Buying insurance, in the Hospital.

Well much to my surprise I got CoVID a second time (first was 2019)  and this time it put me in the Hospital for 5 days and counting and still hooked up to a breathing machine.  No insurance and no clue how much this will cost me anyone have a suggestion on who to calll?

In St. Joseph's in Baltimore md. 

Paul B

Well one day non Covid was 8k for me....

Good chance the hospital has a social worker or financial aid office that may be able to help you navigate this. I would start there. 
 

Read this article for some direction: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/694670747/rx-for-medical-debt

Also, wishing you the best of medical science and a speedy recovery. 

My life got very complicated. 

You can talk to them about a discount and making payments.   

sorry to hear you're sick.   

Not asking this question for you to answer publicly, you don't have to respond to this. 

What is your household size, and what is your income?

St. Joseph is a not-for-profit. So, legally, they have to meet certain charity criteria. From here, we can find their Financial Assistance Policy. In that policy, there is their sliding scale for reduced costs: 

So, if you're a single person household with a household income of less than $35,570, you should be covered entirely. If there are 3 people in your household with a household income of less than $60,610, you're fully covered. If you're a single person household with an income of $40,906 or less, you would owe 30% of your bill.

 

Specific exclusions to coverage under the Financial Assistance Program:

The Financial Assistance Program generally applies to all emergency and other medically necessary care provided by each UMMS hospital; however, the Financial Assistance Program does not apply to any of the following:
1. Services provided by healthcare providers not affiliated with UMMS hospitals (e.g., durable medical equipment, home health services).
2. Patients whose insurance program or policy denies coverage for services by their insurance company (e.g., HMO, PPO, or Workers Compensation), are not eligible for the Financial Assistance Program. a. Generally, the Financial Assistance Program is not available to cover services that are denied by a patient’s insurance company; however, exceptions may be made on a case by case basis considering medical and programmatic implications.
3. Cosmetic or other non-medically necessary services.
4. Patient convenience items.
5. Patient meals and lodging.
6. Physician charges related to the date of service are excluded from this UMMS financial assistance policy. Patients who wish to pursue financial assistance for physician-related bills must contact the physician directly. a. A list of providers, other than the UMMS hospital itself, delivering medically necessary care in each UMMS hospital that specifies which such as providers are not covered by this policy (as well as certain such providers that are covered) may be obtained on the website of each UMMS Entity.

 

Patients may be ineligible for Financial Assistance for the following reasons:
1. Have insurance coverage through an HMO, PPO, Workers Compensation, Medicaid, or other insurance programs that deny access to the Medical Center due to insurance plan restrictions/limits.
2. Refusal to be screened for other assistance programs prior to submitting an application to the Financial Clearance Program.
3. Refusal to divulge information pertaining to a pending legal liability claim.
4. Foreign-nationals traveling to the United States seeking elective, non-emergent medical care.

Disclaimer: I don't work for a hospital, I don't work in financial aid, I am not a lawyer, etc. Just reading their policy. Good luck.

In reply to mtn :

I agree with what you said. I have a friend who suffered a stroke about a decade ago who had zero health insurance, and both he & his wife have minimal income. All of his treatment basically was free due to their financial situation. 

mtn is right. Ask to speak to a financial counselor. Not only will they get you the best discount possible, they may also be able to help you apply for programs (state, charity, otherwise) that may help further reduce what you owe or help with other things like making sure the rest of your financial life stays on its feet if you need them. However, I wouldn't worry about it while you're still recovering.

Recovery is priority #1. 

Bump... Anyone heard from Donebrokeit? Or know his real name to cyber-stalk and check in on him on other social media?

mtn said:

Bump... Anyone heard from Donebrokeit? Or know his real name to cyber-stalk and check in on him on other social media?

Did some light cyber stalking. Did he have a CP Camaro? I sent a DM to who I think it is on the Book of Faces. Hope someone chimes in with good news.

I'm one of the folks with a CP Camaro, and while I'm happy to report I'm okay, I can also say I'm not him.

Hope he's OK. 

For anybody reading this who hasn't gotten a vaccine yet, just do it. 

If it's been 6 months since your vaccine, get a booster. 

We're still losing about a thousand people per day. The vast majority of those deaths could have been prevented if people had just gotten their shot.

Steve_Jones said:

CrustyRedXpress said:

Hope he's OK. 

For anybody reading this who hasn't gotten a vaccine yet, just do it. 

If it's been 6 months since your vaccine, get a booster. 

We're still losing about a thousand people per day. The vast majority of those deaths could have been prevented if people had just gotten their shot.

You do realize some people dying have had the shot right?

...and as the percent of the population that's been vaccinated increases, the percent of people dying from COVID that have been vaccinated will also increase to the point where if everyone has been vaccinated, 100% of COVID deaths will be among vaccinated people.

I'm pointing out the obvious as I'm hearing a lot of chatter about how more and more people that are dying from COVID have been vaccinated implying that the vaccine may somehow be detrimental....there's no evidence of that, the percent increase is to be expected.

Steve_Jones said:

You do realize some people dying have had the shot right?

You do realize he said "the vast majority" and not "all", right?  

In reply to Donebrokeit :

I hope you're doing better. 

stuart in mn said:

Steve_Jones said:

You do realize some people dying have had the shot right?

You do realize he said "the vast majority" and not "all", right?  

It is the easiest and most effective weapon we have against Covid. 

I PM'd him earlier in the day, no response :(

E36 M3.

Guys don't flounder this.

Looks like he signed some posts "Paul B" if that rings a bell with anyone.

In reply to slefain :

Why is talking about vaccination a flounder?  It's proven to save lives.  

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to slefain :

Why is talking about vaccination a flounder?  It's proven to save lives.  

My guess is because eventually people will attempt to cherry pick statistics based on their political views. And we've already had one of those false correlations on this page. 

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to slefain :

Why is talking about vaccination a flounder?  It's proven to save lives.  

Because the thread will just get locked once people start piling in here and going to war. And none of that helps try to figure out if a decade long member is still okay.

I tried a different route on a Facebook group to see if anyone knows Donebrokeit (Paul).

A reminder from the lucky thread this summer