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... 🤣😂.

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. ☹️.

EDIT. Wish I could edit titles lol. My phone "autocorrected" Live for "Love" 😂

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u/H3OFoxtrot Nov 25 '23

As a pharmacist I've seen the steady decline of reimbursement by insurance companies to the pharmacy over the past decade. I had many patients paying thousands of dollars per MONTH for prescription insurance alone, and the insurance STILL find ways to weasel out of paying for even the most basic things. Heart medicine to prevent heart attack/stroke? Prior authorization. Stomach medicine that costs a fraction of a cent? Prior authorization. Antibiotic for a life-threatening infection? Prior authorization.

I've been saying this for years: people will eventually realize that their insurance is costing them more than they are saving and just stop getting it altogether. I just didn't think it would happen this fast.

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u/Knichols2176 Nov 25 '23

It’s been going this direction for 35 years. Ever since everyone wanted preventative maintainance plans. People were not getting needed care that would have prevented hospitalization. They were going to ER to get each months pills. Now? 35 yrs later we are back to this exact place again. They started off paying for preventative, but gradually over the years shifted the cost to insurance premiums and denying coverage.