Bad news: My premium is over $100 more than the price I was originally quoted, and even the previous base price was more than I can really afford.
Hard decision: There is no way I can afford both this and therapy. My plan doesn't cover any behavioral health services until I meet the deductible, and even then it only covers half. My sessions are $70/week, or about $300 a month. There is no possible way to squeeze enough money for both out of my budget every month, I am a f*ing graduate student, for crying out loud. Being an academic-in-training at a university may carry some degree of prestige at times, but it is a state of poverty nonetheless. Even after I hit the deductible and am only paying half as much for therapy (which would take about 14 therapy visits, 4ish months), I would still be paying $150 per month on top of my $350 premium, which is simply not feasible.
I can't go without health coverage. Even healthy people get in car wrecks, get surprise cancers, etc. I will be doing a lot of traveling over the next year, including pretty intense work in a developing country, which will put me at higher risk for disease/injury.
My mom just quit her job to go back to law school, meaning they lost quite a bit of income while taking on huge expenses for her tuition and books. They help me as much as they can, but right now they're really strained also.
So....we'll see, I guess.
5 comments:
Congrats on the health insurance, but that's awful on the therapy. Health care is so, so broken in this country - but it passed the House, so maybe there is hope.
Are you living in an inexpensive city/state? Therapy around here is usually over $100 an hour - $120ish, for the most part. My plan is particularly bizarre as I see a therapist through my school - the statements say that it's $200 an hour, but I only get charged a small co-pay, so it doesn't really matter. Still - $200? Really? Would anyone actually pay that?
Ellie: Thanks for bringing that up, I meant to make a note of why my therapy is so cheap. The cost of living here is actually much higher than my previous city, but my new therapist is an Clinical Social Worker, not a psychologist, so she only costs about half as much as H. did before I moved. I was skeptical about seeing a non-psychologist at first, but she has over 15 years experience with EDs and I haven't had any doubts about her competence at all.
I agree with you on actual health care costs. Like my bone scan last year would have been $2500 without insurance. ??? That's like charging a kid 50 bucks for a candy bar: no matter how much they want it, it's impossible to pay without help. Health care is completely disconnected from real markets.
I have just been through a very similar situation - and I pretty much told my RD and T that I had to quit treatment because I couldn't afford it.
They told me that was not really an option and now I see each of them once a month (so I see someone every 2 weeks). It is not ideal, but I at least still have a safety net and some guidance.
Can you work out anything like this with your T? Something is always better than nothing.
This situation just sucks - but I am glad you got approved for insurance!
As you know, I completely empathize with your health cost issues. Can I ask what insurance approved you?? You can email me if you don't want to say publicly. I could not get an approval when I tried, so I'm curious. I get insurance with my new job in 3 months, and paying COBRA until then (which is ridiculous, cost-wise). Anyway, health costs are totally bloated because of the way insurance is. I'm hoping the new health bill will pass in Senate and we'll see some change so there aren't these crazy costs. In an ideal world, we should be able to afford basic care without insurance, but even a doctor's visit can be hundreds of dollars as it is now. I agree with you that you can't really go without insurance in this country these days. The risks are too high. Going without therapy is risky too though. Can you talk to your therapist about doing some kind of sliding scale? The fee is already pretty good, relatively, but I've had therapists go as low as $25/session for me when I was in school. Just an idea. You can also cut down to a couple times a month if necessary. I just wouldn't want you to sacrifice your care because of money. So frustrating!
aarrgh that sucks! hopefully someday insurance companies will be required to pay the same for mental health treatment. When I was at the Center for Change, my insurance covered 10 days at 50%, which was like nothing.
Insurance sucks! But you cant live without it. It's a real catch 22.
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