Cost of a broken arm: $12,000 and counting
April 8, 2010 Douglas County ExaminerBarbara Neff
How much college education could be procured for $12,000? How many months rent would that amount cover for some families? How nice would a $12,000 car be? How many of the world’s hungry inhabitants could be fed for $12,000?
When I stumbled in an aerobics class recently, went airborne and landed on my outstretched right hand, three bones gave way.
Through pain and the blur of activity that took me to Lone Tree’s Sky Ridge Medical Center emergency room, thoughts raced through my mind about medical expenses. Though our family carries medical insurance with Humana, the coverage could be called “bare bones” and deductibles are a whopping $5,000 per family member per year, a number we had never before hit.
Because we are a healthy family of four, it made sense for us to opt for minimal coverage and high deductibles in exchange for low premiums, particularly since we have no employers who chip in and no group plans available. The monthly premium for our family’s medical insurance with Humana is approximately $400, a bargain by today’s standards.
Since the emergency room visit, I have been under the care of an orthopedic surgeon who put pins in my arm’s broken bones days after the breaks. I am in a cast a few more weeks. After cast and pin removal, I will undergo minimal physical therapy.
I eagerly anticipated the arrival of bills. Humana has an exclusion rider on my policy for a previous medical condition and I was anxious to learn if they would attempt to tie my injury to this previous condition for the purpose of denying claims.
The good news is Humana has not denied claims associated with my broken arm. The bad news is our deductible for me has now been met. Yep, my part of the medical costs has reached $5,000 already, and the bills continue to pour in. Total tab thus far: More than $12,000.
It’s not as if I’ve lived in a cave and never heard medical costs are now in the stratosphere. Still, I am dismayed and angered by realization that something as relatively minor as broken arm bones could present a financial crisis for many.
Imagine a parent barely managing to cover monthly expenses. Imagine a mishap that would cause broken bones within the family--a bicycle wreck, a skateboard crash, a fall or a sports injury. Imagine seeing medical bills climb to more than twelve grand. Where does a parent with no money at month‘s end, even one who has managed to maintain family medical insurance, come up with the cash to even meet a deductible? What about those without medical insurance?
This could be a classic case for having to choose between food or a running car and payment to medical care providers.
I have read that a full 50% of charges by medical care providers are never paid. To offset the uncollectibles, prices continue to soar. The 50% who do pay their bills are, in effect, paying for those uncollectibles.
Socialized medicine by default, I suppose, not design.