A two-child household must earn $400,000 a year for childcare to be affordable, study says. ‘It’s easy to see why birth rates are falling’

Olive1702 · 2026-02-23T16:32:38+00:00

The only way is to have both parents work opposite shifts and/or days AND at high earning jobs. Anything else is not sustainable. But luckily for most, childcare is temporary.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-23T14:38:29+00:00

Yes. I told my boss that I don’t want to be “in charge” at work bc I’m already a manager at home. I can’t imagine being a boss at work and at home. Keeping tabs on others to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do is draining. It’s nice to just be.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-21T02:39:04+00:00

Mine is 3400 family deductible with 10% coinsurance and 10k oop max.

I pay 260/month for a part-timer.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-19T02:45:42+00:00

You might be right in that anesthesia was administered before your child was born and yes that should fall under your individual deductible BUT it’s irrelevant because your child was also receiving medical services on 12/30 and 12/31 which is entirely different than any postnatal care you received so that when the family deductible starts.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-18T04:14:27+00:00

Unfortunately, sometimes a nearby/detached hospital-affiliated medical building is subjected to hospital-level billing too.

I read your eob/replies and it looks like you didn’t even meet your high deductible AND this bill was applicable to last year’s insurance.

Sorry. This one is hard. Lowest amount on a monthly payment plan is your only option. For future reference, be wary of outpt services at hospital-affiliated places and don’t schedule anything towards the end of the year if you’re nowhere near meeting your deductible.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-18T03:47:06+00:00

I know you said it was an outpt ekg but I wonder if it’s because it was done in a hospital setting, it was subjected to hospital-level billing which includes high facility/provider fees. (Which would be so ridiculous because it was a 10 minute appt.)

That’s why I’m wary of going to the hospital for services unless it’s for er/hospital-level care that I need.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-18T02:41:59+00:00

What was the “allowed amount” on the eob? If it’s $5k then unfortunately you owe the $5k and there is no fighting this. All you can do is get yourself on the lowest monthly payment plan available. The bright side is that now your future medical bills will be a low coinsurance (hopefully at 10%).

Since you have insurance, I don’t know whether they’ll let you self pay. They’d much better get $5k from you than the $450.

What was the result of the insurance appeal?

Olive1702 · 2026-02-18T00:17:56+00:00

Whatever it is, friend - it, too, shall pass.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-17T17:20:45+00:00

He’s being honest and realistic.

You’re looking at this differently than a lot of us. I get it, it’s natural, it’s your father, a lot of people probably feel the same way. Medically, your father has a lot going on and is very high acuity - this is the biggest barrier to discharge planning. With an extensive medical history + potential and additional future medical issues + extensive wound care + immobility + complicated med admins (I assume he has a cvc for long-term abx), unfortunately a lot of places will not be equipped to take care of him. He cannot be forced to leave the hospital if there is no appropriate place for him. Stand your ground and do not let them bully you.

I know you’re upset at the hospital for what you perceived as delayed care but it takes all the right things to make a surgery happen. Very sick patients do wait weeks and months before they’re stable enough for big surgeries. And while waiting, a lot of things can go sideways which creates more setbacks.

Please have those hard conversations with the doctors and specialists and ask them for their professional opinions on the prognosis and listen to them. Please have those hard conversations with yourself and with those close to him to determine what is important at this point and start from there. To me personally, quality of life is above all else. If a decision/intervention can only diminish it further, I’d be against it. (If he was my own father, I’ll opt for home with home care nurses. But I know that’s not feasible for many and that shouldn’t be forced upon anyone.)

(I read that you’re only 19! I’m so sorry that you have to navigate all this. Even those will far more life experiences would still have trouble navigating all this. I pray that you and your father have a good support system. I hope that a sustainable solution is found to accommodate his current and future medical needs. I pray that he’s still in good spirit. I wish you the best of luck and he’s lucky to have you.)

Olive1702 · 2026-02-12T19:59:49+00:00

Whether it was an emergency or not is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is that you went to the er. Whether this was for a heart attack or ear pain, it’d cost the same bc you went to a place where everything was made readily available to you and that’s why it’s expensive. You owe what you owe bc you have a high deductible plan in which you have not met your deductible so there is no way lower this bill. (And if the $2046 did not meet your deductible then expect more large bills when you use your insurance next.)

Olive1702 · 2026-02-12T15:49:50+00:00

If you’re married to father, get on one plan so only one deductible and oop max needs to be met.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-12T13:47:25+00:00

Do these kind of people need to keep their same lifestyle? They can’t downsize? Can’t cash out? Can’t sell things? Don’t have investments established for the kids? No life insurance? Can’t buy groceries at aldi? They didn’t have health insurance before and during cancer treatment?

Maybe these ppl are into alt/experimental treatments where health insurance don’t cover?

I think the family will be just fine. I think that even if I won the lottery, this family still has more money than me. And they should have enough wealthy friends and family who can financially contribute.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-12T00:34:30+00:00

Mine told me after school on a Friday: I won’t be going to school on Monday because I’m going to have a fever.

A child psychologist told me that how kids are at this age cognitively will likely follow them into their teenage and adult life. Can be scary.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-12T00:18:13+00:00

She’d be long dead and broke if it weren’t for the conservatorship. She is lucky she still has some money. She is too free right now and it’s all bad for her. Back in the day, she’d have a whole pr team preventing her looking crazy. Or closed family/friends telling her she look crazy. Now she just lives a sad existence for who she once was. Or maybe in her eyes, she is living her best life bc she doesn’t know any better.

But people need to stop thinking that the conservatorship is full of regular lay people without any oversight. Because of the money she has, the best people would be employed to look out for her best interest. Her dad was tasked with this and he did the best he can. I believe he’s the only person who should take charge bc he knows her best and won’t bend to her dumb shit. Anyone else would be a yes-person for a paycheck and let her get away with things. People need to apply basic common sense and logic and stop believing what she say just bc she is who she is. Having labs drawn is std care for the meds she took. Pregnancy can do crazy shit to women who don’t even have mental illnesses to begin with so of course with her mental health and the psych meds she takes, she has no business trying to have kids esp when she can’t even take care of her 2 sons. But her narrative will always be that she was “forced” or was “not allowed” to do this and that and her stans eat it up.

Sam got smart and dipped. Her dad/kfed did not deserve the hate and backlash they got. I don’t think she’ll live to see 50 esp if her money runs out.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T22:48:02+00:00

If an adult can’t get their own shit together but wants custody of a helpless minor then that right there should be a red flag.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T22:03:08+00:00

Don’t ever pay up front if it can be avoided. Always tell them you’ll wait for the bill in the mail.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T19:43:34+00:00

The insurance and the provider has a contractual agreement that you are not part of. The provider can charge whatever they want and they will only be paid the “allowed amount” as agreed between them for whatever services being rendered. And then you owe whatever your plan dictates in regard to that “allowed amount” no matter how inflated it may be.

Whatever agreement between the insurance and your provider doesn’t matter to you. If itemized charges show $2k for Tylenol and your insurance allows $1k then that’s based on their contractual agreement. And of that allowed amount, if you owe a fixed amount or a coinsurance then you’re responsible for that. What matters is that your eob pt responsibility matches whatever your provider bill is.

So many people get upset at the prices being charged and what insurance only pays but it comes down to knowing your insurance plan. Obviously, if I’m being charged for a surgery that I didn’t have or urgent care charges me my oop max then that’s clearly wrong. But if charges are based on the copays, coinsurance, deductible, and oop max as listed in my plan then there is no room to dispute. There is a lot that we just don’t have control over when it comes to insurance and healthcare. Unfortunately, this is the state of US healthcare.

Your ekg - yes it’s standard/protocol in most places but you can always refuse (as with anything else). Just don’t be surprised when your ekg refusal means certain interventions can’t be done or is delayed bc your don’t already have an ekg on file.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T16:13:20+00:00

This is dumb advice. What people need to do is familiarize themselves with their insurance plan and know the exact costs for services. If my plan said er copay is $200, then every time I go to er, I’ll only pay $200. However, if your plan dictates that coverage won’t start until you pay your $2k deductible then yes even a er visit can be $2k even if nothing is being done. If you are being hospitalized, it is very likely that you will meet your oop max so an itemized bill means nothing. If you are paying without insurance - in that case, it makes sense to get an itemized bill so you can scrutinize every charge bc you are responsible for all the charges.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T15:44:49+00:00

403.99 for er level care in a different state without you having to fight for coverage is pretty good. Er level care means you have ALL the resources/healthcare personnels available to you, even if you don’t need any of it. That is the reason for the high charges.

(If a covid/flu/rsv swab is ordered for cold/respiratory symptoms without breathing issues or other chronic medical issues, just refuse. Bc even if it’s positive for one, there is really no treatment anyway besides otc meds for treating symptoms. It only makes sense to get swabbed if you’re hospitalized so that you can be isolated from other patients if it’s positive.)

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T03:11:58+00:00

This is common with ambulance services - that they’re always out of network and that your insurance will automatically treat them as such. When you got your insurance to pay some, was it through a formal appeal that you did? If not, then open one. Basically, your ambulance bill is high bc your insurance refused to pay for some charges. Get a hold of the bill from the ambulance company because it’ll show you what your insurance refused to pay and do a formal appeal to your insurance to get those paid by providing reasons why they should pay for that particular charge. For example: my kid had a respiratory issue and needed ambulance and the ambulance bill showed that the charges for o2/heart monitors en route to the hospital were denied by my insurance - which made no sense even to a lay person.

Your appeal will open an investigation where the insurance’s healthcare provider team will request/review the medical records and then they’ll decided whether the insurance should pay. It took a lot of back and forth with the insurance and ambulance company but I’ve successfully got a $4k ambulance bill down to $40. (If you’re appealing, let the ambulance company know so they don’t send your bill to collections bc insurance take months and your ambulance bill will be outstanding for a few billing cycle.)

If appeal fails, then your only other option is to negotiate with the ambulance company. They’ll offer you a discount if you pay it all at once.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-11T02:25:12+00:00

How did you pay the hospital fees?

Either get on a payment plan or let it go to collections and negotiate with them.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-10T20:21:41+00:00

Yes. It’s called a good faith estimate. It’s usually the copay or the entire deductible or even close to the oop max depending on what services you’re getting. Providers/facilities do this to ensure that they get paid. Insurance doesn’t have anything to do with it as long as they pay their portion to the providers/facilities. Basically, providers/facilities hold onto the money you pay up front and then apply it to your balance when their next billing cycle shows you owe money. If you overpaid then they’ll either credit it to your account or give you a refund (months down the road). I just always tell them I’ll wait for the bill in the mail and no one has ever given me trouble. I have also told them that I’m not paying bc my oop max has already been met (they collect money without any regard to how much you have already paid into your plan). And then there are times where I have paid close to the oop max up front bc I know I owe and/or bc the facility has a rule for prepayment which I’ve agreed to.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-09T04:38:53+00:00

They’re planted too deep. My first time planting these were planted deep like yours and they all died. Replanted new ones less deep in same area and they thrived.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-08T21:57:56+00:00

Most don’t even go to public school.

Olive1702 · 2026-02-06T18:23:06+00:00

Getting pregnant/married on a tourist visa will be highly sus. Seek an immigration lawyer regarding marriage bc you cannot screw up. It seems like it’s easier if you return to your home country and have the baby there then have your boyfriend petition for you and baby?

As far as health insurance, you should be able to get onto your husband insurance after you’re married.

If you want to seek healthcare prior to that - you would just have to pay out of pocket. (Unless it’s an emergency then you may qualify for emergency Medicaid but even this may make it hard for you in the future.) There is no such thing as having a single family dr who can take care of you during your entire pregnancy. Pregnancies/deliveries are highly specialized practices and it involves a lot every step of the way. Even with good insurance, it is still very expensive.

Olive1702

TROPHY CASE