Health care In US not only expensive but can be brutal

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

This happened to my neighbors on here with work visas

He is from Germany,   she is from Phillipines

 

In 2018 they were expecting 1st baby

she went into labor New Year's Eve 

had the 1st baby of 2019

they had already paid their deductible for 2018 ($3000 family for the year)

and when the baby had to stay 6 days in hospital they found themselves paying out another $3000 for the new year

 

They had no idea the deductible could hit twice for one pregnancy

Dr had wanted to induce labor he 23rd of December and she said NO i want to be free for Christmas

When it comes to health insurance in the US ,  learn your police requirements

she and he said "for the next baby she will spend last 3 months in Germany and have it there

 

they also can't claim the child for tax returns for 2018 

 

[Cheschirecat 176]

Yes, they made a BIG error.  Nothing to do with US, but insurance. This is a normal process and it is also the reason the doc wanted to induce her on the 23rd. The new year is the New Year. I hate they had to learn it that way 

Edited April 28, 2019 by Cheschirecat

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

guys i really wrote the word policy 

auto correct changed it and i didn't notice till i hit send

 

and i would have told them if i had known the policy particulars but this is so private

just want all here to know "watch health care benefits and know how this affects you" as many new immigrants are unaware of our WHAT YOU ANT TO CALL A SYSTEM

[payxibka 10,044]

3 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

guys i really wrote the word policy 

auto correct changed it and i didn't notice till i hit send

 

and i would have told them if i had known the policy particulars but this is so private

just want all here to know "watch health care benefits and know how this affects you" as many new immigrants are unaware of our WHAT YOU ANT TO CALL A SYSTEM

Almost all if not all medical policies run on a calendar year

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

10 minutes ago, Cheschirecat said:

Yes, they made a BIG error.  

Well, hardly. Predicting due dates is not an exact science and there are many reasons not to induce labor. I don’t see it as an error, just an incredibly unfortunate timing issue. 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

Just now, payxibka said:

Almost all if not all medical policies run on a calendar year

i know but trying to tell immigrants

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

7 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Almost all if not all medical policies run on a calendar year

 

6 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

i know but trying to tell immigrants

It’s the BIRTH of a BABY for heavens sake, not an appointment to see your bank manager. Not exactly something to blame the parents for.

 

Wantihg to induce 9 days before the baby arrived sounds wrong from my limited experience by the way. More likely just the doctor wanted his own winter vacation uninterrupted, or wanted the $$ from the birth rather than whoever would be around to do it then.

 

Medical insurance policies in most countries with private healthcare run on calendar years by the way. This same situation could have happened in my home country too.

Edited April 28, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[yuna628 9,530]

Well, I don't want to sound snarky, but honestly? All policies run on a calendar year in most countries.. and if there's a deductible, it resets. Still, having a baby and only coming out with $3000 in bills? Sounds like a win to me, and how an insurance plan with a deductible should work. A week hospital stay for me was a $48k+ bill. My husband spent a mere few hours in the hospital and the total was around $6k.

 

$3000 is a lot, but that is not the full bill the parents will be paying. The insurance will pick up the rest which should be a vastly large amount.

 

Also why should they be able to claim a baby on FY2018 if the child was not born until FY2019?

Edited April 28, 2019 by yuna628

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

 

44 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

just want all here to know "watch health care benefits and know how this affects you"

Yes, that's good advice for everyone......Items covered/not covered, deductibles, stop-loss caps, drug benefits, network vs out-of-network benefits, etc. are all important considerations we all need to be knowledgeable of.....

[Boiler 43,450]

13 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Well, I don't want to sound snarky, but honestly? All policies run on a calendar year in most countries.. and if there's a deductible, it resets. Still, having a baby and only coming out with $3000 in bills? Sounds like a win to me, and how an insurance plan with a deductible should work. A week hospital stay for me was a $48k+ bill. My husband spent a mere few hours in the hospital and the total was around $6k.

 

$3000 is a lot, but that is not the full bill the parents will be paying. The insurance will pick up the rest which should be a vastly large amount.

 

Also why should they be able to claim a baby on FY2018 if the child was not born until FY2019?

I think you are the USC, being the UKC you would think differently.

 

The tax thingy is crude and I am not going to argue about that,

 

But most people outside the US would not have come across this or think this was logical o sensible, I worked in Insurance and have all the initials and I do not think it is logical or sensible. 

 

I do have an example , a neighbour had dental issues had blown through her limit last year so was waiting for this year to get treatment for the next batch, got an infection before Christmas as a result, ended up in Hospital for a couple of weeks, been back to hospital for another week, nearly died by the sound of it.

 

Probably a few thousand to sort out what she needed, a few hundred thousand for what happened.

 

Insurance for peripheral needs I can see, for core health makes no sense.

 

It is what it is and eventually will go bust.

 

 

 

[Georgia16 2,858]

They need to check with German rules because if they don’t live there it’s not sure they are still covered by medical there. At least that’s how it is in DK but don’t know about Germany just saying they can’t assume they can just get it paid for there when they don’t live there. 

[little immigrant 800]

Well it happened. I'm surprised the deductible for 2018 wasn't met. 

 

One year I was getting hired in the middle of year and I dropped my previous employers health insurance and started with the new one. I didn't know at that time that I had to start over with the deductible too. It was painful financially but oh well. 

[yuna628 9,530]

27 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I think you are the USC, being the UKC you would think differently.

 

The tax thingy is crude and I am not going to argue about that,

 

But most people outside the US would not have come across this or think this was logical o sensible, I worked in Insurance and have all the initials and I do not think it is logical or sensible. 

 

I do have an example , a neighbour had dental issues had blown through her limit last year so was waiting for this year to get treatment for the next batch, got an infection before Christmas as a result, ended up in Hospital for a couple of weeks, been back to hospital for another week, nearly died by the sound of it.

 

Probably a few thousand to sort out what she needed, a few hundred thousand for what happened.

 

Insurance for peripheral needs I can see, for core health makes no sense.

 

It is what it is and eventually will go bust.

 

 

 

I don't disagree with you on the extreme costs of healthcare, or even thinking that it's logical or sensible. However that is the way our system works. My husband, being the UKC does not think the system here or the quoted scenario was logical or sensible either, but he understands that's the way things are. What's the alternative? You and I might likely agree what a good alternative might be, but no one in our system in government has the fortitude to change it... and I'm not sure the majority of Americans are either. Yes indeed, it is what it is. And since America currently wants to still put up with ''it is what it is'', it's important that all immigrants, and USCs for that matter, understand how it works, to navigate through it accordingly.

[Boiler 43,450]

1 minute ago, yuna628 said:

I don't disagree with you on the extreme costs of healthcare, or even thinking that it's logical or sensible. However that is the way our system works. My husband, being the UKC does not think the system here or the quoted scenario was logical or sensible either, but he understands that's the way things are. What's the alternative? You and I might likely agree what a good alternative might be, but no one in our system in government has the fortitude to change it... and I'm not sure the majority of Americans are either. Yes indeed, it is what it is. And since America currently wants to still put up with ''it is what it is'', it's important that all immigrants, and USCs for that matter, understand how it works, to navigate through it accordingly.

It is inevitable that we all treat as the norm what we have, what we grew up with.

 

And I am fairly careful to show idiocies where I came from when the issue comes up here.

 

I am sure there are people who think that the current situation is OK, my impression is that fewer and fewer think so.

 

One obvious aspect to address is that seemingly many people do not realise what their Employer policy is costing them.

[PolskaKielbasia 67]

The sad thing is  a $3k family deductible isn't even that terrible nowadays for a HDHP.

 

Our company's family deductible is $5k. A self-employed family friend has a $12k family deductible (for himself and his wife) and $1400/month in premiums.

 

The whole situation is insane.