(I didn't mean to be flippant, of course -- a $650 expense you weren't planning for is No Fun.)

No, it's true. And I know most people have much higher medical expenses than I do! I was lulled into a false sense of security.

That's so great, Suzi!

Not so great, Jesse. Deductibles, bah. That all (everyone's examples) still sound like preventative care to me, although I guess not routine preventive, but still! It's all pretty fucked up.

Well, you know, if it had been cancer, that would have been the first step in treating it. I'm almost rethinking my stance that free preventive care is great (thanks, Obama!) because it's the people with stuff wrong who need the benefits more!

I don't know, my insurance kind of screws me over regarding annual wellness visits and ongoing psychiatric care when it doesn't exceed the deductible, but on the other hand I've only had to pay a fraction of hospitalization costs. I'd rather get dinged for a few hundred dollars every year in a predictable fashion than for thousands in unexpected emergencies.

That's the idea of the high deductible insurance, that it''ll be there when you get hit with something really expensive and won't have to go bankrupt, but meanwhile you have to be able to afford the deductible. I think last time i had one of those I also had some kind of HSA that the employer matched paycheck deductions into up to a certain amount and that was meant to cover the deductible. Which worked pretty well. But I don't think that's the norm, people go with high deductible insurance because it brings their premiums down and then have to come up with the money to cover the deductible for stuff that falls in between.

I really just don't think people should have to pay for necessary mnediacl treatments, when you get right down to it. Public good.

Maybe almost relatedly, I definitely do not have my desk ergonomically adjusted right now. In shoving the elliptical under there I readjusted a bunch of stuff and I can already feel it in my shoulders and back.

Hubby and I used to play "How soon in the year will we meet the deductible?" One year it was the second week of January. We cheered ourselves up with how pissed the accountants must be when he went in for expensive MRIs late in the year that were fully covered.

I'd rather get dinged for a few hundred dollars every year in a predictable fashion than for thousands in unexpected emergencies.

Yeah, same. I guess?

I really just don't think people should have to pay for necessary medical treatments, when you get right down to it. Public good.

In fact, I think this.

I had a high deductible plan with HSA (no employer contributions) and it worked okay, but it was still hella expensive.