As I contemplate my future health care options, I wonder whether my premiums are north of $700 and going up 20 percent next year because the industry spent $78 million in lobbying. I don’t know.
Is it because Aetna Inc. health insurance is up 30 percent this year? I don’t know. Is it because of the greedy drug industry? I don’t know. Is it from a lack of competition? I don’t know that, either.
What I do know is when I had my surgery two years ago, and looked my very competent surgeon in the eye, I asked what will this cost me after insurance. A blank stare was my return and an answer of, “I don’t know, call billing.”
Going home and staring at my policy didn’t help. I called billing. They said they’d get back to me. Two days later, I got a call back saying they weren’t sure. I said, it’s your business, if you don’t know who does?
She then explained that it’s a matter of coding. Oh, I said, please send me a decoder ring and password to the secret handshake right away.
No, she said. It depends on what they give us for the coding on your bill from the doctor and hospital. Some are eligible for co-pays, some are eligible for deductibles, some are for neither. Oh, I said, please give me your best guess.
The day of surgery, they brought a yellow sheet of paper and said, “sign this, please.” I told them I couldn’t read it without glasses. Oh, it’s just the standard form, saying you are liable for everything and we are liable for nothing. She had a nice smile. I signed. They were off by more than $2,000. “Oops,” was the answer. “We accept credit cards.”
My point to this fascinating story is that I’m too dumb to shop for health care as some would suggest, that I have no idea how insurance could possibly fix this.
I do know that in Costa Rica (ranked toward the top in health care) you pay 11 percent of your income, you show up to the hospital, hand them your card, and they fix it. No bills. Just one example.
I also know changing systems every few years doesn’t help. Or, as my golf buddies would say, he’s just too dumb.
How do you think I’d do at coding school?
Joel Sparks is a resident of Kona.