Dr.P
I question your statement that the bill of healthcare expenses could be avoided if people took care of themselves from a young age.
Mrs. CTL suffered and died as the result of a congenital birth defect that did not make itself known until she was 60 years old.
I and each of my siblings and parents and in-laws had cataract surgeries Post age 65. Nothing we could have done a young age to prevent this.
I had Carpal Tunnel surgery last year, again nothing done as a youth could prevent it. Genetic diseases can not be prevented and costs avoided by lifestyle choices.
Diet and exercise can only do so much
Mrs. CTL’s medical costs exceeded $3,000,000
I am far from poor but could not have afforded this without insurance. Prior to age 65 she was on a policy bought through the Connecticut Health Care Exchange (ACA) at a very reasonable rate. Prior to ACA her policy from the same carrier had a lifetime cap of $1,000,000. Those caps went out the window when ACA became law, as did prior existing conditions as a disqualifying factor. We had a Medicare Advantage Plan from the same carrier after age 65.
One thing I discovered about choosing a plan is that you should choose the HMO option over the PPO option if your doctors abc hospitals are in the plan (every one of ours was). In an HMO plan, if a participating provider performs and bills for a service that is denied by the carrier, the insured is not liable for the bill. I have seen this notation on more than $100,000 in billings on our EOBs in the past two years.