A chronicle of our lives. One day, maybe a book...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The real problem with healthcare

The real problem with healthcare is that the prices are exorbitant. It has NOTHING to do with insurance, insurance costs, premiums or the insurance business AT ALL. The healthcare bill passed by congress will do nothing to decrease the cost of health care - only force employed, tax-paying citezens to pay for everyone. My case is made here: I just received the bill for delivering Macey. This does not include Macey's hospital bill, nor does it include my OB/GYN payments, nor does it include the anesthesiologist. All of those bills are separate. This is just for ME, and delivering Macey. I went in the hospital on Wednesday, and was released on Saturday.

TX HLTH ARLINGTON MEMORIAL HOSP

Private Room: 3240.00
Drugs: 196.25
Med/Surg Supplies: 54.00
Laboratory Services: 1225.50
Laboratory Services: 194.25
Laboratory Services: 60.75
Laboratory Services: 334.00
Operating Room: 2462.00
Operating Room: 642.75
Drugs: 737.11
Recovery Room: 1057.25
Totals: $10,203.86

Does anyone see a problem with this? $3,200 for a private room? At Arlington Memorial, they don't offer anything BUT a private room in the maternity ward. $933 for drugs? I was on a morphine drip for 12 hours, then I had pain meds (ONE Lortab and a motrin every 4 hours after that) And that cost almost a grand? What the heck kind of labs are they running, either? More than $1800 in lab services? I don't even remember them drawing my blood more than three or four times! Over three grand for the operating room - that I was only in for less than two hours??? And than more than $1,000 for the recovery room? I was only in the recovery room for less than two hours!!

Blue Cross Blue Shield covered $9,998 of these costs, but I of course had to pay my 20%, and my deductible, so that means we paid more than $2,200 out of our pocket for Macey just to be delivered at the hospital. BCBS ended up only paying about $7,700 of my hospital stay (Remember I didn't include OB/GYN costs, Macey's dr. bills and separate deductible, or the anesthesiologist) That is in addition to the $350 per month for my insurance premium that is deducted out of my paycheck monthly.

Just think: If the true cost of healthcare went down: meaning: hospitals and doctors not charging an arm and a leg for every little thing a patient touches, then the insurance companies would not have to pay out as much to said hospitals, then said insurance companies wouldn't have to charge such costly premiums, then consumer (patient) ME wouldn't have to pay so much! The government buying insurance for every American will do nothing to lower the costs of healthcare. Sadly, it will do the opposite. It is going to force the hospitals to charge even more for their services, therefore, causing the insurance companies will be forced to fork over more money to pay the hospital bills, therefore, the insurance companies will pass the buck to you and me, and premiums will skyrocket. Alas. A sad day.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Macey's Debut

The day finally arrived! I felt like it would never come! I was actually hoping she would arrive on February 26th, which is my mom's birthday. I thought it would be neat that they could share a birthday, plus, it would put almost exactly 3 weeks between each grandchild's birthday. Macey had other plans, though!

I had a scheduled c-section on March 10, 2010. I woke up and got ready. I put on Make-up and straightened my hair. It was such a relaxing morning. Mom and Dad came over to watch Mikayla for us. They were bringing her up to the hosptial about 30 minutes after we left. I arrived at the hospital at about 11, and I was supposed to go into the OR at 12:30, but there was an emergency c-section that came in before me, so I got bumped. We didn't go into the OR until about 1:45. I hadn't eaten anything all day, because I was going into surgery. I was starving and thirsty by the time I was on my way in.

The nurses and I were chatting as we went in to the OR. As I was sitting on the table, and the anesthesiologist was prepping me, my doctor started talking about how she bought milk from a man down the street from her and she was making homemade butter. How random, I thought. As my spinal began to take effect, they quickly laid me down on the table, and I thought to myself that I cannot do this again, and this will be my last child. Fear gripped me, which was unusual, because I hadn't felt that way until that very moment. I guess the realization that my precious child was about to be cut out of me had set in.

The surgery went great. The anesthesiologist kept having to give me different drugs to counter the side effects of the drugs he was giving me. I don't know how many different drugs he adminstered, but it was a lot. He gave me novacaine, and I asked him and Adam, "Is that noise real?" I knew it could possibly be a side effect of a drug, but it sounded so real. The anesthesiologist asked what it sounded like, and I told him it sounded like an alien spaceship. He laughed, and said he hadn't heard it described like that beforem but it was indeed a side effect to the novacaine. Interesting.

Evidently, Macey didn't want to leave her warm cocoon, and my OB?GYN had to use a suction cup to pull her out. She couldn't get a good suction, and the suction cup came flying out and hit my OB/GYN in the goggles! After several tries, Macey Jane Mercer arrived at 2:42 p.m., and she weighed 9 lbs. 8.6 oz. and was 21 and 1/4 inches long. Adam's first words upon seeing Macey were, "She has dark hair - and a lot of it!" I knew then that Macey and Mikayla would be opposites! I got my first glimpse of her, and tears welled up in my eyes. I instantly fell in love with her. I wanted to hold her so badky, but I couldn't The nurse handed her to Adam, and he brought her close to my face, where I could kiss and stroke hers. I just kept telling her how much I loved her. Once again, I was in awe of God's wonderful gift of children.

I got to carry her out of the OR into the recovery room, where all the family waited: Mikayla, SuSu, Daddy Pat, Grandma, Grandpa and Ross. Everyone started immediately taking pictures and texting and calling other relatives and friends. At one point, I had to tell everyone to stop it with the phones and cameras. I realized that no one was actually looking at Macey. They were all looking at her through the lense of a camera. I love pictures, but I wanted them to see HER, not moving pictures of her.

Mikayla absolutely loves her little sister, and she has done a great job adjusting to not being the only child. Every day when she came into our hospital room, Mikayla immediately wanted to know where Macey was so she could give her a kiss. She wanted to hold her and kiss her the whole time. My c-section recovery was harder than with Mikayla, so I asked my doctor if I could stay an extra day at the hospital. It was so nice to have food delivered to me, and have Macey, the TV, the toilet and the shower all within 3 steps! We came home on Saturday the 13th, and Macey is the best baby ever! She sleeps great, and she rarely cries! She loves to be held and cuddled, and she is just so precious. She captured our hearts so quickly!