> Insurance did not pay all the claims, including one ambulance bill. And Lindsay said the family received a letter this summer suggesting they owe an additional $11,300 for Brigland’s care. While the landmark No Surprises Act protects patients from many out-of-network bills in emergencies, the law controversially exempted bills for ground ambulances.
If you don't have that much, you can always negotiate down. So ultimately, you are really looking for an intersection of: those who do not have insurance, those who get snake bites, those who cannot negotiate for whatever reasons and thus face death/medical bankruptcies. My gut feeling tells me that it is a very small number, but happy to learn from actual data if it is readily available.
It’s not really misleading, doesn’t say the parents paid that. The actual costs outside OOP maximum is spread across the insured, so high bills affect many.
Judging from the photos I’m guessing these folks can take the hit and at least be OK, if not somewhat scuffed-up, financially speaking, but almost $20k in medical bills because your kid had one could-happen-to-anyone mishap would ruin a lot of families’ entire decade.
It remains baffling to me that almost any other topic gets attention in this country when we have this problem.
Of course, because us poor people don't have access to journalists or large social media presences. The burden for most families falls on them and nonexistent, power-law distribution ad-hoc charity drives like GoFundMe that are more like the lottery rather than receiving a consistent amount of help comparable to their condition.
The whole point of society is to share risks and costs that would be difficult or impossible to share alone. When a society doesn't do that, it becomes a degree of a failed state by definition. Anything shared today in America is privatized, eliminated, or disparaged as "communism" by the ignorati and by the greedy rich.
Maybe it’s different in San Diego, but mismatched sunken slab walkways and large poured concrete landscaping features would only occur on new or recently heavily-made-over well-above-median-cost houses in trendy areas, place I’ve lived. The photos read “money” to me, at least enough that they might not be ruined by an unexpected $20k outlay in a year (though I’m sure it stings, at least).
Not sure why you are downvoted. The title is indeed misleading. It literally says "totaled more than a quarter-million dollars". Sorry, but the "total" should include discounts induced by out-of-pocket maximum, which was 7,200 in this case[1]. "total" should also include discounts negotiated by the insurer with the hospitals, which will be a lower cost than the title implies. Sensationalist headline indeed, to pray on "murican healthcare silly... hahaha" biases.
[1] afterwards, the article says they got an additional bill of 11,200 but not sure if they paid it or negotiated something else.