An underinsured driver turning left caused all of this.Stu (my other half) was in a motorcycle accident (more like "explosion") last January. He's been riding for forty some odd years, he's no rookie. We had health insurance, didn't give finances a second thought. We were sure we were covered. After all, didn't I buy a "major medical, catrostrophic" policy from the nice NASE (National Association for the Self Employed) salesman?
How did we end up with over $74,000 in unpaid medical bills? I'll tell you how, we had a Mega Life and Health policy.
When the bills started coming in, it wasn't much of a surprise. The hospital financial advisor from Palomar Pomerado Medical Center told us on day 2 of the 6 day stay that our insurance was worthless. That's when we found out what being a so called "cash" patient was all about. Cash means they charge you 10 times what an insurance company would pay them. Our bill from the hospital alone was an astounding $79,700. That's $13,382 per day.
Thank goodness for the internet. Hours of research led me to hospitalvictims.com . I emailed them with our problem, and they immediately responded. A woman named Maureen called the next day, and we talked for a long time. She said she had other cases with the same combination of our hospital and insurance company on her desk. She asked me to send her the bill, and she would have it analyzed.
Within a week, we had the results. Their philosophy is, Medicare plus 25% is adequate payment, backed by the testimony of experts before Congress. The determination was that Medicare would have paid the hospital $4490.85, so our payment should be a total of $5614.
How did we end up with over $74,000 in unpaid medical bills? I'll tell you how, we had a Mega Life and Health policy.
When the bills started coming in, it wasn't much of a surprise. The hospital financial advisor from Palomar Pomerado Medical Center told us on day 2 of the 6 day stay that our insurance was worthless. That's when we found out what being a so called "cash" patient was all about. Cash means they charge you 10 times what an insurance company would pay them. Our bill from the hospital alone was an astounding $79,700. That's $13,382 per day.
Thank goodness for the internet. Hours of research led me to hospitalvictims.com . I emailed them with our problem, and they immediately responded. A woman named Maureen called the next day, and we talked for a long time. She said she had other cases with the same combination of our hospital and insurance company on her desk. She asked me to send her the bill, and she would have it analyzed.
Within a week, we had the results. Their philosophy is, Medicare plus 25% is adequate payment, backed by the testimony of experts before Congress. The determination was that Medicare would have paid the hospital $4490.85, so our payment should be a total of $5614.
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