Health Insurance

So about 3 weeks ago I had surgery to remove a cyst from the back of my neck. You want to see it? No, I better not. ;-) Well, today the insurance company sent me the first stack of “Explanation of Benefits” papers. Wow! I never thought it would have cost that much.

There were 2 columns in the report that caught my eye; the “Amount Charged” and the “Amount Allowed”. The “Amount Charged” by the hospital, surgeon, anesthesiologist, etc… was over $10,000. The “Amount Allowed” column showed values between 20-90% less than the charged amounts. Now my health insurance will be picking up the bill for this one (or at least most of it), but it made me think how anyone could do without health insurance.

I know health insurance is not cheap, but this was just simple outpatient surgery. What if you had multiple surgeries and an extended stay in the hospital, the cost would be unbelievable. You could end up back in the hospital with heart issues after getting the bill. Open the bill and see: “You will pay us, one million dollars.” (You have to say it like Dr. Evil. Come on use the evil pinky too.)