Health Insurance - Tumblr Posts
Fun, someone said the words “prior authorizations” around me and now I’m pissed off at 730am on my day off. I go off on this rant all the time. ALL THE TIME.
Now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and The White House have finalized new nondiscrimination provisions under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, it is more important than ever to know your rights and what to do if you face discrimination.
To better explain what these protections mean, Out2Enroll partnered with trans comic artist, Dylan Edwards, on a series of illustrated discrimination situations.
Read up on your rights with this guide from Out2Enroll >>
And if insurance denies something that really seems like it should be covered, or if the hospital billed the wrong insurance company or wrote down the wrong name, keep calling the hospital, and don’t pay, even if it takes months. This happened to me. The hospital mis-read my insurance company name on my card, they billed the wrong company, and then they then billed me the full amount because “coverage was denied” (yeah, because of course the wrong company didn’t have me in the databases!). I called the hospital and the insurance company and asked if the claim had really been filed, and finally figured out the problem. (Note that I had to do this; the hospital just assumed I wasn’t covered.) By the time the hospital filed the claim correctly, the insurance company said it was too late for them to pay. The hospital charged me at first, but then dropped the charges because it was their error. And I only found that out because I kept calling that office back (politely).
Also, practice caution before treatment whenever you can. Try to get the cost and coverage of things like “routine blood tests” in advance and figure out if you really need them. I had to pay $220 because I figured the tests would be good to have, though not especially needed, and my referring physician said they “should be covered.” Yeah, they would have been - if I’d already met the $$$ deductible.
Which leads me to the last lesson: don’t assume your physician’s office knows more about insurance than you do! They’re busy people! They might not know you haven’t met your deductible yet or might confuse one name with another and not catch that error.
hey guys psa regarding hospital bills
don’t just pay it. do not automatically pay the hospital bill when you receive it. call your health insurance provider and POLITELY say, “excuse me, i just received a bill for $1200 for my hospital visit/ER visit/etc., is that the correct amount i’m supposed to pay?” because hospitals bill you before your health insurance and they will take your money no matter how the amount due may change based on your health insurance looking at it. 90% of the time, if your health insurance is in any way involved in the payment of that bill, you do not have to pay as much as the hospital is billing you for. call your health insurance provider first, and POLITELY request clarification, always remember that the person you are talking to is human and this is just their job, and then you will very likely find out you actually only owe $500.
don’t shout at anyone about it, don’t get mad, just understand that this is The Way Things Are right now and call your health insurance provider before paying the bill your hospital just sent you. there’s a chance the hospital bill might be correct, true, but call your health insurance provider.
W H A T ??
reminder this pride month that disabled people in the US on SSI and SSDI do not have the same marriage equality as people not on SSI and SSDI. its called the marriage penalty.
by getting married, a disabled person can lose their income, benefits, and health insurance.
if a disabled person marries an able bodied person, and combined their assets are $3000 or over they will lose all benefits, including medicaid (health insurance).
if a disabled person marries a disabled person, their assistance is lowered 25%.
we don’t have marriage equality until all disabled marriages are equal.
sources x x x x
Dr. Glaucomflecken -- Cigna Sues the Government
Wow 😲
The next time they tell you Americans are “happy” with their employer provided health insurance remember that that “happiness” is fueled by willful ignorance of what the alternatives are really like and fear of losing what little crappy health care they currently have.