No Wonder Insurance Rates are so High

I feel like I've dipped my big toe (or in this case my right breast) into the shark-infested waters of the medical establishment. The sharks are hungry for body parts and money--especially money!

Before I decided to get the biopsy, I asked how much I would be expected to pay. I was given an estimate of $1,200. As a "self-pay" (i.e. not insured) person, I need to be able to budget for these expenses. I was informed about a program I could apply for that would cover my medical expenses, but I needed to have an income of under $32,000 a year. Our income last year was over that amount, and we also hold quite a bit more in assets, so I knew that we would probably not qualify. I didn't apply for the program because I figured we could afford $1,200.

When I went for the biopsy, they told me the cost would be $741 instead of $1,200, and I thought "well, this won't be SO bad!" Then I found out that if I wanted to have the lymph node biopsied as well, it would cost another $741. I almost said "no," but I did want to find out if the cancer had spread, so I said to go ahead. I had asked about checking a little bump on the lump, thinking that the surgeon would biopsy that part of my breast, but instead he made a separate incision, so I ended up with three incisions, each one costing $741. I am planning to protest the third charge, as I really had only consented to two, and I didn't realize until he made the third incision that he was making three separate biopsies.

Then I had to pay for an "office visit" with the surgeon, another $66 to have him tell me what my regular doctor had already told me on the phone--yes, I do have cancer. He couldn't give me any more information, nor could he make a copy of the pathologist report. All he did was tell me I had cancer and urge me to make an appointment with a breast surgeon. (I wish I made $66 for telling a five minute story!)

I paid $2223 for the biopsy, and thought that was it. But NO! Wait--there's MORE! A couple of weeks ago I received another bill from a medical lab in Springfield, MO for $495 for the pathologist evaluation of my surgical specimen. Hmmm, I guess I should have anticipated that another lab would look at the specimen. Somehow I thought that would be included in the amount I paid the breast center.

But wait, there's MORE! A few days ago I received yet another bill, from a laboratory in New Jersey for $1,900. I called them to ask about this bill, but the lady could only tell me that St. John's hospital had sent the specimen to them for clinical analysis. I asked why I also got a bill from a lab in Springfield, and she didn't know. The people at St. John's couldn't give me any information to shed light on why I received two separate bills for lab work.

The sharks are circling. If I refuse to pay the bills, (which I am considering doing since I did not contract with either lab for their services, and had no idea that these charges would be made,) the bills will be sent to a collection agency, and our excellent credit rating will be shot. If I give in and pay these exorbitant charges, the sharks will continue to feed off other unsuspecting victims.

I used to run a consumer protection agency in Lawrence, Kansas. If a business made charges to a consumer for services that the consumer didn't ask for, we would have asked that those charges be dropped. In the shark-infested medical waters, however, I don't know if there is a consumer protection agency that can go to bat for us. This seems to be a consumer protection issue--maybe I can write to our state attorney general's office. In Missouri, our present attorney general is about to become the governor. Maybe I should go to the top and write to the governor-elect!

The best thing that comes out of this experience is that it strengthens my resolve to use alternative healing methods to get rid of my cancer. For now on, I will avoid medical procedures whenever possible, and for lab work that I deem necessary, I will try to go directly to the lab. Luckily there are labs like MyMedLab.com that make such things possible.