See my post "Modern Medicine and Let Them Eat Cake Politicians" about the cost for the medical personnel for my open-heart surgery. It was $20,280.50 of which I had an out-ot-pocket expense of $50.50.
This week I received the statement for the hospital stay and some of the rehabilitation. It was $131,088.04. Insurance paid all but $600 of it.
Without this insurance, somebody earning $9/hour would have to work over 14,565 hours or 1,821 days or 364 weeks or seven years. On the other hand, Marissa Mayers earned $900,000 per week as she sold off Yahoo! She could have paid the costs of five open-heart surgeries each week and still have had $150,000/week left over.
I’ll let you judge how a medical bill like this would affect your own finances. My guess is that without insurance, many of you would have to take out an extended mortgage on your house or sell it out-right.
Heart disease only affects one family. Consider what would happen if someone who had a communicable fatal disease didn’t get treated because the family could not afford the necessary care. It has happened down through the centuries and still happens around the world.
Showing posts with label statement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label statement. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Another inefficient corporation
When I bought my iPhone in September, I cancelled my Verizon Wireless account in favor of Virgin Mobile. I was told at the time by the Best Buy representative that I would have a cancellation fee of around $80 from Verizon.
When Verizon notified me in early October that I had an online statement, I thought I would pay that cancellation fee. Ha! Even though the statement showed an outstanding balance of $89.46, in the "Pay Bill" section, the amount was $0! The site wouldn't even let me pay the true balance online with my debit card. The site did say I would get a paper statement.
The due date was October 23, and so I had plenty of time to get the paper bill and write a check. And the paper bill did not come, and it did not come. Finally, about October 22, I looked up the phone number for "Contact Us". The woman that responded said that I could pay at such and such URL.
Surprise, at that URL I could pay, and I could pay with a debit card. I did and the payment has cleared my bank.
Yesterday, October 29, six days after the payment had been due, I received the paper bill. The paper bill states that I owe $89.46!
From my posts about Netflix, you know the Postal Service can provide next day service. If the sending post office is not within a day's drive of Duluth, Netflix states a DVD will be delivered within 3-5 days. If memory serves me right, the actual delivery is 2-3 days.
The Verizon bill was dated September 28. The only mail that takes over a week to arrive is mail that gets mis-delivered, stuck in a crevice somewhere, or is never sent promptly by the sender. I will go with the last. Is this a deceptive practice to hit me with a late payment fee or is this extreme inefficiency. I think the latter. Of course, if I were actually late with a regular payment, Verizon or many other vendors would promptly charge me with a late payment charge.
Thank you to Netflix, Best Buy, and many others for giving me counter-examples that show corporations can provide efficient customer service. It just goes to show that the management/ownership form of any organization doesn't predict its efficiency or effectiveness; the real guide is the kind of people in the organization – from top to bottom!
When Verizon notified me in early October that I had an online statement, I thought I would pay that cancellation fee. Ha! Even though the statement showed an outstanding balance of $89.46, in the "Pay Bill" section, the amount was $0! The site wouldn't even let me pay the true balance online with my debit card. The site did say I would get a paper statement.
The due date was October 23, and so I had plenty of time to get the paper bill and write a check. And the paper bill did not come, and it did not come. Finally, about October 22, I looked up the phone number for "Contact Us". The woman that responded said that I could pay at such and such URL.
Surprise, at that URL I could pay, and I could pay with a debit card. I did and the payment has cleared my bank.
Yesterday, October 29, six days after the payment had been due, I received the paper bill. The paper bill states that I owe $89.46!
From my posts about Netflix, you know the Postal Service can provide next day service. If the sending post office is not within a day's drive of Duluth, Netflix states a DVD will be delivered within 3-5 days. If memory serves me right, the actual delivery is 2-3 days.
The Verizon bill was dated September 28. The only mail that takes over a week to arrive is mail that gets mis-delivered, stuck in a crevice somewhere, or is never sent promptly by the sender. I will go with the last. Is this a deceptive practice to hit me with a late payment fee or is this extreme inefficiency. I think the latter. Of course, if I were actually late with a regular payment, Verizon or many other vendors would promptly charge me with a late payment charge.
Thank you to Netflix, Best Buy, and many others for giving me counter-examples that show corporations can provide efficient customer service. It just goes to show that the management/ownership form of any organization doesn't predict its efficiency or effectiveness; the real guide is the kind of people in the organization – from top to bottom!
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