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Moyamoya Related Topics >> Patient Resources >> Surgery is way too expensive!
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Message started by Stephanie on Jul 28th, 2016 at 4:47pm

Title: Surgery is way too expensive!
Post by Stephanie on Jul 28th, 2016 at 4:47pm
About a month ago, I had a stroke....I'm only 28, and this shouldn't have happened to me.  The job I worked at didn't provide me with insurance, and I didn't make enough money to afford an insurance plan, also I didn't qualify for medicaid, and still don't, so I am uninsured.
The ER hospital that I went to, the staff were all friendly, and because I was uninsured, they took off 70% from the cost to stay there for three days.  They ran pretty much every test that they could think of on me...since I don't have insurance, there aren't any limitations on what tests they can run I guess.
The stroke that I had was bad enough to cause for me to have difficulty speaking and to lose complete control over my right hand.  I've been working with a complimentary occupational therapy service to help out, and have seen a lot of improvement in it over the past month...in fact, they're about to discharge me from therapy.
Nevertheless, my hospital bill from the ER was over 13,000 dollars.  I was lucky enough to make 10,000 in an entire year at my old job that I had to quit because of this disease, and losing hand function. 
I also cannot work due to high risk of having another stroke, so I'm staying here with my parents, and they are having to provide for me.  They don't even recommend me driving due to possibility of another stroke. 
So, anyway...I do have moyamoya, and that hospital referred me to a specialty stroke clinic in Atlanta.  That clinic charged me $1,000 just for a consultation and to confirm that I had moyamoya disease.  They did some more bloodwork on me, and scheduled an angiogram appointment to check to see if my veins were right for the bypass surgery. 
Then the lady calls me up right before I'm supposed to have the angiogram and tells me that it is gonna be 30,000 dollars!!  And I asked her if we could set up a plan to make payments on it, and she told me that if I didn't have $15,000 on me at the time of the test, they wouldn't do it.  I only have $2,000 in my bank account right now after the $1,000 deduction that they forced me to pay to be seen.  I told the lady I don't have that kind of money and she told me that they wouldn't be able to do the angiogram then.
What kind of backwards society would just let people who could die from this disease suffer because they can't afford the treatment. 
Now, I have to try to apply for disability, which I'm not even sure will work out once they take 6 months to look over my application.  Disability is the only way that I'll be able to get medicaid, and because of my erratic symptoms, I am unfit to continue working.  The job wasn't worth it anyway, but the people there cared a lot about me, and were really sad to see me forced to quit.  I had set up a gofundme and raised 3,000 dollars, but most of that is gonna have to go towards my current mdeical bills since I can't work right now.
But the point of my story is, does the medical industry really care that little about the life of a human being, that they would just let someone waste away and die simply because they didn't have health insurance?
I personally think that it's disgusting.  If any of you know of some alternate way for me to get the treatment I need, please let me know.  I have been having headaches and migraines every day ever since getting diagnosed.  I also get frequent dizzy spells and am always tired.
Please, any advice that you could offer would be great. 

Anyway, this is my first post on the forums.  Sorry to be so depressing.  Even if my life will be cut short by this disease, I'll try to live it to the fullest.

Thanks and God bless,
~Steph

Title: Re: Surgery is way too expensive!
Post by Stephanie on Jul 30th, 2016 at 5:32pm
Well, we might possibly have another option.  Even though I don't qualify for medicaid, the clinic has agreed to give us a letter of urgency to present to the medicaid office.  They told us that sometimes they will give someone medicaid if the situation is a dire emergency, which this is.  So hopefully, we'll get that letter in the mail soon and I can possibly get on medicaid.  Otherwise, I will literally have no way to pay for this surgery.

Title: Re: Surgery is way too expensive!
Post by willowz on Dec 6th, 2016 at 1:50pm
Stephanie--hope you were able to get coverage. Situations like yours are why the Affordable Care Act was passed, to allow everyone to get coverage -as your situation shows, age is not a guarantee of good health. Hospitals are not required to treat people who have no coverage -other than emergency care. If we had a single payer system you would have been treated.

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