Ughhhh...medical scare and debt concern
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| Sun, 09-13-2009 - 8:11am |
I've been having pain/burning in my left abdomen, back and leg for several months now. I have an old gymnastics injury in that hip so I just figured it was acting up. After helping a friend through a medical scare she informed me that it was my turn and I needed to go to the doctor.
Went to the gyn and they ruled out anything on their end, went to the primary and they discovered an iron deficiency and set me up for a neuro referral. The neuro did an office exam and then set me up for an MRI. After consulting "Dr. Google", I had a suspicion that they were looking for MS.
When I arrive at the hospital the admitting lady nearly had a heart attack when she entered my health insurance into the computer. She said "Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost you?" I knew that I had a high deductible, but I am privately insured and that was all I could afford. She tried to collect $1500 from me on the spot and told me that I was signed up for FOUR MRI's at $2200 each! I actually sat there and considered whether I should go through with the tests or not! I told her that in the past my husband and I had worked out payment plans and she said "Oh, would you prefer to do that today?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!
So...fast forward to the MRI lab and after looking at the orders the tech asks me if I have MS...gee lady...thanks for confirming my fears.
I then spent the next two hours laying in a tube contemplating MS and how I would ever be able to pay for this.
I have health insurance and it still sucks!
sorry to vent...samey

Wow...keep us informed on what your diagnosis ends up being. I am always amazed by how expensive medical procedures are. I've been to the ER a few times with my kids and the X-rays and the CAT scan we got were ridiculous! Take a look at this link. It's about the cost of medical procedures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WnS96NVlMI&feature=player_embedded
Hi, so sorry you are going through this. I am from Canada and your situation makes me appreciate our health care system. We do have lots of problems with our health care, such as wait times, etc. We don't have your bills to deal with though. If I needed an MRI, I would not have to pay a dime, however, I would probably have a wait of 6 months before I got into one, unless it was an emergency, then it would be right away. I don't know how anyone in the U.S. pays those kinds of bills! Your health is important, but you should not have to go into debt just to get these tests!
Take care, and I hope those tests do not anything serious.
Lori