Geek Habitat

You know what the single piece of information you never see in people’s ACL journals is? C O S T! Of course the cost varies by your geographic location, the exact nature of your surgery, where you have it done, etc. However, no one utters a word about it, and at least in my case it was something of an afterthought (see Addendum on that entry.)

Well, I’m about 15 minutes past getting my wake-up call. The ambulatory (outpatient) surgical center where my surgery is scheduled just called. They confirmed the surgery is covered under my insurance, and that I have a $1,500 deductible. So far, so good. They noted that only $100 of the deductible has been paid, and here’s where my heart sank:

Oh my… I nearly fell on the floor. My rational self tried to step in, “Surely she means they’ll bill us at the time of check-in for the $1,400, and not that we need to have a check or debit card with $1,400 available at 5:30 AM on Friday.” Well, guess what rational self, as is sometimes the case — You’re fired!

I immediately called Justin and broke down into tears (which, given the stress at his work, and my skills at hiding tears, I don’t think he noticed on the phone.) All that’s swimming around in my head right now is how ironic and pathetic if I end up having to postpone surgery for a month or more due to being stupid enough to think I’d be billed, rather than expected to plop a bank bag on the hospital counter when I checked in.

My mood, rightfully so, at this moment is: PANIC! We’ll try to arrange a short-term loan from family sources (our parents) to get us over the hump (and it’s one big mother of a hump!) While we both knew about the $1,500 deductible, and that we’ve had minimal out-of-pocket expenses thus far, we both assumed we’d be billed and could address this in a matter of weeks… weeks that make all the difference in our ability to just walk right up and write a $1,400 check.

So, I think I finally have my introduction to modern healthcare. If you’re indigent, the American taxpayers foot the bill for your procedures… even if the need for your procedure is self-inflicted; however, if you’re a taxpaying, insured citizen, you’d better have a fat wallet before you even think about putting on that hospital gown!

Sigh… I’m going to try not to think about this, because I’ll get angry — angry at myself for the poor planning, angry at the healthcare system for… well, for being the healthcare system. And I’ll start to worry about the “What If’s” — what if I have to reschedule , etc. I tried to do leg raises today to strengthen my muscles and each time my left knee slipped out of joint.

Addendum: I’ve now had all my lifelines check in to ensure I’m not standing on a ledge somewhere (as if I could balance with my knee at present!) Through Justin and myself calling our respective Mothers (thank GOD for Moms!), we actually secured double the funding — naturally, we don’t need it, but man it feels good to know family is there to jump in during a crisis like that. I didn’t really know it could work that way!

{For “My Tribe”} – Mom, Dad, Justin, Jack & Jerry — Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Don’t know what I’d do without each of you, and am blessed to have you in my life. Amen!