Getting Blood From A Stone, The High Cost Of Healthcare

Problem: Undiagnosed Crohn's Disease which caused scar tissue that lead to a small intestine blockage. There were no symptoms prior to the blockage and had Hubby been seeing a physician regularly they never would have diagnosed it. The blockage required a day in the ER followed by surgery plus 3 days in the hospital.

Hospital bill...............................................$32,780.00
Emergency room bill.........................................810.00
Surgeon........................................................9,866.00
Anesthesia.....................................................1,100.00
Cat Scan..........................................................310.00
Abdominal Xray.................................................82.00
Total debt..................................................$42,948.00 and we are not sure all bills are in.

Also, Hub has developed an infection. It may be MRSA. He has what looks like a boil on the edge of the incision site. We'll know on Tuesday, and then we'll have additional medical bills for more treatment. It was under the steri-strips holding his incision closed so he got it in the hospital. On his first and only stay. At an award winning hospital according to NYS Health Department.

We have no insurance, and thanks to Wall Street and their shenanigans have lived on  $19,000 a year for the past 6 years.

I had planned on giving up our satellite in order to have the money to pay towards the bill, however, NYS now DEMANDS that two of the business taxes must be filed online, and notifications are now emailed. This means I MUST maintain an internet connection. Since Winter is approaching, we are looking at an additional $400 every few weeks to heat our home. So, there is absolutely no way to reduce our living expenses to find enough money to pay any bill with enough money per month to pay it off in a timely manner.

We have requested charitable assistance with the hospital bill. The hospital has offered half off, and we are asking for help with the half we are going to have to pay. My income is presently frozen due to that request. I had lost clients to nursing homes and the company didn't have any new clients to give me. Now they do, and I can't take them until we receive the determination. Then I'm going to have to push for full time instead of the 24 hours I was working.

I'm not even going to look at how Hubby will manage to pay for his Medicare which he will be getting in 2013. Then there will be my Medicare in 2014. Which I will have to pay for out of my work earnings since I can't retire with full benefit until 2015. Heavy sigh.

People who have no idea what medical care costs don't want to pay for health insurance. They have no idea how quickly they could need medical services and how much debt they will incur without it. There's a tremendous rate of inflation going on in the area of medical costs. Our bill, in the year 2012 is higher than the combined costs of ER services, hospital stay and surgery for our youngest son and his wife in 2007. Their bills combined equaled $30,000. He had appendicitis, she had a prolapsed bladder that required surgical repair. She was in the hospital a day longer than Hubby. This means that medical costs have more than doubled in 5 years. Controlling the cost of health insurance isn't going to make much difference if there is no control over how much can be charged for services.

I think that before people claim we have the best healthcare in the world, they need to sit down and research the number of deaths caused by medical mistakes, the number of deadly infections hospital patients acquire and the infant mortality rate here in the US. They might find we are no better than those countries that have single payer systems. Being better doesn't mean being the most expensive.