Going for A Bike Ride - Part 4

To the typical rebuttal to the frugal way of life, and working toward our FI plans:

But, what if you get hit by a bus?

Well... I did, only it was a car.  This is Part 4.  You can catch up on Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.

Recap

It's been almost a year since I was run over by a car and I am still dealing with the process.  It's been unbelievably frustrating to say the least.

Over the past few months, I received multiple bills from the hospital, all for $3,500 to be exact.  Being that I was hit, I assumed the driver's insurance would pay it.  I was wrong.

Apparently the person run over by a car is financially responsible until the insurance settles their side.  So, after numerous phone calls with her insurance agent, and getting the run around about how they need another waiver to access my medical records, I promptly signed the necessary paperwork.

Afterwards, it was crickets. I heard nothing.

Until, the hospital threatened to send my bill to collections.

Then, I received a different letter from my insurance stating that I owed the hospital $2,700.  That's not the $3,500 the hospital has been sending me.

What am I to do???

After several more phone calls,  I went down to the hospital to take care of the bill myself.  [Side Note: I also had a minimum spend to hit in order to get my 80,000 points from Chase.]

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I finally get up to the bullet proof window and talk to the nice girl through the microphone...

MrWow - "I'm here to pay a bill"

Biller - "Great, what do you owe?"

MrWow - "Well, I have a bill from you for $3,500 and my insurance says I owe $2,700, so I really have no idea."

Biller - "You owe us $3,200"

MrWow - "Wait, what?  Where did that number come from?  Did you just split the difference between the two?"

Biller - "I don't know, that's what the computer says"

MrWow - "So, If I pay this, you will leave me alone?"

Biller- "Yes"

I paid it and haven't heard from them since.  One thing was accomplished.

Even More Fun

Time to get reimbursed for the $3,200.

Call the driver's insurance, "We are waiting for the medical records"

The following week, "We need a waiver for the police report"

Two weeks later, "We're looking at the claim and we should have a decision shortly"

With the end in sight, I figured I'd let them handle their business and would hear from them in a few days.

In the mean time, we went to South America, we celebrated the 4th of July and I even got a new job.  But still no word.

I call them back and I hear, "We're going to give you $15,000"

I almost choked.  $15,000?  uhh... OK.  I just wanted to be paid back for my hospital bills.

I called up the Mrs and explained to her the whole thing.  We both kind of laughed.

Apparently, my brain is worth $15,000.

After some considering, I asked for more money.  Clearly, my brain is worth more right?

Come to find out that if I wanted more, I would need to sue the driver of the car or I could go through my insurance.  Neither of which I wanted to do.

After some discussion, I decided it was time to sign away the rights to any further issues and cash the check.

So, as of right now, this saga is over.

What did I learn?

1. Dealing with medical insurance in the US is a massive disaster.


2. I'm lucky that I wasn't seriously permanently injured.  I was able to take care of all this mess.  I can't imagine my wife having to babysit me and take care of all this.


3. Had I really been looking to sue this girl, I could have really damaged her, since she was minimally insured.

 The Final Tally

I got a check in December for $3,500 for my bike and a check for $15,000 for my brain.  For a total of $18,500.  I paid out $500 for a new road bike, and $3,200 for the hospital bills.  I netted about $15,000, which I deposited into our Mega-Backdoor Roth just today.

I was hit on Oct 19, 2016.  It's officially the third week in September 2017.  Almost a year of this mess.  [Mrs.Wow: I just corrected his dates from October 19, 2017 and September 2018 to the correct years.  And he says his brain is fine]

I'm really lucky that I came away unscathed, minus some minimal shoulder and finger pain.  But, I really am ok.  Mrs. Wow seems to think there's lingering brain damage, but I believe that's just spousal selective hearing [See comment above].

Now, I need to find something else to complain about.  Would you get run over by a car for $15k?