Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Being Sick is Expensive!


I must concentrate today on taking care of some business. I need to pay some bills, I have paperwork to fill out for my disability that is about to go into long term, you should see the pages I have to fill out, and although I have until Sept. 30 to get it back in, that is not that far off and I must go ahead and finish it today.


Dealing with the hospital and medical bills is something too. First I have the bills before it was sent to the insurance company. Then I have the insurance statements where it was filed, and I have to match them up and decide whether I have the final bill yet and then.........woo! I need a secretary! It is not my favorite thing to do. And then you have bills from labs and xrays and more labs!


And once again, I'd just like to say "Thank God for health insurance!"


Those chemo treatments alone cost over 16,000 each. Plus that super dooper shot I take to build the white blood cells, it alone cost 3000 bucks. There's a drug I take, three pills that cost almost $400 dollars.


I've met my deductible of course and my total out of pocket is a pretty low amount, even though I'm sure I'll have to make some arrangement with the hospital to pay by the month what I end up owing them.


The cost of all of this is mind boggling. I live in fear that my insurance company is going to say, "Ok, that's it, we're not paying anything else." Oh and the PET scans, they cost $4000, and I've had two of those and will have another one at the end. So far, they've approved it each time. I have a nurse that works for Blue Cross Blue Shield that calls me regularly to see if I understand everything about what the Doctors say, and to give me advice and to tell me what to ask.

And she is great!


So, there you go, I've got work to do today. And the good news is, I feel really good. Next Tuesday, I'll start it all over again, but it will be my fifth treatment, and then ONE more!


I am so grateful, and dare to hope that I've been through the worse. We shall see.

6 comments:

turquoise cro said...

Good Luck on getting all those papers filled out and bills paid! Isn't it horrible how much it does cost for health care? That's what the new president should work on! Thank God for Health Insurance! My friend and I just found out a boy(a man really but from high school they will always be boys! hehe) died and he didn't have health insurance soOOOo he didn't get what he needed to stay alive! I wonder how many people are falling inbetween the cracks like him! Phew! I'm thinking of YOU today and keeping YOU in my prayers! I know YOU miss Tammy! Isn't she a SWEET person! Take care, (((((Robbin))))

Robbin said...

Hi there, I know, it is scary that people die because they can't get health care. I hate that.
Thank you for your prayers and for visiting, come again. And yes, I miss that girl, she is my Guardian angel for sure.
Hope your day was a good one.

L'Adelaide said...

Wow, that's really high-priced treatment although your PET scans are cheaper than here in CA!! Weird I know but they are about $5000 here...yes, I agree, thank God for health insurance, if you have the blessing of having it! God forbid you lose it for some reason...therein lies the problem but I don't think they can just cut you off unless you have a cap, but something tells me they would have informed you, asking for a higher premium, etc.

so glad you are feeling reasonably well!
sorry I haven't been around much but sort of fell through the cracks of some parasite, I suspect. Ugh...

Robbin said...

HI Linda, good to see you, hope you are feeling better today.

Meg Kelso said...

It's unbelieveable, isn't it? When I had my brain surgery, I met my stop loss, $100,000.00! The good news was I didn't have to pay another dime that year. But...the next year we started over again. Right now the $4 medication lists are helping me a LOT!

Are the blood tests Pt-INR levels?


Meggers

Robbin said...

Hi Meg, it is mind boggling. Those PET scans are 7000 bucks, I said 4000 but nope, 7000! And yep, that that is the blood tests I'm having for the blood.