My little daughter has broken her elbow - need advice...

[KellyinAr]

I have been stressing and crying about this all weekend. My little girl fell and broke her elbow Thursday evening so we took her to the ER and they splinted it and referred us to an orthopedic specialist who says she needs surgery. The doctor ordered a CT scan and that is when we found out our crappy insurance won't pay a dime until the $5000.00 deductible is met (long story). Well, we don't happen to have $5000.00 at the moment. Anybody have any advice?

[GoVanGogh]

:grouphug:

 

My DH just had surgery a few weeks ago and we had a $5,000 deductible, too. They wouldn't even schedule the surgery until we paid a percentage of it, then we had to pay the remainder the morning of surgery.

The hospital told us that if we didn't have the money, we could apply for a special 'credit card.' It was 18 months, no interest, only used for the hospital/surgery expenses. I think that is the new way they are doing billing. For our son's surgery 2 years ago, we were billed after, then we made payment arrangements with the hospital. Now you have to have all your "financing" in place prior to surgery.

I am so sorry you are going through this. Do you have any children's hospitals in your area that may take your daughter's care?

[Tutor]

Talk to the hospital, orthopaedist, whoever you have to deal with and see if you can set up a payment plan with them. Once they *bill* you for $5000 worth of services, your insurance should kick in and cover anything above that. The hospital or whoever should be able to help you with this as well. They have to deal with insurance companies all the time and know how to time billings, etc. Just make sure you keep copies of *everything* (bills you receive, payment plans you sign, checks you send out, etc) in case you have to submit bills yourself to the insurance company or prove that you have met the $5000 deductible.

 

Hope your little one feels better soon. That sounds like an awfully painful injury. Poor kid.

[sbgrace]

Ours is $6,000. The hospital let us work out a payment plan. Ask about it because many hospitals will. We've had to do that with four different hospitals as my son is medically complicated and we have high deductible insurance. My mother had a fall and emergency surgery and my father is paying $50 a month to the hospital at $100 a month to the surgeon. My BIL had a serious car accident and had a payment plan for everything from the life flight to surgery, ICU, hospital and rehab place. That was five or so years ago and this year they all wrote off the remainders of his bills but he was uninsured so likely paid far more than he should have anyway. Remember the insurance will "write off" much of the initial charges so you determine what to pay once they determine the final charges. Get any plans you make for payment in writing. We relied on oral once and it caused problems.

 

I hate to read about the credit card thing the poster above wrote. That's not how it works around here and I hope that isn't coming. And then do you pay interest after the 18 months? Yuck.

Edited September 26, 2010 by sbgrace

[AuntieM]

:grouphug:

 

Do you have any children's hospitals in your area that may take your daughter's care?

 

I can't imagine that a Children's Hospital (St. Jude) would let this go untreated. They should set up a payment plan for you and help you get it worked out.

 

My eyes tear up for you! Please keep us posted on your little dear one.

[KellyinAr]

Thank you ladies so much for your responses. I live near Fort Worth Texas and there is a children's hospital, Cooks Children's I think. We just moved here and we took her to the Baylor Medical Center because it is closer. My husband tried to call the hospital but with it being the weekend wasn't able to get a hold of anyone. When the hospital called to set up the CT scan she mentioned the medical credit card and I was denied because I don't have a paying job. My husband will have to apply. When I applied they even asked what it was for and they denied me. A 5 year old child needing surgery!

[Joker]

There's also Children's Hospital in Dallas. I grew up nearby and my parents had no insurance but were able to get care at Children's whenever it was needed. I hope you get it worked out soon and your dd feels better.:grouphug:

[5knights3maidens]

Praying your little girl gets care right away. :grouphug:

[gingersmom]

My daughter broke her elbow when she was 8. It was pinned during surgery. Her elbow was x-rayed every few days and about 2 weeks later she needed to have the pins re-adjusted (2nd surgery, thankfully it was shorter).

 

Her arm is not perfectly straight when extended (about 90% perfect).

 

I hope you are able to get her taken care of fast.

[littlebug42]

Try Texas Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas and/or Shriner's Hospital for children in Houston. Both of these hospitals deal strictly with orthopedic issues and care is free. I don't know if they deal with emergent issues such as yours or just chronic conditions but it can't hurt to ask.

 

http://www.shrinershq.org/en/sitecore/content/Hospitals/Houston.aspx

 

http://www.tsrhc.org/

[Teachin'Mine]

I would check to see if there's any state health insurance coverage for her. Each state is different with qualifying incomes and all, so you'll need to check online, or make a call. I don't know if having other health insurance disqualifies you or not. Praying for your daughter and for you. :grouphug:

[scrappyhappymama]

In Ft Worth, you could also take her to John Peter Smith Hospital. It's the county hospital. If you think you could finance it, Cook's is great, but if not JPS will work with you.

 

So sorry your little one is hurting!! My 5 yr old broke his arm just below the elbow last spring. We also have a high deductible health plan, but were just fortunate that his was not serious enough for surgery.

Edited September 26, 2010 by scrappyhappymama

[joannqn]

Yes, contact state medical. Here in Washington you can get children's medical even with a pretty high income. Up to a certain income, children's medical is completely free; at higher incomes you can get children's medical for a $20 monthly premium. For my family, we can make more than $7,000 a month and still qualify. And you can get it as a secondary to other insurance.

 

They have another program here called a "spend down" also. It's kind of like having a deductible. They determine how much you have to pay in medical expenses before they cover the rest. Any and all medical expenses within a certain time period counts toward the spend down...even expenses unrelated to the bill at hand.

 

So, call the state and see what is available.