I had an accident (or what anyone in their right mind would classify as an accident) on June 8th. While weeding around the roses in my garden I thought that I had been poked by a rose thorn when actually, I was bitten by a baby rattlesnake that was hiding in the weeds at the base of the rose bush. I was driven to the emergency room at our local hospital where they administered potentially life-saving anti-venin.
According to their newly instituted hospital Rattlesnake Bite Protocol, after the anti-venin was administered I was admitted to their Intensive Care Unit for further administration of anti-venin as well as vital sign and blood coagulation monitoring. The total bill for 27 hours in the hospital was $73,000.
United American has paid $3,000.00
I had been sold the United American Flex-Plan as a replacement to a Blue Shield policy that I had paid for through Cobra after retiring from my job. I was assured that I was receiving a plan that was equivalent to the plan I had been on. Had U/A the negotiating ability of Blue Shield, the bill would have been reduced a small percentage of this bill. As it stands, I am now working through hospitalvictims.org to get the billing reduced.
In the words of Dawn Mitchel, one of United American's Health Benefits Division Workers, their policy is supposed to be "providing valuable protection against the unexpected expenses of illness or injury".
What would qualify for that better than a Rattlesnake bite?
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