Yesterday I got not one but three hospital bills in the mail. Two were from UNC hospital when I was briefly in the ER just before getting my leukemia diagnosis (Late May). One of the bills says that I owe nothing, but the other one says that of the roughly $5000 in charges, I owe $110. It's hard to believe that my 6 hour period in the ER cost about $5000. This is the same $110 I paid in September, that somehow they think I still owe them. What a bother. The customer service gal was not very helpful just saying "well I guess we just haven't posted the payment yet." Stellar wouldn't you say. The third bill, from Duke Hospital, was for more than $10,000 and covered my hospitalizations in July and August for pneumonia and chemo respectively. Thankfully, it turns out that one was wrong too. I owe a $250 co-pay for each hospitalization but that's it. It took the customer rep a while to find the mistake, some adjustment that happens between United Healthcare and Duke's billing. Despite knowing that our insurance is good and is covering just about everything that comes up, I fret whenever I get these bills with my name on them for say $10,000, or $22,000, or $40,000 (yep, all have happened). There is something just frightening about seeing your name on the same page with those gargantuan sums and " pay by 11/02/2008." Honestly, I don't know what one would do without health insurance. It strikes me as the one thing, besides a bunch of overpaid guys on Wall St, that can bankrupt you. I feel very, very fortunate today to have good health insurance.
It's trying to decide if it will rain today or not. I hope we get the moisture; the ground here is pretty dry. And our plants could use it. I'll try to get a walk in before the sky opens up. My workout was good this morning-more and more energy, thankfully. My stomach is still a little funny, but it seems to be improving slowly too. One day I might even have this yucky taste out of my mouth. Water tastes funny so I prefer to drink milk or my lemonade/tonic water mix. It's not for everyone but I like it. Must be a parotid gland thing.
Well tomorrow is another clinic day. Today I sit around eating bon bons and painting my toenails. Really, I'm reading a good novel about slavery called "The Known World." It won the Pulitzer prize in 2004, and Holly's colleague sent it to me. Just Excellent!
Today's photo is from Chincoteague-the wild ponies and an egret. Lots of egrets there.
No comments:
Post a Comment