Comments by "L. Spencer" (@L.Spencer) on "What Does U.S. Health Care Look Like Abroad? | NYT Opinion" video.

  1. What amazes me is we have to sign paperwork that we are responsible for all costs, yet there's no way to know those costs ahead of time. Once I was billed for going to the ER and one of the doctors wasn't "in network". So I figured, sure, I'll pay the bill, if my health insurance gives me a list of doctors at the hospital in network, so I can ask each doctor what network they are before they treat me. Ended up appealing the bill to the state, who made the health insurance pay it. Stupid me, should have left it at that, but I asked the state person why it was that the health insurance didn't cover it, and he felt I was disrespecting him and ungrateful for his help. That was a few years ago. Just this week, different health insurance now, my husband got approved for an eye exam, ordered by his doctor because he has diabetes. We were surprised he was approved, since we don't have vision coverage. I called the health insurance, who said they don't have any approval on record. The health insurance called the medical group's referral department, who says it must have been automatically approved, and now they're reviewing it. So if we wouldn't have looked into it, we could have been on the hook for hundreds of dollars for a vision exam, even though it was "approved".
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