A cautionary tale: A Miami man doesn't have the coronavirus but may now owe thousands of dollars...

[babylonsister]

A cautionary tale: A Miami man doesn't have the coronavirus but may now owe thousands of dollars for being tested
Haven Orecchio-Egresitz
Feb 24, 2020, 12:16 PM

A Miami man who recently visited China came home with flu-like symptoms.

To ensure he didn't have the deadly coronavirus, he went to the hospital to be screened.

It turns out that the man had the flu, not the coronavirus. But now he could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills.

An insurance expert told the Miami Herald the case was a cautionary tale about deregulation in the insurance market.

The coronavirus outbreak has already killed thousands, and health officials are urging anyone who is experiencing flu-like symptoms and has recently visited China to get screened for the illness.

In the US, that kind of vigilance can cost patients thousands, according to the Miami Herald.

Last month, Osmel Martinez Azcue, a Miami resident, returned from a work trip in China with flu-like symptoms. He visited the hospital to make sure he didn't have the coronavirus, the Miami Herald reported.

Azcue had the flu, not the coronavirus. But he has limited insurance coverage and received a claim for $3,270 two weeks after his test. He'll be responsible for about $1,400 of that bill, according to the Herald.

"How can they expect normal citizens to contribute to eliminating the potential risk of person-to-person spread if hospitals are waiting to charge us $3,270 for a simple blood test and a nasal swab?" Azcue told the Herald.

Hospital officials at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Azcue was seen, told the Miami Herald that in addition to the bill, he would also have to provide three years of medical records to prove the flu he got didn't relate to a preexisting condition.

"That's the critical difference between [Affordable Care Act] plans and junk plans," Sabrina Corlette, a Georgetown University professor and codirector of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, told the Herald. "[Junk plans] will not cover pre-existing conditions."

more...

https://www.businessinsider.com/miami-man-doesnt-have-coronavirus-but-could-now-owe-thousands-2020-2?fbclid=IwAR2v0DZfImbPfvdWwedN1I46FhmTzE7U8pBOa-ZiMaczlOEUS1OclRfhv50

[ck4829]

1. "Greatest healthcare system in the world" at it again I see

[Wounded Bear]

5. We don't have a healthcare "system"...we have a for-profit health care industry.

[smirkymonkey]

6. +1000

It's a travesty. Maybe this is what it will take to wake people up.

[BusyBeingBest]

2. If I didn't have health insurance, or money available, or a job that wouldn't

let me spend a week or more quarantining at home, would I run to the doctor out of fear of coronavirus symptoms? Fuck no. I'd wait till it got bad. This is the system we have in this country.

[KT2000]

3. and they want to take this crap

across state lines! Washington State has a preexisting clause that protects us but the republicans want to do away with that and bring those junk insurance policies here.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Is anyone here surprised.

The trickle down cost to possible victims will promote the spread of the illness. Health care costs in the good ol' USA are going to kill us. Is that the plan, GOP?