Posts: 1,219
Threads: 52
Joined: Dec 2014
quote:
Originally posted by Natasha
I WAS totally gung-ho for the Affordable Care Act. My first year of private practice in 2014, I qualified for "help" from the feds but didn't realize until the next tax reporting period of 2015 that I had to "pay back" the offset (the portion that the gov't covered me because I was earning at or below the poverty level during 2014). PLUS, because I was un-insured for 90 days, I was penalized 2,500k. I got wise and succumbed in 2016, but as fate would have it, I earned (a.k.a. WORKED MY ASS OFF)double what I did in 2015 so now I get no help in paying for premiums. So for 2016 I pay $500 per month for my health care insurance with a $6k deductible. This means I delayed an annual mammogram and a colonoscopy and never bothered to have a questionable mole on my nose looked at. Now, in January, 2017, my premiums have doubled. I'm now paying $800 per month with the same deductible. I did discover that the "screening" procedures such as mammogram, colonoscopy, and PAP smear are covered without meeting the deductible, so I'm going to do all those "tune-ups" and get my money's worth. But still . . . $800 a month for a sole proprietor, small business owner?! No wonder I can't afford to hire a secretary! And God forbid I want to expand my practice and heal more people, but I can't afford to hire another therapist unless they're willing to be a private contractor and/or covered under their own partner's medical insurance.
Small business is the backbone of this nation. Providing supportive services to the less fortunate is what I do. I'm not saying I deserve a medal - I chose this profession. It just chaps my ass that Congress gets top-notch policies and we - the guys in the trenches healing the results of their crappy legislation - have to pay more. The whole system needs an enema.
Natasha Ufema
This is super far afield from the original post (Hilo Medical Center billing issues), it was added on months after the last post, and not at all Puna related. Sorry you had such a hard time getting insurance that works for you, but that has nothing to do with Hilo Medical center.
Posts: 450
Threads: 128
Joined: Jul 2007
Time magazine in 2013 published a 42-page special edition on why healthcare costs so much in the U.S. and the conclusion was it was the hospitals, especially the not-for-profit hospitals. And the insane fluctuations and charges in billings.
http://time.com/198/bitter-pill-why-medi...illing-us/
Posts: 1,175
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Joined: Jun 2008
Frankie:
H.R. 676 and a Senate companion S.B.1269 (Medicare for All) have in the last few days been introduced in the US Congress.
Want to fix these problems? - insist our Congressional delegation support these proposed measures.
Just a non-subtle reminder- this ACA you have problems with is a product of the right wing Heritage Foundation.
Posts: 7,753
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Joined: Jun 2011
Another suspicious practice via Hilo Medical Center billing company today!
The billing company changed the account number. No reason, no warning, no notice. Not a big deal if you pay your bills 20th century style with a checkbook, ink pen, stamp, and mailing in the payment coupon, but if you pay bills online through your bank like a millennial and are not paying attention, it gives them another golden opportunity to try to double-bill you a year later after you've probably forgotten what happened.
Now we're having to save our paid bills, print out the check after its cashed, and keep everything in a special file.
Posts: 331
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Joined: Aug 2006
Last month, I paid my husband's emergency bill online instead of mailing the check. Two days later, my credit card was used fraudulently on two online purchases from two companies for a total of over $500. Luckily, I have had transaction alert setup for all my cards and was able to contact the credit card company about this illegal charges within 24 hours. They have to cancel my card and reissue a new one. They also told me a week later that they did not pursue the investigation because the charges were denied.
There was another online payment that I made one day later on the same card to the tax software company for Federal income tax filing. I doubt very much that the illegal charges were made by this company's, because I've used this tax software every year for the past five years or longer and always paid with credit card and never had any problem.
