Rich Z (WebSlave)

Thank you.

I guess we will see what happens. I am going to have that second stent put in sometime next week. I asked the surgeon and he said that between every 800 and 1,000 procedures, there might be one (1) "complication" arise. I forgot to ask him how many procedures he has done since the last "complication". :eek:

But I guess these odds are better than going through another heart attack. Those odds don't seem so good. The doc said I should consider myself as a "HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR". Not everyone who has one can get to wear that T-shirt.

I really and truly, hope, all goes well with you next week!!
 
I have to admit that I am apprehensive about it. Just the thought of anyone going into my body via an artery and messing around with my heart gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Connie and I are still trying to avoid contact with people as much as possible because of COVID, especially now with Connie's greatly reduced immune system, and here I will be going into the hospital, right where people suffering from COVID would likely be going too. Connie wants to stay with me the entire time, but I really don't want her to be in that environment for any longer than absolutely necessary. Of course, there is always the possibility I could pick up that virus and bring it home. Which is a thought that scares the hell out of me.

The surgeon seemed to feel I should get this done as soon as possible. I don't know, I am having second thoughts about doing it now with the increased cases of COVID in Florida. Or maybe I am just using this as an excuse to keep from getting someone poking around in my heart? :shrug01:

I wish we had our old life back. :(
 
I understand your feelings about wanting to be more careful now that it appears that once again the risk of Covid is heightened. What makes the whole thing even more frustrating is that there is no way to predict whether the Covid risk will decrease after a while, or whether some new version will show up.
 
Got some insurance statements in the mail yesterday. So far the medical bills for Connie have totaled to just over $267,000 and mine $154,000. :ack2:

Not sure what our out of pocket expenses are going to wind up being when the dust settles, as there were a number of line items in each statement that the insurance had marked as being DECLINED. So I don't know if we will be getting direct bills for them from the respective services.

And, of course, I have another operation next week to help bring up my total. But with Connie's situation, I imagine it will be difficult for me to catch up with her constantly increasing total.

Lovely.....

I guess when you are told to look forward to your "Golden Years" of retirement what they mean is for you to make sure that you have plenty of gold saved up to pay for likely medical expenses that might be waiting for you.

So yeah, if you don't have health insurance, please stay healthy. You might not be able to afford to do otherwise.
 
Got some insurance statements in the mail yesterday. So far the medical bills for Connie have totaled to just over $267,000 and mine $154,000. :ack2:

Not sure what our out of pocket expenses are going to wind up being when the dust settles, as there were a number of line items in each statement that the insurance had marked as being DECLINED. So I don't know if we will be getting direct bills for them from the respective services.

And, of course, I have another operation next week to help bring up my total. But with Connie's situation, I imagine it will be difficult for me to catch up with her constantly increasing total.

Lovely.....

I guess when you are told to look forward to your "Golden Years" of retirement what they mean is for you to make sure that you have plenty of gold saved up to pay for likely medical expenses that might be waiting for you.

So yeah, if you don't have health insurance, please stay healthy. You might not be able to afford to do otherwise.

I would call your Health Insurance company. They should cover your heart attach issues. If not, you can try and file for emergency medicaid.
 
I guess they could always come and repossess that stent that put in my heart. :shrug01:
 
DECLINED.

Before you talk to anyone, get an overview on insurance in general, and your insurance, there is a lot of good info on the internet.
For instance, my insurance declined to pay for some of the tests done around the time I was diagnosed with diabetes. This meant that the lab was not paid. But due to the arrangements and contracts between the insurance company and the labs, doctors, etc. it was not my responsibility either, so I did not have to pay.
Sometimes labs and doctors offices will send bills just to try to shake the tree and see if any money falls out. Read and understand your policy, and don't pay for anything the insurance declines until you are satisfied that it is valid (and why) according to your insurance policy.
 
Sometimes labs and doctors offices will send bills just to try to shake the tree and see if any money falls out.

:exactly:

Read your EOBs (explanation of benefits) that are mailed to you from your insurance carrier. Normally, the providers will submit an amount that's ridiculously high. Then you'll see the amount that the insurance is willing to pay; usually a number that's pre-determined. Most providers will accept the insurance payment, and not bill you for the balance. Of course, you're still responsible for any co-pays and deductibles.

You can ask for itemized bills from the hospital, which will show all charges broken down. It won't show individual items such as gauze pads, bandages, etc., but will list dispensed medications from the hospital pharmacy, anesthetics, surgical supplies, O.R. fees, etc.

EVERYTHING is negotiable! Say you're left with a $10k bill, after insurance and Medicare pay their portion. You can call the hospital billing department and offer them $7k. They'll usually accept reasonable offers to settle. If they won't, tell them you'll pay $25 a month until it's paid off. They can't start collection procedures if you're making timely payments.
 
Before you talk to anyone, get an overview on insurance in general, and your insurance, there is a lot of good info on the internet.
For instance, my insurance declined to pay for some of the tests done around the time I was diagnosed with diabetes. This meant that the lab was not paid. But due to the arrangements and contracts between the insurance company and the labs, doctors, etc. it was not my responsibility either, so I did not have to pay.
Sometimes labs and doctors offices will send bills just to try to shake the tree and see if any money falls out. Read and understand your policy, and don't pay for anything the insurance declines until you are satisfied that it is valid (and why) according to your insurance policy.

I will just see how it plays out. The statements we got do say that the denied payments are not our responsibility, and there are some line item descriptions stating that the denials are from billing errors, so who knows? :shrug01:

As far as I am concerned Connie and I have paid for health insurance all our lives. So they OWE us now when we actually need them.

We are both now on Medicare with Capital Health Plan, which is supposed to be one of the most highly rated health insurance plans in the country.
 
One caveat: the IRS may consider cancelled debt as ordinary income and tax it.
 
One caveat: the IRS may consider cancelled debt as ordinary income and tax it.

You may deduct only the amount of your total medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

So, if the IRS can tax potential income, can I deduct potential expenses? :)
 
I'm back. Had the stent put into my left coronary artery. Things would have gone better and gotten me out of the hospital sooner had I not been pissing blood after the surgery.

Not planning on doing a whole lot for several days. Not that Connie would let me. She is watching me like a hawk to make sure I don't do anything stupid. :eek: But I did lift a couple of full propane tanks yesterday because the mosquito magnets had run dry when she had her back turned. :hehe: I used only my left arm so I wouldn't pop the artery that had been opened in my right wrist. So I guess that was OK. I'm still alive, anyway.
 
But I did lift a couple of full propane tanks yesterday because the mosquito magnets had run dry when she had her back turned. :hehe:
:face_palm_02:

Welcome back. Now behave yourself!
 
I just can't remain idle for long. Too much to do around here. I haven't been able to man the hedge trimmer thingie to keep back the jungle, and the jungle, with all the rain we have been getting, is trying to take over. And it has the mosquitoes as front line forces that need to be dealt with. One of my mosquito magnets is being a pain in the butt trying to get it restarted, so I am trying to get that started up. The mosquitoes are hanging around it, which makes working on it a real challenge. And I really can't get Connie to help me, because I sure as heck don't want her to be getting bitten by mosquitoes with her immune system being at a low ebb. I may need to try a different propane tank, however, and not sure I want to lift another one quite yet. My instructions after being released from the hospital are kind of contradictory. One part says I should result normal activities, but another part says to not lift any heavy items. But does that "no lifting" only mean with the right arm that the stent went in through? :shrug01:

So I just cannot let my heart keep me down for long. I have work that needs to be done.
 

OK, your interpretation of my Discharge Instructions, then.

YOUR ACTIVITY: Resume Normal Activity.

Does that mean "normal" for me, or for some generic subset of people my age?

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS: DO NOT PUSH, PULL OR LIFT WITH RIGHT ARM. DO NOT TWIST WRIST IF BLEEDING OCCURS, HOLD PRESSURE FOR 30 MIN. IF THE BLEEDING DOES NOT STOP, RETURN TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM.

For how long? What weight? Is my right arm now just a dead weight for evermore?

So if you were in my shoes, how would you interpret the above?

Would you allow your spouse, who has cancer, to pick up all the slack?
 
Back
Top