Monday, October 12, 2015

American Medicine: Best In the World


So I have to get this root canal, right?

Luckily I have dental insurance. Right?

Except in July my kid had her wisdom teeth taken out.  Which I paid for with my Health Savings Account.

Ai.

American health insurance being what it is, when you use it, you're fucked.  (Apparently you're supposed to have it, not use it.)  I used the benefit card that came with my HSA, which triggered this audit function, and froze the card.  Since July, y'all, I've been fighting with the HSA company about the $625.00 co-pay which was our share of having the kid's wisdom teeth removed.

The HSA benefit card is still frozen.  Oh, and our deductible is still not yet met.  (Yes, even after paying $625 in July.) So Tuesday I have to go in for this root canal and pay $258.00 (my share of the root canal) out of pocket.  I have it in the HSA, but I can't access it, because the benefits card is still frozen.

(Why is it still frozen?  Because the insurance company -- yes, the same insurance company that controls the benefits card -- had not, until about a week ago, issued the EOB on the wisdom tooth question.  Now it has, but it will take four to six weeks to unfreeze the benefits card.  Explain to me one time why socialized medicine is worse than this?)

Then next week, I will have to pay out $421 dollars for my ulcer procedure.

Did I mention we owe almost $2000 in back taxes?

MURICA!




4 comments:

Bardiac said...

Our healthcare can be pretty good, but we so need a sane single-payer socialized system of paying for it! (Blame Canada! I look at them, and while it's not perfect, it's pretty darned amazing.)

delagar said...

Oh, yeah, I've been happy enough with the actual medical part of the healthcare I've received. It's the insurance part -- the paying for it -- which is maddening.

Fie upon this quiet life! said...

I loathe the insurance industry with all my might. They are absolutely the worst!!

nicoleandmaggie said...

:(

One time in the past my (wisdom teeth related) insurance woes didn't get fixed until the hospital called a collection agency on me and the nice collection agency ladies forced the insurance company to pay after I explained things. That's always given me some measure of grim satisfaction.