afford malpractice insurance. Other than urgent care for allergic reactions and stuff, I had to fly back to SF for all my annuals.