[DoreenMichele]

I will see your anecdote and raise you one. :)

When I was an American military wife, I mostly just flashed my military ID, made an appointment, picked up my meds, etc.

I was diagnosed with atypical CF in my mid thirties and some of the things I was prescribed were not on the formulary of the military hospital. I went in town and had a co-pay of (IIRC) $13 per prescription. One day, I tripped across an old receipt: More than $1200 worth of pills with a $39 co-pay. Probably three months worth of digestive enzymes.

I was also seeing a specialist at a clinic at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. I had been a few times when I noticed a sign prominently displayed on the front desk announcing that they would not see you if you owed money. I asked the person at the desk if I owed anything as I had never paid them anything at all. Surely, I owed some co-pays.

She checked my records. Nope, I didn't owe anything. I was all good.

Well, that was weird. But I was fighting for my life, so I shrugged and moved on with my life. I didn't have the energy to figure out what had happened.

Some years later, I was talking with folks on a CF email list and, silly me, I remarked that "I guess the CF Foundation picked up the co-pays or something." People vociferously informed me that, oh, no, that is not what happened. That's not something they do.

No clue why I was never billed at all by UC Davis Medical Center. But I (apparently* ) wasn't.

I don't know how the military handles it. But when I was a military wife, no, I generally did not see medical bills of any kind.

* I was extremely sick. It's possible my husband paid the bills and I just didn't realize it. But I don't think that's what happened.

[dmix]

Sorry, how is this relevant to what the OP comment posted? I don't follow...

[DoreenMichele]

We already have a healthcare system within the US where billing seems to mostly not happen. So, presumably, it isn't completely alien and foreign and something America would need to steal from elsewhere.

[nightfly]

Billing definitely happens. And one procedure can trigger billing from multiple different providers. I had my appendix out a few years ago and received separate bills from the hospital, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and possibly something else (nursing?). I was able to get the hospitals portion written off ($~20,000 and I was unemployed and uninsured at the time) but no such luck with the other providers, and those bills and the collections agencies followed me for years until I could get them paid off.

[cjsawyer]

Ha! Try that scenario again with cheap or no insurance. That’s the reality for many

[DoreenMichele]

I'm well aware that's the reality for many. My awareness of that is the reason I commented on the fact that the US already has one very well-developed and well-established medical system that works much like socialized medicine: The military medical system.

We don't need to look to other countries at all to try to figure out how that's done. It's done right here on American soil every single day for military members, military retirees and their dependents.

All we need to do is figure out how to expand on that existing system. And perhaps one first step would be to change the rules such that anyone who serves in the military gets medical benefits for life, even if they don't stay long enough to retire and get all those other benefits.

It's never sat well with me that it is possible to be a veteran and have no benefits at all. Giving all veterans medical benefits would begin expanding coverage in the US under a system where billing is the exception, not the rule.

I hate the civilian US medical care system and it's fucked up coverage. I've been a military dependent basically my entire life. My experience of medical care is vastly different from that of most Americans and it's a crying shame we don't do more for our citizens in that regard.

[craftinator]

The military healthcare system proscribed Naproxen for my broken wrist. Not a win.

[philtar]

I find your anecdote a little difficult to balance with the stories of all the vets who need medical treatment but can't get it.

[DoreenMichele]

I'm not up on what you are referencing.

I can tell you active duty is different from what retirees deal with. Also "vets" doesn't necessarily mean they are retirees. If they didn't serve long enough to qualify for retirement, it's possible to be a veteran without still being part of the military benefits system.

You actually have insurance in the military. When my husband was on recruiting duty, we did not live near a military base. I had to deal with insurance at that time.

But when you get treated at a military facility, you show your ID and there is no bill -- at least, this was true back when I was a military wife.

[craftinator]

I'm pretty damn upper class culturally. I'm just broke.

[code_duck]

That’s decidedly not my experience. I’ve certainly been presented with bills for every single thing I’ve done at a hospital, including visits that I was assured I would not be billed for. I’ve even spent months trying to work out arrangements with hospitals and insurance only to have my bills sent to collections. The thousands of people who file bankruptcy each year for medical bills would likely wonder what you mean, too.

[chaosite]

Note the part where she said she was a military wife.

That is, the healthcare system she's talking about is the one provided to members of the military.

[code_duck]

I see. I may as well add now, that’s roughly the experience I have receiving care in my home state with Medicaid. The people at the state even said I should never be presented with any sort of bill. Out of state, though, it’s been more difficult to arrange as hospitals in other states may or may not be able to bill my Medicaid, restricted either by lack of agreements or competence.