How in the world to people afford this?
My insurance refused any part of the bariatric needs--labs, diagnostics, surgeon, hospital, etc--so I opted to withdraw from 401k. It's ~$16,000 here in Texas, so I had to take out closer to $20,000 to cover taxes/etc. Yes, I will take a huge hit on my future retirement funds as well as the $20k, but I can't base every decision on financial gains later. I am at the end of the line with T2DM medications and am terrified of further complications as I've lost feeling in my toes and seriously injured myself over the summer without even realizing I was wounded. So, I'm taking it on the chin, in the wallet and on my ego for not having saved. I could have bought a beater car and saved that car payment for this, but I have a 90 mile daily commute. I could have chosen another job, for half the pay, but that doesn't serve the long run game either. Nobody understands the complexities of our situations better than ourselves. I've been looking at this since 2001, but insurance never covered. So I'd diet, exercise, lose 60-90 lbs, gain it all back...lather, rinse, repeat. I'm tired of duct tape and ready and positioned for a real, statistically successful solution with the understanding that this is going to be my tool to jump start my new life. I wish you the best!
It's been a long time since I lived in the U.S. so I'm not up-to-date with the tax situation, but you may find that your medical expense deduction helps significantly.
Also, there used to be some sort of arrangement where you could make pre-tax contributions to a medical fund, which you would have to use during the calendar year or lose it. If that's still a thing, it could be a big help depending on your tax bracket.
Also, there used to be some sort of arrangement where you could make pre-tax contributions to a medical fund, which you would have to use during the calendar year or lose it. If that's still a thing, it could be a big help depending on your tax bracket.
That is still true, but that HSA funds is available only for people with high deductible insurance, and this year has a limit of 3,500, or 7000 for family
"HSA Eligibility"To be eligible for an HSA, you must meet the following requirements, as defined by the IRS: You must be covered under a qualifying high-deductible health plan (HDHP) on the first day of the month. You have no other health coverage except what is permitted by the IRS."
"HSA holders can choose to save up to $3,500 for an individual and $7,000 for a family (HSA holders 55 and older get to save an extra $1,000 which means $4,500 for an individual and $9,000 for a family) - and these contributions are 100% tax deductible from gross income."
The new limits for health savings accounts (HSA) for 2020 are going up $50 for individual coverage and $100 for family coverage, the IRS announced last week, bringing them to $3,550 and $7,100, respectively.
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
the cost for me was one of the biggest reasons that i didn't have it done many years ago. back when i was only 350-385 or something like that. Sadly i ended up going to the ER in june-ish and got an ambulance ride 2 hrs away to a better hospital where i spent 2 nights getting tested to make sure i didn t have a heart attack or anything else. that weekend alone ended up taking all my co pay and out of pocket and just shoved it in my face. since then the rest of the year has been 100% covered from the insurance. If that hospital trip would not have happened id still be sitting here 465 lbs wondering when my heart will give out. If my out of pocket wasn't met the surgery was about 17k here. witch was very discouraging. I understand living remote in alaska i know there is cities and everything up there but most o fhte state is pretty remote the town i live in is 2hrs + from anything else and the hospital here takes advantage of that to the Nth degree health care here is expensive as all get out and half our doc are not competent in the field they are fulfilling.
It also sounds like your insurance is .. sorry for the language... pretty ****ty. hopefully your not paying too much for it. Does your state have a state wide insurance or anything? Like here in Nevada we have the Nevada health link depending on your income you can qualify for different plans at different prices. some cover more then others of course. and there are a ton of hoops to jump thru when it comes to qualifying thru government insurance but might give you the ability to look into this a bit more seriously. just a thought. I know how discouraging it is to be in that situation. Hopefully you can find something that allows you to do this for your health and your family and the betterment of your life in the long term! GL AlaskaLass ill be rooting for you!
Thank you so much!!! Unfortunately my insurance will only cover half no matter if I meet my deductible or not. I work at a hospital and the insurance they have for us is about the worst in the state. My husband and I make enough to pay the bills but to much for Medicaid.
thank you for sharing your story with me??
