Monday, January 20, 2020

What a convoluted mess (not to mention the circumstances)

I really don't even know where to start with this.

Okay, here:

"[Courtney Wilson] had moved to St. Thomas ... “for a change in, well, everything: scenery, culture, weather, people, way of life and of course the beauty of it.”

She took a waitressing job, but passed on buying health insurance.

Some three years later, she was in what appears to have been a very serious car accident, and she was careflighted to a Miami (FL) hospital for treatment. There, she was treated (uninsured, so she accepted full financial responsibility) and when she had recovered sufficiently, she "took a flight home to Paso Robles, California."

Umm, does anyone else see the glaring contradiction here?

Okay, moving along:

Once back in California, she applied for, and was retroactively accepted in, that state's Medicaid program. When she informed the Miami hospital of this change in circumstances, and requested that they bill MediCAL instead, they demurred:

"[T]he health system told her it does not bill out-of-state Medicaid programs outside of neighboring states like Georgia and Alabama."

Seems reasonable. After all, she had chosen to self-insure, and they were simply respecting her initial wishes.

Now comes the kicker (and the denouement we're all supposed to applaud):

"After the Herald inquired about Wilson’s case, she said UM reversed its billing decision."

How nice for her.

But notice this:

She moved away from California and took up residence in St Thomas, and then, when she faced substantial medical bills, she moved back  to
graciously allow Golden State taxpayers to foot her bill.

Gee, kudos for sure.

[Hat Tip: FoIB Holly R]
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