This Is Why You Need Health Insurance: You Can't Afford to Pay Retail

I Have Marketplace Insurance

I signed up for my new top-of-the-line platinum Blue Cross plan in Tennessee under Obamacare. It costs half of what my former individual plan cost. I'm an Affordable Care Act supporter.

I don't like to tell people what to do. But I'm telling you to sign up for health insurance before March 31. Why? Because you can't afford not to have it.

Let me tell you a little about me. I'm 61. I was diagnosed with breast cancer 7 years ago. I had a mastectomy, several reconstructive surgeries and chemo. Thankfully,  I'm pretty healthy now and am (cross your fingers) cancer-free. I chose a bad plastic surgeon for my mastectomy and I've needed more than the usual number of reconstructive surgeries to try to fix what he messed up.

The Numbers Don't Lie - Insurance Discounts are HUGE

My last surgery was on Valentine's Day. A few little problems arose after the surgery and I ended up in the emergency room. You might be surprised by the actual charges for all of the care I received. I was. 

And the difference between what was submitted to Blue Cross and what Blue Cross allowed Vanderbilt to charge is BIG.

 Look at the following chart to see what health insurance does for you:

Shocked? The biggest thing health insurance does is to provide a discount. Sure, health insurance shares the cost of care with you once you've met your deductible. But the insurance write offs are huge. These are real figures from my surgery.

Because I had Blue Cross insurance, the allowed charges for the operating room for my surgery were $3,577.86 instead of $21,283.28. That is an 83% discount. 

My relatively straightforward outpatient surgery would have amounted to roughly $28,000 if I had not had insurance. I'm grateful that Blue Cross paid the great majority of the $7,000 which they did allow. The  75% discount came automatically from my having health insurance from the marketplace.

This Won't Happen to You, Right?

In case you're thinking you don't have to worry about this because you don't have my medical history and you're much younger than I am,  just take a look at the emergency room charges. You could end up in the ER if you were in an accident. And you could be facing $15,000 in charges rather than the $3,000 left after Blue Cross discounts. 

Since I chose a platinum plan, my out of pocket maximum expenditure for this year is $1,800. So, even with my monthly insurance payment and my out-of-pocket costs, I'm way ahead. 

Can you afford not to be insured?