Medical Billing ...??? !!!

[SW0110]

Social security tax in 2019 was 7.65 percent. The Medicare portion was 1.45 of that. The ss stops at around 133000. Medicare does not stop.

My dad got into a discussion once with me. He draws about 1500 a month. He is well into his 80s. Draws 18000 a year. Complained about what he paid in versus what he gets.

Being an accountant, I factored in what he paid in over his life. Pulled out his payments since drawing ss at 62. He is over 200,000 to the positive. Plugging in earnings he is still in the positive. He has 0 retirement from working 30 years at a company.

Ss is not the issue for current drawers, it is for future drawers. My dad thought his ss money was in something like a 401k. I explained, nope, you are paid from what is in the ss fund plus current contributions from collected taxes each year. Going down each year.

[Gt1956]

So true. Some draw out lots more than paid in. I've had friends that died early & didn't get squat. One guy, I'm not sure he even got his first check before his fatal heart attack. But I'm sure his widow was able to draw on his. At least I think he was married. Been a long time & I don't remember.
Since your familar with ss. All that big money some people think they paid into ss was actually paid on something like 3% of earnings.

[Biker60]

:o .Well the hospital bill came in the mail today 13 days post surgery. The insurance has been billed but of course the insurance company has not had time to respond. I almost went into shock. The bill was pennies shy of 75k. I am up at 2am with this on my mind. I told my wife if the insurance don’t come through we have lost the farm. I know the insurance company won’t end up paying that much in the end but wow. I had to have a CT scan Monday and my insurance would not approve it. The lady at the imagining clinic said they had placed the request for CT into pending and it might take 48-72 hours to get approved or it could be denied. They were to bill the insurance approximately $600 for the scan. I went the self pay route and cost me $300 cash. No wonder our healthcare cost are through the roof. I am not 65 yet so I’m still in the private insurance sector but you know Medicare is free to the Recepient. I said I wished my life away for my previous birthdays (15th get drivers license, 18th could buy beer, 21st could gamble) but older now and don’t want to wish my life away cause it goes by fastest enough on its own !!
But I do declare if 65 don’t sound good right now sitting here worrying at 2:20 in the morning.

Just wondered if anyone was shocked by the cost involved?
I got to have another surgery because of another issue in the next several days so I guess sleepless nights have just begun.
Thanks for any input.
Ron

Mine was 95k and the Dr for 10k for penile plastic surgery. But because they coded wrong I was left with 45K. Hospital coded it wrong. Implant was for PD and not ED. Told the hospital I can't appeal until they correct the issue. So they adjusted the 45K to $330 and that was it. You can negotiate the bill with many hospitals.