^ No Kidding... I still wonder what I'm going to end up having to pay out of pocket.
I'm going to have to go back every couple of weeks for a full check and CT scan for atleast a year

4/1/2008 2:01:56 AM

for real... i think my bills are somewhere in the neighborhood of $500k now.

i have no idea what kind of coverage you have, but i can tell you from experience be very diligent in keeping up with your bills and any portion you might be responsible for. especially from critical health services and wake faculty physicians (both generated from wake med basically). i didn't test them, but they threaten to turn you over to collections almost immediately. the good thing is if you call them they are good about giving you very reasonable interest free payment plans or deferring payment until later. you might get someone that's not willing to help or tells you they can't do anything, but just keep calling until you get someone that will. they also have the ability to completely waive some charges, but it's been my understanding it's usually only with large accounts.

also, be ready for your insurance to deny some things and you have to resubmit claims. i've had some absolutely ridiculous denials from bcbsnc. for example, one was for $7 for two percocets i got right before being discharged once. their argument was that i could have just waited until i got my prescription filled (that they cover). retards. they've also tried to deny a couple of my surgeries because they were deemed "unnecessary".

i hate to say it, but prepare for battle. hopefully yours won't be so bad being just a one time visit for a few days, but mine has been an endless pain in my ass for 17 months now. definitely not what you want to be dealing with when you're trying to heal up from something.

oh, and you'll really be thankful for insurance when it's time for the ct scans... they're outrageous (like $1800-2000 each if i remember correctly). unfortunately, you'll probably still have a copay for them and your check ups.

anyway, if you have any questions about anything just ask and i'll help if i can. i've unwillingly become well versed in the field of medical billing/insurance.



[Edited on April 1, 2008 at 2:38 AM. Reason : .]

4/1/2008 2:33:52 AM

^ Thanks for all the info. It will certainly come in handy.
And whoa-- I was thinking a couple hundred per CT, not 1800-2000...

I think this will be the first year in a lonnnnggg time that I have actually met most/any of my deductibles (and essentially all in one day ). We just got the letter from BSBC that my hospital admittance was "approved," so that's good. However, I had no idea they had to approve your stay like that & have the option of completely not covering you...

I have pretty decent insurance-- BCBS State Health Plan. Hopefully they won't give me too much of a hassle, but I know they will dispute anything they can. Thanks again.

[Edited on April 1, 2008 at 8:26 AM. Reason : ]

4/1/2008 8:19:50 AM

I said a prayer.

4/1/2008 8:29:19 AM

I had a bad infection in a tendon sheath in my hand a few years ago and was kept overnight at rex in case the iv antibiotics didnt work and it needed surgery to drain. BCBS declined my stay two weeks later. I had to get letters from the ER doctor, the hand surgeon, and the infectious disease doctor and it took 3 months to get it straightened out.

In the mean time, the balance the insurance didnt initially pay wasn't on my bill, but it got turned over for collection and fucked up my credit. I had to file a civil suit against rex and absolute collection because neither would take the blame for the fuckup in order to get it straightened out. So in short, stay away from rex.

[Edited on April 1, 2008 at 8:32 AM. Reason : and the staff there sucks]

4/1/2008 8:31:39 AM

I went into the ER for fractored nose. stayed there for 3 hours sitting in a chair waiting for a doctor to come and strieghten the nose...the bill was 3000+ rediculous, no x-rays or anything. what i know is that the hospital will send you three bills and then the insureance will pay what they said...its weird but they are trying to trap idiot people into paying. bcbs did pay for everything though which was good.

my advice is to keep all the bills sent to you and all the letters bcbs sends.

4/1/2008 12:07:45 PM

^^^^yeah, while not as good as it used to be i think the state plan is still excellent coverage relatively speaking. that's what molly has. mine isn't anything special, just a basic plan through the company (blue options or something i think?). the worst thing about mine is it's only 80/20 coverage until the bill reaches $100k. since my insurance has rolled over once (and again today actually) that's left me responsible for a fair amount. thankfully the auto settlement covers any difference though.

still, it's sure as hell better than nothing. cost aside, without insurance it's also unlikely you would have gotten the same level of care/treatment. i know they verified mine before they decided if they were operating or amputating. it's also definitely been a determining factor in what actions to take in subsequent surgeries.

^yeah, i've wondered the same thing... if they generate so much paperwork to purposely confuse people, or if they're just that poorly coordinated/operated. if i stacked up all the binders/folders of records, bills, etc. i have, it would easily come up to my waist probably. i can't imagine someone that's had a chronic or lifelong issue.

[Edited on April 1, 2008 at 12:27 PM. Reason : .]

4/1/2008 12:26:36 PM

^ Yeah, I think you're right about the level of care. There were numerous times when they would say "You've got insurance, right? Ok-- lets do it anyway just to be sure."

I think I'm going to have to make my mom start a box for insurance mail at her house-- she's horrible about losing mail & I am terrified she is going to lose something important

4/1/2008 12:46:07 PM

we had a paperwork mix up one time on something my dad had done... insurance kept saying they were going to pay it, hospital said it was our problem insurance hadn't paid it so so either pay it or it goes to a collections agency. we ignored them, thinking insurance would pay.. collections agency started calling. so, we paid for it out of pocket.. next week the insurance company paid it to the hospital and refused to pay it to us even though we had proof we already paid the hospital... so they got paid twice basically. we had to have my moms boss (lawyer) call and threaten people before they'd give us a refund. a normal person would have had to of wasted money on a lawyer just to get back what was legally theirs

fuck hospitals and insurance companies

[Edited on April 1, 2008 at 1:15 PM. Reason : asdf]

4/1/2008 1:14:07 PM

[Edited on April 6, 2008 at 8:16 PM. Reason : wrong name]

4/6/2008 8:15:16 PM

First bill came yesterday... from Rex ER (i.e. I was only there 3 -4 hours before being transferred)
Grand total comes to just over 10k.
I don't even want to imagine the one from Wake Med

I think i'm gonna be broke for a good long while

4/6/2008 8:16:32 PM

oh shit, no insurance??

4/6/2008 8:18:31 PM

^^^haha

4/6/2008 8:24:41 PM

I have insurance, but I'm still going to owe deductibles & stuff... no sign of what is covered yet.

4/6/2008 9:15:27 PM

oh gotcha

4/6/2008 9:22:10 PM

Update-- since I'm bored...

Total cost: just over $24k
Rex (~3 hr stay) = ~$10k
Wake Med (almost a week) = ~$14k
Is that some fucked up shit, or what?

I admire BBR for being able to deal with so much of this stuff. It is driving me batshit crazy right now not being able to do what I used to. Campus seems fucking huge right about now And there are so many bikes-- and this f*n beautiful weather. Hahahahaha. Eventually I'm just gonna say fuck it and go riding-- but my fuck it attempts so far haven't gone too well (i.e. drinking maybe i'll try again in a week) sooo. yeah. w00t. Atleast I'm gonna have one hell of a battle scar

/update

4/16/2008 6:17:35 PM

if the doctors told u not to ride or drink, i would do what they say. it's usually for a reason, u dont want to be back in there for not following their advice.

4/16/2008 6:43:14 PM

hope your internal organs are ok

[Edited on April 16, 2008 at 6:44 PM. Reason : .]

4/16/2008 6:44:15 PM

Yeah, I know. They never told me not to drink-- and they won't answer my specific questions... so I did one night. Not much, but I did. Didn't like the result, so-- I'll wait a while and try again later.

As for riding, I know I can't. I'm just talking shit like most other people on this forum for no good reason. A friend from out of town wanted to see my bike, when I went out to start it for him I couldn't even sit on the damn thing, much less even attempt to pick it up.

Thanks, DNL. I hope so, too. It's weird feeling like stuff doesn't fit in your body right anymore.

4/16/2008 6:59:52 PM

doctors just dont tell u to do stuff to ruin ur fun or make ur life miserable, u should know this

4/16/2008 7:36:31 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, I know. They never told me not to drink-- and they won't answer my specific questions... so I did one night. Not much, but I did. Didn't like the result, so-- I'll wait a while and try again later."

I wouldn't think they should have to. Just the knowledge of how badly damaged your liver was should tell you it's not a good idea (it was "broke" after all ).

Fucked up liver + something bad for liver = more fucked up liver

4/16/2008 9:58:01 PM

if it wasnt explicitly stated, go on a drinking binge then sue the hell out of em

4/18/2008 9:01:53 AM

^ dat's what I'm talkin about

buttseks
Saw your big honkin' truck over at Matt's place-- you guys heading out to Uwharrie this weekend?

[Edited on April 18, 2008 at 8:17 PM. Reason : Disclaimer: before people go on a hating streak again... I'm JUST KIDDING ]

4/18/2008 8:16:24 PM

^how you is?

4/18/2008 8:32:52 PM

Get better

4/18/2008 11:16:27 PM

Quote :

"you guys heading out to Uwharrie this weekend"

they went to the beach this weekend, trying to patch shit together to go next weekend

a lot of torching, sledgehammering, and NGR rigging this weekend

4/19/2008 6:35:15 PM

Quote :

"I had a bad infection in a tendon sheath in my hand a few years ago and was kept overnight at rex in case the iv antibiotics didnt work and it needed surgery to drain. BCBS declined my stay two weeks later. I had to get letters from the ER doctor, the hand surgeon, and the infectious disease doctor and it took 3 months to get it straightened out. "

its called aids queer. you get it after fucking a monkey

4/19/2008 7:08:32 PM

how bout shut the fuck up

4/19/2008 7:16:52 PM

aww isnt that cute, his drunk driving ass is making up shit because nobody has actually fuked up as bad as him

4/19/2008 7:17:43 PM

^^ ditto

[Edited on April 19, 2008 at 7:18 PM. Reason : I seen you today ]

4/19/2008 7:18:15 PM

ha the both of you are failures hahaha

im fucking perfection

4/19/2008 7:23:03 PM

^^ what are you knee grows doin tonight? is nigor still around?

4/19/2008 7:24:40 PM

yea he is here i think he is with his mom tonight or atleast till later. We might grill out out jamies place. what are you doing?

4/19/2008 7:47:30 PM

i'm in, i gotta get a quick shower to get allthis sawdust off me, igor just said he's gonna head over in a few minutes

4/19/2008 7:50:10 PM

ok sounds good. Jamie says it is all good but she has to get up tomorrow so we cannot be to loud Good thing the Gasgas is in the kitchen

4/19/2008 7:53:43 PM

So, the gasgas is all put back together now & stuff? That's good to hear.
I think Igor's done talkin' to me 'cuz I fucked up his stuff
Danny & I are heading to A-ville tonight to get the grand back together for the 4x4cross.
You all have fun tonight Tell Jamie I say hey.

4/19/2008 8:43:47 PM

Quote :

"I seen you today "

me?

i was at myrtle beach all day today

4/19/2008 10:15:18 PM

^^i called ya'll Friday left a message on Danny's phone was gonna see what you up to this weekend. we ended up doing lotsa grillin' and some gasgasin', good times

4/21/2008 12:24:32 PM

my keilbasa sausage has just got to perform

4/21/2008 2:11:04 PM

Hey Jamie! I saw you walking the other day! I am happy you're out and about... Take care girly...

4/21/2008 10:22:29 PM

Aww, thanks Jillene

Finished the tranny for the Grand last night & painted it Cub Cadet yellow (the tackier the better)
I'm currently working on cleaning up the transfer case to get it ready to go back in. Torque converter will be done around 5ish, soooo... we're supposed to be back in raleigh by 8AM, but we still have a ton of work to do. It's gonna be a late night.

Igor: Sorry-- I didn't know you called. D's phone has been on the blitz lately

4/22/2008 3:05:44 PM

It's been exactly 3 months... so, I figured it was about time for another update...

According to the doc, everything should be fine now. Liver still gives me trouble every now & again (more as of late for some reason)... but nothing like in the beginning. Second check-up appt. is coming up later this week.

Finally got the SV out on Thursday.... she had gone far too long without any TLC. With a little work, I got her all buttoned up & ready to ride. Took a ride around the block-- I think I'll be waiting a bit before I go that far again, but it was good to get back in the saddle. I'll have to get over the apprehension... but that will come with time I'm hoping.

The burn is still healing-- which the UNC burn center thinks is crazy, according to them it should've been done well over a month ago... but I'm going to have a definite battle wound. Turns out that it started having a serious allergic reaction to the silvadene as it started healing-- but everyone at WakeMed kept telling me that it was supposed to look like that as it healed (and that the pain was just nerve endings coming back... )

But hey- I got to see moparnum5 this weekend for a couple hours on libo
At least I can stand to drive the mexican ambulance again (and it got me all the way to Quantico!!!)

P.S. Medical bills SUCK

6/23/2008 12:16:49 AM

word

talk of wings this tuesday AND wed... FYI

6/23/2008 12:24:52 AM

i still cant believe that burn hasn't healed after 3 months!

6/28/2008 5:29:39 PM

Jamie, in case you crave some more gasgassin', there's a new household member in my already overcrowded backyard it gonna hang out with KLRB until TripleD scoops it up. thinking about camping and gasgasin' next weekend in WV after the 4th of July block pary here on Friday. does Danny get a leave for this weekend?

6/29/2008 3:47:01 PM

Foo My Jamie going to be so happy when she wakes up some good night and find this and gasgas in the kitchen

6/29/2008 4:07:37 PM

ive been scootn around on my dumpster scooter!

6/29/2008 5:59:31 PM

woot i got one also we have rock them around the area soon. we need to make a track somwhere haha

[Edited on June 29, 2008 at 6:48 PM. Reason : we need to set up a good time to go to the uwerrriez also]

6/29/2008 6:48:01 PM

i need a new scoot


im sure mine is done for. front tire is flat again, brake sticks, pull start is sure to break anyday now, i just redid the fork and its got a shitload of play again, and off roading it is beating it all to hell.

6/29/2008 8:21:35 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV2sdXQvhdA&feature=related

6/29/2008 8:53:47 PM