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Because they get stuck with a bill. They have no idea how much it will cost up front.

The wonders of the American health care industry.

sorry can’t relate

this truck driver we met at the gas station who had just come home from a run into Texas somewhere told us they were around $700 and i was omg ew.. i will ask my american connection (you guys)
 
sorry can’t relate

this truck driver we met at the gas station who had just come home from a run into Texas somewhere told us they were around $700 and i was omg ew.. i will ask my american connection (you guys)
lots of stuff about insurance & Healthcare costs here are weird & make it difficult to predict pricing/what is covered

like

if you get a screening colonoscopy and it's been long enough since your last one (with that insurance company), the colonoscopy is covered (assuming your endoscopist/gastroenterologist is one your insurance covers). but, if you have any symptoms, like bleeding, even if you know it's because of hemorrhoids, it's no longer screening, it's diagnostic. there's no actual difference in procedure between screening and diagnostic, it's solely a billing distinction, but diagnostic generally isn't covered.

you can TRY to plan ahead, and some people do, but even if you call your insurance company and give them the billing codes (usually CPT codes) and associated diagnoses (usually ICD-10 codes) and you give them the providers, they still will never guarantee what will or won't be covered. they'll probably tell you if they know something won't be covered for sure, but if it looks like it should, you'll still only get a wishy washy answer because the whole thing is so convoluted that your nurse anesthetist might be out of network, or the lab is a send-out and the reference lab isn't covered, etc. it's a shitshow.
 
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we also have something here called "prior authorization," which us where even though a doctor says you need a thing, the insurance company won't cover it until you jump through significant hoops & make the provider fill out, usually several, forms proving you really need it, including forcing you to try alternatives first
 
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Reactions: Immigrant and APRIL