Last month Osmel Martinez Azkue, recently returned home to Miami from China, began still feel. Under other circumstances he would have written off the troubling symptoms of ordinary flu and limit the medicines from the local pharmacy — but in a country where Osmel came, raged coronavirus. The man decided to take the test on COVID-19: for the safety of family, friends and colleagues.
Azcue went to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was advised to do a CT scan to rule out coronavirus, but Osmel such expenses were not affordable. The man asked to begin to take blood and check for flu-does he have — and, fortunately, that was enough.
Azkue really was the flu, not the deadly virus that killed more than 2 thousand of people around the world. Osmel have breathed a sigh of relief and returned home safely, but two weeks later I received a very unpleasant news: the insured reported that he will have to pay for the survey, $3,270.
At the hospital assured that the insurance will allow Asche to pay only $1,400. The only catch: you first need the medical records for three years showing that the flu was not associated with any other disease from which the man suffered before joining the current insurance plan in force.
Azkue is one of the so-called «junk insurance» (junk plan), approved by the administration of the President of trump in 2018. According to experts, they reduce the monthly cost of taxpayers, but in case of emergency have to pay almost as much as would without any insurance at all.
«When someone has flu symptoms, they must consult a doctor. — said Sabrina Corlette, a Professor from Georgetown University and Director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, in an interview with the Miami Herald — But if the patient is «junk insurance» and he understands that he will ultimately receive for examination the account that is unable to pay, it just will not go to the hospital. In the end, it can turn into a real public health crisis».
Azkue says switched to a new plan after the previous — under the Affordable Care Act — has risen from $278 to $400 per month. Now he pays $180 a month, but I have to always be prepared for surprises like the recent accounts of $3,270.
As explained Corlette, case Osmesa — are not uncommon. The patient, who chooses «junk insurance» could easily be forced to pay the full cost of cancer treatment if, at the time the previous plan to the doctor at least admit the likelihood of developing the disease.
According to the man, his case is a clear example of how the high cost of medical services can cause a full-fledged epidemic.
«You cannot expect that the patient will agree on examination <…> knowing that then it will be forced to pay $3,270 for the analysis of blood and nasal swab» — said Azcue.
Today the worldwide recorded more than 80 thousand cases of coronavirus. Of these, at least 53 in the United States.
