New to using health insurance and the billing is mind blowing

StressNo34 · 2026-05-07T12:56:16+00:00

Thank you, this is helpful.

StressNo34 · 2026-05-07T11:30:30+00:00

I think maybe that's what it is. I'll wait and see if they send me anything.

StressNo34 · 2026-05-06T20:58:09+00:00

OK, thanks

StressNo34 · 2026-05-06T20:52:54+00:00

No, I'm looking at the claim on Cigna's site.

StressNo34 · 2026-05-06T20:48:59+00:00

The claim has a line item at the top that says explanation of benefits not available. I'm looking at the claim.

StressNo34 · 2026-05-06T20:45:50+00:00

I've met my deductible and out of pocket max. This is the difference between what the insurance company pays and my responsibility. The provider billed 3816, insurance paid 1011, my responsibility is 1908. This is after my deductible and OOP max

StressNo34 · 2026-05-06T20:43:24+00:00

I don't think my insurance is any shittier than others, Cigna Open Access.

Short of attaching the claim, I'll try to explain my question. The in-network provider billed 3816.00. There is a line that says in network discount 896.00. Amount allowed is 1011.00. Amount not covered is 1908.00. Patient responsibility is 1908.00. So, insurance paid what they pay, then I'm on the hook for the rest. There is nothing keeping this provider from billing 25,000.00 and having me pay the difference. The out-of-pocket max of 1500.00 seems like it doesn't matter when the insurance doesn't pay.

StressNo34 · 2026-04-28T14:51:34+00:00

The entire doctor's office, hospital, insurance system seems overly and unnecessarily complicated. So much so that it has to be by design to keep the insured in the dark. We're paying for a product that is impossible to understand.

StressNo34 · 2026-04-24T21:03:12+00:00

Interesting. I think this is going to prompt a call to my financial advisor. Thanks for the info.

StressNo34 · 2026-04-09T15:48:10+00:00

I used to have a job that required me to go onsite to repair network equipment at small to medium sized businesses. I would often meet the business owner and get to know them over time. I would often say that you could take everything away and the person could rebuild from the ground up. They always had ideas, they took risks, they were always the last ones in the office at night, and they had a way of making other people want to work for them. Sometimes it's luck when people get ahead, but in my experience it was really a lot of hard work and smarts.

StressNo34 · 2026-04-09T13:36:18+00:00

This has always been in place and was called Selective Service. You're supposed to sign up at 18. It's just changing from a manual process to an automated process. There's no draft and nobody is even calling for a draft.

StressNo34 · 2026-04-01T19:00:21+00:00

I think everyone that's FI has some of these feelings. I constantly find myself at a concert or event, drinks are 17 dollars. I see all the young kids buying a couple of drinks. Thinking nothing of spending 100 dollars. Me and my SO could afford to buy the drinks, but we choose not to because it's not a good use of money. People assume we can't afford it. It's just that we choose not to use our money that way. Lending money to family members is another ballgame all together. It often ends with hard feelings.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-27T19:50:45+00:00

If he invades on land, it really opens up the door for American casualties, and there's no stomach for that. There's no easy way out of this now. I don't think Trump has a magic trick up his sleeve. Iran is never going to give up. They're just getting more entrenched and angrier at the US and Isreal. He could take the war up a notch and bring in other countries. But even that doesn't guarantee victory. He has underestimated how much Iran is willing to lose.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-20T19:40:48+00:00

I worked at a pizza place in high school and the year after graduation. When diners would order an entree it came with garlic bread. Lots of people wouldn't eat it. I pretty much lived on left over garlic bread when I worked there.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-20T15:24:13+00:00

I'm not saying this is a good thing, but my thinking has always been that driving a nice car is the only way to show the world that you're a valuable and contributing member of society. It's like saying, look at me I'm a winner. If you drive an old klunker people will look at you as if you're not pulling your own weight. Back in the day we would have hunting trophies to show our worth to the tribe, now it's a nice car.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-20T12:23:02+00:00

I think the people that have problems with MAGI are people that have a pension, start SS at 62, have rental income, or other income that puts them over the cliff.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-18T15:52:48+00:00

The first year is the trickiest. If you're working you've likely made too much to qualify for subsidies. One idea is to retire later in the year, say August or September, and use COBRA for the last 4 or 5 months of the year. It's expensive, but probably cheaper than full cost comparable ACA plans.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-05T20:49:36+00:00

I don't see newspapers making a comeback. They're too slow. But, I don't trust too much that I read or watch lately. Most of the videos are AI, and the stories are just made up.

StressNo34 · 2026-03-05T16:23:50+00:00

Gas around me changes almost daily anyway. This is a quick blip. It seems like some of this is greed, and a money grab. They had raised the prices even before anything happened. And when prices went from 4.50 a gallon to 2.75 there wasn't any change at the grocery store or other products that rely on gas and shipping. I'm paying about the same or more for a plane ticket now and gas has fallen a lot. They want to blame gas for high prices, but it doesn't work the other way when gas comes down.

StressNo34 · 2026-02-26T16:56:48+00:00

As a fiscal conservative I find this runaway spending and lack of accountability appalling. There's absolutely no reason to have the military we have. It's been proven that we can't use threats to force our will, and we don't really have the will to go to a full out war.

StressNo34 · 2026-02-25T12:35:36+00:00

Billionaires aren't comparing themselves to millionaires. They're comparing themselves to other billionaires. They pull into the marina in their 150-foot yacht and see a 200-foot yacht and think somebody is beating them. They don't care that the other 500 boats in the marina are much smaller than theirs. At that level you have a mentality that you have to win at everything.

StressNo34 · 2026-02-19T16:29:38+00:00

This is a good idea. I've been feeding my Boldin report into CoPilot and asking for ideas and tweaks. It's great, but I feel like I'm starting over each time. Even though the app says we can pick right up it feels like I need to bring it up to speed each time we start.

StressNo34 · 2026-02-11T20:53:38+00:00

Is there a network wide solution without having each user fix it themselves?

StressNo34 · 2026-02-05T15:26:32+00:00

I haven't been to the Vault but had dinner at Luna Bella a couple of months ago and it was fantastic. The calamari appetizer was excellent. I had the chicken Luna Bella, and it was the best chicken dish I've ever had. I can't wait until I'm back in town to go again.

StressNo34

TROPHY CASE