suspicious Hilo Medical Center billing problems

[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