The anticipated hospital bill

We have received our Explanation of Health Care Benefits.  

Not a pleasant piece of mail to open, but at least we now have a better idea of where we stand.  Our remaining balance for Hub’s surgery is $4,417.  We owe $114.10 for the initial visit with the surgeon, $1,115.23 for the surgeon’s services, and $3,187.67 to the hospital.  Based on my experience from a surgery I had for a broken ankle, we will need to come up with the surgeon’s share once they send the bill.  The hospital, however, initially gave us an interest-free payment plan of $215/month for 18 months, which would be more than we owe. Whether they will decrease the monthly amount or the duration is now a matter of wait and see.  While it would be nice to have a reduced monthly payment, I am also eager to get this new bill paid off ASAP.

For the record, our medical has a combined deductible/max out-of-pocket of $5,000.  Preventative care is covered at 100% but does not apply to the deductible.  Prescriptions, however, do.  Under our current health care plan, Hub’s company put $840 into an FSA.  Unfortunately, we didn’t beef that up, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. We are staying with the same plan for 2018 and will add the max allowed of $2,650, giving us a combined total of $3,490 to help offset any medical expenses that come up.  Earlier this year we had a fair amount of dental costs that used up a lot of that $840.  I also used it to cover the copays of prescriptions.  When it comes to medical expenses, going forward, I do feel we are now much better prepared.

With being on a payment plan with the hospital, their portion of the $4,417 isn’t much of a concern.  We can come up with the $215/month.  The concern now is how to come up with what we owe the surgeon.  While I *think* we could manage it between what we still have in our accounts and our upcoming checks, I don’t quite feel comfortable cutting it so close.  If we both had regular paychecks, I’d feel a bit more inclined to do so.  But since we don’t, we need to watch that fine line.

So the question remains as to how to come up with the $1,229.33 owed to the surgeon?  First of all, we will need to wait for the actual bill to arrive.  Once we get that, we will wait until the day before it is due and then call with a payment.  Depending on how much time they allow to make the payment, this should buy us at least two weeks.  At that point, we will likely (don’t judge) put it on a zero balance credit card.  Again, this will buy us a little more time.  No matter what, that balance will be paid IN FULL to avoid any interest charge.  Although I’m not happy to go this route, doing so will buy us the time to save to pay it off without incurring interest.

If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that you have to roll with the punches.  Giving up is just not an option.  Does the budget always work out as planned?  Nope!  But have learned from it and despite everything, we continue to make progress.  I’ll call that a win!