Getting injured in the states...

[Sprailenes 47]

So yesterday while walking out to the pool, I thought there was only two steps and there was three and I fell down and twisted my ankle pretty bad.

I am hobbling around and its pretty embarrassing.

Lucky I have insurance but I don't think a hospital is going to do anything about a twisted ankle. I'll just go get a tensor bandage today and some more ibuprofen.

[ronjie 0]

thats what they make pain killers for, they have them in all different sizes, shapes, and colors... just pick one that you think is pretty !!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Ugh, good luck. Twisted ankles aren't fun but there isn't much else you can do for them other than ice, support and time.

Besides which, if you did go to the doctor, he would refer you to a specialist, then he would have you take an MRI which your insurance will tell you is covered but later when you get the bill you find out it wasn't and the person your doctor talked to at your insurance company didn't know what she was talking about; and then when he gets the MRI back and you are $1000 or so poorer - he'll tell you to wrap it, put ice on it and stay off of it a few days. He may also prescribed a painkiller - which has a copay of $20 and doesn't work nearly as well as ibuprofen.

Edited July 20, 2008 by Kathryn41

[Flames9_RN 359]

My wife badly sprained her ankle a few yrs back! We went to the Emergency room. Waited there for like 3 hrs before we go into the ER. Dr looked at it for like 2 min and sent her off for Xrays. Of course when one a gal gets xrays, they want to confirm she isnt pregnant,so had to do a pregnancy test! That alone cost $60 I believe. I believe the bill came to over $1500.00, luckily we have insurance so only cost us $20 co pay!!

[Sprailenes 47]

Yea my co-pay for an emergency room visit is 100.00, 20.00 for the doctors.

I have to go back to the doctors for my back and she wants to do some imaging on it. I am hoping our insurance covers it.

[BH45 0]

I hope you are sitting with your foot up and ice on it while you type away here ... *giggles*. Feel better soon.

[Sprailenes 47]

Yes I am. I have a tensor bandage on and that made it feel so much better.

[Necrotica 0]

I don't even want to think about this one, heh. Réjean and I are both without insurance, and I worry almost everyday about the "what-ifs". Luckily, all that Réjean has ever had in the way of injuries are some cuts and scratches from his job. He's a woodworker, though, so it comes with the territory. Thank goodness he gets company-paid insurance that will kick in in the next couple of months or so. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about me, though... and I'm the one with all the health issues.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your ankle! Hope it heals soon.

[Emancipation 2]

I had a bee sting since coming to the US.. got cellulites which was painful and SOOOO itchy. I am BLESSED to know some Drs though living down here, so it's nice to have someone to run things by, and give you advice. No trips to the ER thank goodness. I think our co-pay for ER visits is a few hundred dollars

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Aww love, I'm sorry you hurt yourself!!

Feel better soon

[Texanadian 10]

I don't even want to think about this one, heh. Réjean and I are both without insurance, and I worry almost everyday about the "what-ifs". Luckily, all that Réjean has ever had in the way of injuries are some cuts and scratches from his job. He's a woodworker, though, so it comes with the territory. Thank goodness he gets company-paid insurance that will kick in in the next couple of months or so. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about me, though... and I'm the one with all the health issues.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your ankle! Hope it heals soon.

I highly recommend buying health insurance ASAP. Today would be best. Even if it's some el cheapo Health and Prevention plan.

My wife's health insurance is ridiculous. $1100/month for the health insurance (single coverage, just her). $3,000 annual deductible and a $5,000 max out of pocket. She went in for thyroid surgery last month. In one day, it worked out to be over $32,000 in bills.

Health insurance isn't so much about what they pay. It's about the discount the doctor's give for "having" health insurance. $21,000 of the above bill was for the hospital bill. Yet they reduced that by $19,000, leaving us to pay $2,000. Since that was before the 3K deductible, we're on the hook for the entire $2,000 hospital bill. But how weird is that? You get a 90% discount for having insurance even though insurance isn't actually paying a penny for your surgery.

Then there is the anesthesiologist bill, the pathologist bill, the doctor's bill, there is still one more bill which is being processed that I don't even know what it's for. The doctor's bill was $7800 originally and then there was an insurance discount of $4830....That makes it $2970. We had to pay 30% of that ($890) and they paid the rest. By this time we were past the deductible.

$2,000 worth of anesthesiologist bills. Paid by us.

Looking at health insurance as the immigrant, I already learned about all the co-pays and deductibles and how they split up the percentages. But I had NO IDEA there would be 5 different bills for one procedure at the hospital. I thought the original hospital bill pre-quote would be it. You should have heard me when my wife said "that's the hospital quote, now we need to get one from the doctor." WHAT??? That's like paying the mechanic after paying the dealership when you get your car fixed. Don't the hospitals pay the doctor's?

Anyways, we're almost up to $4,000 in payments out of our pocket. And to think, her insurance costs over $13,000/year in premiums.

Edited July 21, 2008 by Texanadian

[J&K 0]

I got hurt playing in a hockey game down here (I'm a goalie) and went to poke check the puck, girl hit my leg (which twisted my knee).

I continued to play on it for the 2nd Period, then said "that's it! I'm done"

Got home around 11pm, woke up at 2am and my knee was in excruciating pain. Didn't want to go to the hospital right away (Friday night), so I propped my knee under some pillows, tried to sleep and went back in the morning.

Didn't take too long to see a doctor at the ER, had some x-rays done, no broken bones, gave me a knee brace and some nice horse pills (500mg of ibuprofin) and Oxycotin.

Went to my dr. the next day, had to have an MRI, had the MRI about a week later, found out that I badly bruised my meniscus (which is the best outcome, because if I had torn it, it might have meant surgery).

Luckily, and the only reason I went to the ER, was because my hubby has insurance (not great, but have it nonetheless) and because it happened during a USAHockey game. And by being a member of USAHockey, I have more insurance. They paid everything that my regular insurance didn't pay (minus the deductible). I would have been out more than $1000, but all I had to pay was about $400 (the remainder of my deductable).

Could have been a lot worse too. I'm hoping that my boss hires a couple of more people, and then he will have to provide some sort of benefit program to the employees.

[pegbert64 0]

I think I've figured out the co-pay thing, but what I don't understand is how one knows ahead of time if treatment will be covered or not? Case in point, I saw my GP for a sore neck. SHE sent me to physio (3 visits), I did not ask to go. That didn't work, so the physiotherapist reported back to my GP, who then (GP) sent me to the orthopedic dr. Had xrays and determined that I have DDD. Orthopedic dr sent me for a round of traction therapy. OK, so in all of this, I had to pay the co-pays only. Then, a couple of months later, I get a bill from the physio saying that I had to pay for all of it! (approx $400 for 3 - 10 minute visits). Everything else was covered, but not the physio which my GP sent me to.

So, how do you know if something that your GP refers you to will be covered or not? I would have thought that since the GP's office has my insurance info, they ought to have known whether physio would be covered..... and at least told me "This might not be covered by your insurance", and given me the option to proceed or decline. At least this was just my neck, but I can't imagine if it were something more serious, where you really don't have time to weigh the options..... if your Dr says "You need to go for a CT Scan", then I'd probably think that I ought to go!! What does everyone else do? Do you tell your Dr "thanks for the suggestion.... I'll think about it and get back to you" and then call your insurance to find out if it will be covered? I guess coming from Canada, where everything is pretty much covered unless you're told otherwise, I am just used to assuming any referred treatment is covered.

What do YOU do to avoid costly, unexpected bills?

[Sprailenes 47]

I took my dog to the vet a few months ago and had a bad allergic reaction to the the probable cat dander that was in the place and ended up having a really bad asthma attack, and my husband had to rush me to the hospital. At the hospital the nurse basically gave me #### and said: "The next time you should just call your doctor instead of coming in here"

First of all, it was a saturday, second of all, how do I call a doctor when I can't freaking breathe!?

We later got the bill, and it was only for 100.00 with insurance. BUT if I didn't have insurance it would have cost over 2500.00. Wow.

My husband pays 385.00 a month for me to stay on his insurance and luckily my new job provides me with insurance after my 90 days.

I still don't understand insurance.

Actually from that hospital visit, the hospital made a mistake and billed me for 500.00 so I called them up and she was asking me questions and I said: "I'm sorry I just moved to this country so I find this all really confusing" and the lady rudely said: "Well you speak English very well for someone who's just moved here" and I told her: "Well I'm from Canada, we don't deal with this stuff there"

She shut up pretty fast.

[T.O_2_FL 0]

I think I've figured out the co-pay thing, but what I don't understand is how one knows ahead of time if treatment will be covered or not? Case in point, I saw my GP for a sore neck. SHE sent me to physio (3 visits), I did not ask to go. That didn't work, so the physiotherapist reported back to my GP, who then (GP) sent me to the orthopedic dr. Had xrays and determined that I have DDD. Orthopedic dr sent me for a round of traction therapy. OK, so in all of this, I had to pay the co-pays only. Then, a couple of months later, I get a bill from the physio saying that I had to pay for all of it! (approx $400 for 3 - 10 minute visits). Everything else was covered, but not the physio which my GP sent me to.

So, how do you know if something that your GP refers you to will be covered or not? I would have thought that since the GP's office has my insurance info, they ought to have known whether physio would be covered..... and at least told me "This might not be covered by your insurance", and given me the option to proceed or decline. At least this was just my neck, but I can't imagine if it were something more serious, where you really don't have time to weigh the options..... if your Dr says "You need to go for a CT Scan", then I'd probably think that I ought to go!! What does everyone else do? Do you tell your Dr "thanks for the suggestion.... I'll think about it and get back to you" and then call your insurance to find out if it will be covered? I guess coming from Canada, where everything is pretty much covered unless you're told otherwise, I am just used to assuming any referred treatment is covered.

What do YOU do to avoid costly, unexpected bills?

Exactly.....my GP suggested that I got to an Allergist but my husband told me to check and see if we were covered before making the appt. I told my GP that and she was fine with that. I think that it's not a big deal to tell them that because they understand that everyone's insurance coverage is different.

I had Massage Therapy covered when I was in Canada so I asked my GP about that and she told me to check my insurance first and that if I'm covered she would write me a prescription for it. Or if I wasn't covered and still wanted to see one that she would write one as well.

I have gotten into the habit of checking what our benefits cover before making any medical related appts (granted unless it was life threatening).