Reply #107: while our family is relatively healthy, our son has a birth defect

[AllyCat]

It has cost a small fortune for repair (it is cosmetically and neurologically repairable), but the physical therapy and eye problems that go with it are a continual battle. Every time we see a new specialist, we get a friendly computerized call from Ingenix, our insurance company's subrogation firm, trying to figure out how to not pay for the care. Even with the covered care, we pay 20% and then the remainder of the cost that our insurance company decides is not "customary". We shell out about $350 a month in preventive as well as the specialists' fees. And we have GOOD insurance.

He has to have another surgery this fall and possibly another reconstructive surgery in a couple years to correct some of the asymmetry in his face. We keep wondering what will happen when we hit our "lifetime maximum" or if I lose my job and our insurance changes. Or, if my hospital succeeds in getting rid of our "good" plan and providing only the hospital insurance plan that won't cover the pediatric specialists we need to see.

I'd GLADLY pay $350 a month to the government if everyone was covered and we didn't have to worry about the portability of care for our son.

You are right, people with good insurance who are healthy have NO IDEA what will happen when they get sick.