She Owed $227,000 in Medical Bills —Even With Insurance. Here’s What it Took to Pay Them

The first surprise was the massive heart attack, which struck as Debbie Moehnke waited in a Vancouver, Wash., medical clinic last summer. “She had an appointment because her feet were swollen real bad,” said Larry Moehnke, her husband. “But she got in there and it was like, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!’” Her life suddenly at risk, the 59-year-old was rushed by ambulance, first to a local hospital, where she was stabilized, and then, the next day, to Oregon Health & Science University across the river in Portland for urgent cardiac care. That meant heart bypass surgery, replacement of one valve and repair of another. Just as she recovered from that, Debbie Moehnke developed a raging infection that required powerful IV antibiotics to treat. She spent a month in the hospital, some of it in intensive care, before she was discharged home. That’s when she got the next surprise: Bills totaling more than $454,000 for the medical miracle that saved her life. Of that stunning amount, officials said, she owed nearly $227,000 after her health insurance paid its part. “I wish I would have known. I would have said ‘no’ to life support,” said Debbie Moehnke, a former cocktail waitress who suffers from signs of early-onset dementia. “We’ll lose everything.” Large “surprise bills” like the Moehnkes received have become a national epidemic outraging patients and politicians al...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized medicine Source Type: news