Medical Bills--Is There A Planet They Go To That We Don't Know About?

We've gotten a blizzard of paper about the colonoscopy/endoscopy I had last month, and it's a complete mystery to me how it's worked out.  I can see why Bernie Sanders's hair looks the way it does.  Medical billing in this country is extra-terrestrial.

Here's how it shakes down:

Bills from doctors, anesthesiologist, lab, surgical center:  $9961.  Let's call it $10,000.

Blue Shield paid (we don't have Medicare): $2,992.  Let's call it $3,000.

We paid: $742.

That leaves  more than $6,000 unaccounted for, billed to Blue Shield, which brushed it off!  The providers aren't fighting this, so why did they bill so much in the first place?

No matter who wins the election--a Democrat, God willing--I hope we can sign up for Medicare.  The University of California let us opt out in 1975 when Social Security looked dicey.  Big mistake (?).

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A couple of quilt books I'm enjoying:

Being a general boy-cotter of quilt classes, I'm learning new techniques and getting some new ideas.

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Have a good week-end, if you read this before it happens...