i just emailed my health insurance the stupidest question.

[vash]

yesterday, i had to bunny hop a rattlesnake while mtn biking. once my front wheel cleared the snake, gravity unceremoniously brought be back to earth..one of my wheels hit a rock and all forward movement ceased. so now i have a rattlesnake directly under my pedals. it was not coiled but stretched out, head facing right.

i tried to stay like that indefinitely..well, my mouth was making this "ya-ya-ya..." sound. i started to tip over. i chose the tail side and went left. boom!! that snake shot off right, i went over left. it was a good outcome.

a bunch of ladies in horrid lululemon running gear came to my assistance..or they wanted to point and laugh. i blamed the snake, which was long gone..it got them discussing how snake bites where not covered by insurance.. i was "no way!"

that's what they said..they said bills get huge, and there are a serious of shots sometimes. got me wondering. so i emailed them.

what do you think? (to me)it makes no sense that a snake bite is not covered..a wasp bites me and i need an epipen and ER visit..i am 99% sure that is covered! no?

[Tervuren]

I believe that health insurance is allowed some variance?

Perhaps even if it isn't part of your existing policy, you might be able to still get health insurance for it.

[Eric Hahl]

In my experience all claims are denied, lol.

[sammyg2]

Snake bite claim denied ...Is that a lawyer joke?

[KFC911]

I remember seeing on the local news (had to be true ) that the antidote treatmemts were north of 100k....and this was years ago. Whaddaya gonna do...shop around ?

No idea about ins. coverage....

[Tobra]

If it ever came up, and it was denied, there would be some very wealthy attorneys when all was said and done.

Treatment for my wife when she was bitten by a venomous snake was covered, just like anything else. She did not get anti-venom shots.

[sammyg2]

And that's another thing .... the people who make it don't even spell it right!

[Esel Mann]

Originally Posted by Tobra

If it ever came up, and it was denied, there would be some very wealthy attorneys when all was said and done.

Treatment for my wife when she was bitten by a venomous snake was covered, just like anything else. She did not get anti-venom shots.

So with no anti-venom what did they do to counter act the bite?

[LWJ]

Seems like an urban myth. Health insurance is for medical care, which you need after rattlesnake bites.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Seems like an urban myth. Health insurance is for medical care, which you need after rattlesnake bites.

Well, yes, unless some insurance doc says it is “not medically necessary“. Then you are screwed. It may be different under Obama Care, but before you could be denied for all sorts of things. Your attending doc is not in control. BTDT and it is infuriating.

[Noah930]

Snake bites are covered.

Were the lululemon girls hot?

[Tobra]

I know, MFer brings it up and no pics, right?

First mistake I made was calling the ER and asking Larry where to go with it. We did not have the snake, or even see it, so no anti snake juice. Wrong stuff would be like second snake bite. He says, don't open it and flush(mistake). Give her benadryl and watch it. Mildly horrible until she dropped a frozen gallon jug of water on it a few days later. I&D in OR, did not bleed worth a damn until after we flushed a few liters of saline through it. It dehisced a few months later. Several courses of IV antibiotics. Over a year before she put a shoe on that foot.

Should have sliced it open and flushed it out immediately after it happened.

[Holger]

OP, laughing so hard that my colleagues stare.

Sorry!

[LWJ]

On the big picture subject.

I sell health insurance to businesses. A HUGE piece is having a broker who will rattle the cage of the carrier to make your plan work. I see two kinds of people at renewal: angry people (who didn't engage the customer service people) and happy people who did.

Pro tip: get to know the customer service person. Be proactive in your healthcare. Be strategic.

It really isn't bad if you have a standard plan with reasonable network.

And since I am not licensed in a bunch of states, no, this isn't a plug for buy from me.

[MBAtarga]

Friends wife got bit on her hand by a copperhead while doing some gardening in a flower bed around their house. I think she spent about 2 or 3 days in the hospital, and Antivenin costs (drug only) were about $20k.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Friends wife got bit on her hand by a copperhead while doing some gardening in a flower bed around their house. I think she spent about 2 or 3 days in the hospital, and Antivenin costs (drug only) were about $20k.

I used my googlefu after posting before...that is probably a lot more typical than the 100k+ costs, but many variables dictate the number of "doses" it seems. I think I'll just continue to avoid getting bit instead....it's a great plan imo !

[mreid]

Yes, prevention is the panacea of rising healthcare costs. So say the insurers who would have to pay.

One way or another, snake bites are covered. Don’t lose any sleep.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by mreid

One way or another, snake bites are covered. Don’t lose any sleep.

But what if there are snakes under your bed, or hiding in the closet?
What then?