Are you "lucky"if you have a secure retirement?

[riptides]

Is it bad luck to grow old, and get sick? Should everyone have access to the most cutting edge medical treatments regardless of their ability to pay, if so, who should pay the bill they can't? Should the persons you name be forced to pay if they don't want too, and who has the authority to compel them. HS

Spoken like a true Doctor. NOT.

It's what separates us from the animals, that we would give all, do all, try all, to prolong a life.

 

[riptides]

Sorry riptides, I should have read down before I responded. You confirm my statement though. Sorry for your bad "luck". So in your case you could truly say luck or bad luck as would have it has a bigger impact on your savings portfolio than all the skill you applied??

No need for sorry.

I am lucky to be alive. LOL.

My daughter is lucky that we have the best healthcare system in the world.

But, oh, I really don't believe in luck. LOL. It is, what it is.

 

[Parkanzky]

Unless you are one of the multi-millionaires on this thread, a prolonged, serious illness requiring extensive treatment is going to clean you out.

That's not necessarily true.

My wife has very serious medical issues.

She discovered one of them before we were married. That resulted in a couple of months in the hospital (with a helicopter flight from the smaller hospital to a nationally-recognized facility a few days in), about a month in Intensive Care, many, many pints of blood and a few major surgeries and several procedures. Since then (~15 years ago), there has been regular follow-up care. Most of that time, we've traveled to the big, nationally-recognized hospital despite the ~6 hour one-way drive. She had a low paying job and basically no assets, but she had great health insurance. All that care wasn't free (and the hospital bills were staggering!), but the out of pocket wasn't really that bad. It seemed like a lot at the time, and as a percentage of her income it was, but in the long-term it was only a small setback (financially, anyway).

A few years ago, she was hospitalized locally for a different major medical issue. This time, she was transferred from one hospital to another locally and then the big hospital that has coordinated her care in the past sent their jet to pick her up. That flight alone was $29,000. She ended up in the hospital for few weeks and then on FMLA for another month or so with some visiting nursing care. Different insurance this time, and we did have some out-of-pocket costs for the hospitalizations but quickly hit the maximum. Definitely nothing that a reasonable emergency fund couldn't absorb. Insurance refused to pay for the flight, but the hospital immediately negotiated it down significantly (to $9k) and we eventually got it covered on appeal.

She is only 36 years old right now and has required more medical care than many do in their lifetimes and we've always been fine, even when I was a graduate student and she was a technician making a small hourly wage. I'm not saying it was easy, but we were never worried about losing our home or going hungry.

If you end up needing them, great benefits can be way more important than a big salary!

 

[riptides]

If you end up needing them, great benefits can be way more important than a big salary!

Glad you both are doing better.

I agree benefits are part of an overall strategy for employment.

Unfortunate with company right-sizing, acquisitions and mergers, benefits always seem to be right-sized to the lowest common denominator.

 

[ovrszd]

If you end up needing them, great benefits can be way more important than a big salary!

I totally agree with that.

Unfortunately, I think less than half the families in the U.S. have the kind of insurance coverage you have. Those are the people I was speaking to.

Can you give us an estimate on her total medical charges since you've been together??

 

[ultrarunner]

Many do not realize just how many bills are generated from a surgical procedure... one of the secrets is just about everyone pays a percentage based on negotiated contracts.

We have people come in and want to know to the penny what something costs and I admire that... this way there are no surprises 99% of the time.

Surgery Centers can be very cost effective and yet there will be three bills at a minimum for most... Surgeon, Anesthesia and Facility...

One of the worst shocks is going to a hospital and thinking you are covered and finding you are not or only have limited coverage such as out of network...

I don't like it... so it's best to be as informed as possible.

 

[Parkanzky]

I totally agree with that.

Unfortunately, I think less than half the families in the U.S. have the kind of insurance coverage you have. Those are the people I was speaking to.

Can you give us an estimate on her total medical charges since you've been together??

The out-of-pocket maximum on her health coverage used to be $2500. For awhile, she'd hit that maximum every year. Figure another few hundred dollars for prescriptions. Eventually, she required less treatment and now we'll spend that some years and not others.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Most of my working life I was a member of the Operating Engineers union and had many areas where I disagreed with them but in the end it ended up being the best thing I ever did because of the insurance. In 1998 while I was still working I had triple bypass surgery which was a little over $100,000. Out of pocket was negligible. Then in 2011,after I was retired, I had aortic valve replacement and another bypass with complications that kept me in intensive care for 9 days which added up to over $300,000. This time, between Medicare and Operators, out of pocket was negligible. Then in 2012 my wife was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and went through a year of chemo.,radiation,and a gazillion other treatments for everything from lymph edema to infected toe nails to tear duct problems etc.. I have no idea what the total is for this but it is several hundred thousand and again the out of pocket has been minimal because of the operators insurance.
I pay roughly the same for this as Medicare so it's a great deal but only because we are exempt from Obama care for the time being.I truly dread the time when our exemption is gone and we get thrown into the pool.

 

[texasjohn]

Reality and honesty...truly explaining what differentiates us from the animals... we value life and quality of life.

Health issues can and do come from out of nowhere... we have testimonials from birth on... and how combinations of insurance, good medicine, out of pocket, and forgiveness of bills have resulted in life saving and subsequent quality of life.

I see both sides of the medical world. Son is a pharmaceutical salesman, his wife is a speciality physician with seven years of formal training, their first born has special needs (heart operation, 5 months in hospital after birth, 2 brain operations, cochlear implant, g-tube, couldn't walk until 4, to name a few issues). With help of numerous therapists, he now walks, is learning sign language, and his size is age appropriate. His medical bills total beyond a million dollars. Both parents make good money and have great insurance but medicare for their child is what allows them (plus my wife and I) to have a decent life, work, give back to society both professionally and personally. Without the various insurance programs, all family fungible assets would have required liquation and we would all be living hand to mouth in order to pay medical bills. And the ACA resolves the preexisting condition issue. Second grandchild is just fine.

FYI, neither parent ever engaged in risky behaviour...no smoking, no drug or alcohol issues, none. So, the issues were not precipitated by risky behaviour.
I look forward to watching both kids grow up and achieve their maximum potential.

So, the retirement of my wife and myself is reasonable only because of adequate insurance within the total family. Not everyone has health issues, but when they hit hard, as they did in my grandson's case (1 out of 15,000 chance) adequate insurance and good medical facilities are vital to a reasonable life style for the entire family.

 

[ovrszd]

The out-of-pocket maximum on her health coverage used to be $2500. For awhile, she'd hit that maximum every year. Figure another few hundred dollars for prescriptions. Eventually, she required less treatment and now we'll spend that some years and not others.

That's good. But, I was wondering how much was billed against her by all parties involved. So, for example, if she hadn't had insurance what would she be looking at?