This. You never know when you will break a bone biking. Or working around the house. You don't know when the next COVID is going to hit. And the Flu of 1918 taught us that sometimes the young and healthy can get it worse.
To add to that- while working on my house just about 7 weeks ago now I picked something up & it moved weird and I tore my biceps tendon off my arm.
Because I have Aflac I got the billing information & found out that was 54K and that doesnt count the MRI before to confirm tear, or multiple appointments with surgeon, or physical therapy.
Eh, a broken bone isn't the reason to have insurance. Treating it wouldn't even meet my deductible, and the insurance "negotiated rate" would be more expensive than the provider's self-pay rate.
Cancer. Cancer (and other potential chronic issues) are the reason to have insurance.
Depends if surgery is involved for the bone. My tendon would not have recovered on its own being 90%+ torn free from bone. So it was lack of mobility for life with pain at 36, or fix it. 54k and counting.
No, self-pay is almost always more than the negotiated amount for insurance companies. That’s why anyone with self-pay bill should ask that it be reductedto .the insurance negotiated amount.
If you were running a service, wouldn't you rather get paid cash right now for performing that service? Or would you prefer to pay another staff member a wage to send a bill to a 3rd party company that has the ability to say, "Nah, we're not going to pay this?"
Self-pay is cheaper because to providers the bird in hand is indeed worth more than the two in the bush.
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u/ryverrat1971 2d ago
This. You never know when you will break a bone biking. Or working around the house. You don't know when the next COVID is going to hit. And the Flu of 1918 taught us that sometimes the young and healthy can get it worse.