BT you have a lot of interesting insights to add to the topic of Healthcare…your personal experiences along with your work experience really helps paint the picture of how important good health insurance is….thank you for sharing your story I think it will go a long ways:)

In other words, I was living and writing about this stuff long before there was even talk of Obamacare. I’ve been a consumer of the product, I’ve studied and written about it, and had to put it in use for something more than office co-pays, annual physicals and blood work.

At one point during my daughter’s recovery, I took her into the hospital for a treatment. A hospital administrator took me aside, told me that our insurance was declining to pay for treatment for the complication, which was life threatening, and handed me a bill for $63,000. Before we were done, that bill ballooned to $250,000. I’m in my 50’s – $250,000 was half the value of my IRA at the time. In other words, half of my retirement savings from a 30 year career would have been wiped out with one illness.

Fortunately, the hospital worked with me and having followed this stuff as a consumer advocate, I was savvy enough to study the details of the health insurance policy and file an appeal. It took me nearly 4 months to resolve the issue with the insurance company. During that time, I paid the hospital $30,000 out of my pocket. Eventually, the insurance company agreed that they were responsible and paid the bill. I was reimbursed all the money that I had been required to pay in error – I had a high deductible plan, so I was responsible for about $7,500 and didn’t argue about that. But even the reimbursement took about 6 months because I had to get it back from the providers who had been over-paid. First I paid them, then the insurance company paid them, then they issued a refund.

Again, I was fortunate that I’d been a consumer reporter and was used to dealing with insurance companies. But it made me realize how vulnerable are most families if they don’t have a stellar plan form work or the government, come down with an illness that requires real insurance – not one of those crappy plans with a $3,000 cap – and are uninsured.

I would have been put in the position of having my daughter declare bankruptcy as a senior in college because she was 21 – legally, it really was her responsibility and not mine; selling or liquidating my wife’s business and probably remortgaging our home while in my 50’s; or liquidating half of my retirement savings at a time when I was about 12 years in retirement. In other words, one illness could have wreaked havoc on 30 years of doing all the right things when it came to working and saving and undone all of my carefully laid retirement plans.

What’s scarier is that my daughter didn’t have a chronic disease, like heart disease, diabetes or, like Cameron Bay, HIV. She developed a nasty, persistent staff infection following what should have been routine surgery. Something that happens in about 4% of all surgeries.

That’s a good add BT…thanks:)

@BT –
That IS a very good calculator!!! 🙂

I thought it might be helpful to add this information on the “Obamacare” tread as well;
This is my friend with diabetes response to my inquiry asking what insurance he recently found that accepts his precondition.(.im not sure what his income level is at this time but by guessing from what he does for a living I think approximately 35,000 to 40,000 annually)…..”I actually qualified for something called Healthy Way L.A It’s state funded and perfect for me. It’s FULL coverage and I love the doctors, dentists etc… You have to live in L.A to get it though. Thanks for asking.”….hope that’s helpful…I don’t live in LA so im unaware of this program….hopefully there’s something similar in your area if you don’t live there either….on a side note: Since its a State funded program its possible that his child support payments put him in a lower annual income bracket and help qualify him for this program.

Most of Obamacare is built around your tax return

Interesting they are using the IRS bona fide resident qualification for Obamacare.

You’re just guessing, as are most others that are so adamantly against ObamaCare. From what I’m seeing at this point I’ll likely have better coverage than I do now, for about $150-$200/month less, without factoring in any gov’t subsidy.