wth is a copay

[Angst]

I guess the implication is that there's more at work here than just deliberate obscurantism - or perhaps that such obscurantism is not a uniquely American thing when it comes to legalese/consumer relations. One thing that's for sure is American vocabulary is quite full of technical jargon that doesn't make sense anywhere else, and that seems to be a cultural thing.

i want to say that i get what you're getting at, but it's simpler going to the doctor in denmark than america. you just go, and if you arranged a time, you don't have to think about pay. it's covered by taxes

 

[Hygro]

A copay is what I wish I had available to me right now. I gotta figure out what my insurance even is. I have medicine waiting and I don’t know if I’ll be able to pick it up.

 

[Angst]

A copay is what I wish I had available to me right now. I gotta figure out what my insurance even is. I have medicine waiting and I don’t know if I’ll be able to pick it up.

hoo boy. i hope you get access to your stuff.

 

[Hygro]

They're giving me prednisone! I wanted to try that for unrelated reasons. Like @Birdjaguar 's anti-inflammation.

edit: but tomorrow I have to search everywhere for my insurance and maybe even make a phone call D:

 

[wolfigor]

There are a lot of problems with the halth system in USA.
One that immediately appeared to me it is its complexity.
There so many insurances, so many plans, so many options that I would find myself lost trying to divine which combination is best for me.
I can think that this applies to almost everyone who doesn't get a strong insurance from their employer.
How do people navigate it?

 

[Bamspeedy]

There are a lot of problems with the halth system in USA.
One that immediately appeared to me it is its complexity.
There so many insurances, so many plans, so many options that I would find myself lost trying to divine which combination is best for me.
I can think that this applies to almost everyone who doesn't get a strong insurance from their employer.
How do people navigate it?

Without employer paying 80% of it, I don't know how I would be able to afford coverage. Probably be going without it.

 

[Farm Boy]

It blows. Then you realize you owe social security twice, too. Fun times!

 

[Kaitzilla]

At this point I'd say bring on the government healthcare.

Premiums are just dipping the toe into the pool for healthcare costs at this point.

$500 a month or $6000 a year so a giant company can high-five the medical cartel ("negotiate") and get 65% off their criminal prices.

Then if you have a problem, pay for the whole thing yourself after the 65% discount.
A few additional thousand dollars.
This is the deductible.

Have a big health problem?
The insurer will start paying for half of it after the deductible.
They used to pay for all of it after the deductible, but those days are long gone.

Then after you pay out about $9000 (premiums don't count), the health insurance company will reach into its pocket and start paying out all the costs. (They start losing money for the year on your personal account at this point, but will probably get it back next year)

Anyone who does not like this yearly scam can just pay full price if they have a medical issue.
That's a new car or a new house.

My uncle got a colonoscopy and polyp removal, but the insurance refused to pay so he owed $15000.
A lot of Americans owe medical debt.

Over half of Americans have medical debt, even those with health insurance—here's why

Over half of Americans have up to $10,000 in medical expenses, whether they have health insurance or not.

www.cnbc.com

Then there is the lovely out-of-network scam where if you drop dead in the wrong area code, they bring you back and tell you the insurance covered nothing.

Or maybe your in-network hospital team has one or two doctors visiting from California, they are out of network, and they will be presenting their full bills.
Surprise!
They just passed a law outlawing this, but we'll see if the medical cartel feels like following it.
The cartel certainly didn't obey the upfront pricing law.

Just a quarter of hospitals fully compliant with price transparency rule: report

A new report found that just about 25 percent of hospitals are fully compliant with a federal price transparency rule that requires all hospitals to post their prices online in an accessible and se…

thehill.com

 

[Birdjaguar]

But wait! You think there is a problem with Healthcare in the US?

UnitedHealth Group Inc., CEO
Total compensation: $52,098,104 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019
Salary: $1,384,615
Nonequity incentive pay: $4,500,000
Other compensation: $201,993
Exercised stock options: $27,201,316
Value realized on vesting shares: $18,810,180
New stock options: 68,406

CEO pay ratio: 348-1
Median employee pay: $54,322
Total 2019 shareholder return: 20%

Gotta keep that stock price going up! A big thank you to all our members for paying their premiums!

 

[RobAnybody]

A copay is what I wish I had available to me right now. I gotta figure out what my insurance even is. I have medicine waiting and I don’t know if I’ll be able to pick it up.

Out of curiosity & also because I work in the health care provider industry (in full disclosure), do you have a PPO plan or an HSA plan?

To pre-emptively explain (you may not need it, but others might) - a PPO is a Preferred Provider Organization. It means if you go to these Preferred Providers, i.e. the ones the insurance company has contracts with, then you will pay *much* reduced costs (as opposed to going out of network), including copays for selected services (like, go see the doctor, it doesn't matter what tests/checks they do while you're there) you pay $35 or whatever.

An HSA is very different, which is why I'd like to hear your answer to the question before I get all into that, because it might not even be relevant. It *sounds* like you have an HSA, but would like to confirm first? I am not in any way trying to advocate for one or the other, but I might be able to advise if you have an HSA, maybe? We can take this to PM if you'd like.