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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 1:21 pm
I got this off another site: The book states that they have health insurance with a copay for office visits and a relatively high deductible to keep premiums affordable. They also have dental insurance. The book also states that the application forms for both policies just asked for a yes or no answer as to "Do you have children." So evidently the premium isn't higher because of the number of kids. The book says that some things aren't covered and they try to negotiate fees up front whenever the medical provider will do that. They also ask for itemized bills after catching a charge for 387 bars of soap after the birth of one of their kids.
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Supergranny
Member
02-03-2005
| Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 2:21 pm
I hope that everyone gets an itemized list if they are in the hospital. My daughter and I have both found things that shouldn't be there. This is another reason our insurance is so high!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 2:51 pm
One of my cancer pts I drove told me that he was inpatient for 32 days on a respirator and he found that he had been charged for twice a day respiratory therapy, which of course he never got and couldn't have gotten, but because of his diagnosis I guess was just thrown in. He got those all removed, and that was just the start. I don't have a bill, but my EOB for one day semi-private room (not sure why they said semi, since there was only one bed. My friend who drove me and stayed at the hospital slept on a recliner thing.. anyway they billed $60,864.18. However, they were paid $3,116.95 by Anthem and $550.05 by me.. so the room was $3,667.00 for the one night, or actually less than 24 hours since I didn't get to the room until 9pm and left around noon or 1pm. By the time I got to the room I'd had many hours of surgery and recovery, only had a catheter, no other tubes, well of course had an IV with pain meds and one of those things on a finger.. oh right and also had these things on my legs that would inflate and deflate to prevent clots, but it was hardly like an icu or nicu situation. I know if something isn't covered you can try to negotiate up front and pay ahead of time. My hairdresser did this when she had her second child because she wasn't covered. If she paid up front it cost less. She luckily had decided ahead to have an epidural and they told her that really saved her when she had to have an unplanned C-Section because an unplanned epidural would have cost much more. She still had a hefty bill for the C-Section and extra day or so inpatient. Hard to say, but it sounds like Michelle and Jim Bob wouldn't have planned ahead for a C section.. had to be pretty frightening when she had to go into the hospital and then airlifted to another facility.. I'm sure that wasn't cheap either.. Had to be terrifying.
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Kittyab
Member
07-15-2005
| Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 7:14 pm
I kinda bet that TLC is helping them out on this one. (Or I would hope they would)
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 11:23 pm
Oh, good point Kittyab. That gives me a little relief in my worry for them...just a little. I have to admit that I'm so scared to sign on and see the number changed again. Sending lots of prayers for that little baby.
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 4:31 am
I am worried, too. I care for this family now.
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 7:01 am
I have faith child and mother will come out of this fine. It's a good thing they are a close knit family and have many good friends for support.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 10:56 am
Now that I think about it, I'm sure the number in the title wouldn't be changed. I wish I hadn't posted that. Oh well. While looking around for updates, I came across a TLC video of Michelle and Jim Bob saying thanks for all the good wishes and prayers. It was labeled post C section, but, it was not post C section. In the video, M says the gall stones had calmed down and J-B said that they were hoping and/or praying the baby would be carried to full term.
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 11:14 am
My prayers continue!
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Kittyab
Member
07-15-2005
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 12:46 pm
I wonder if she will have her gallbladder removed? That is common in my family. My mother lost hers and she only had 2 kids...
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 1:20 pm
It sounds like Josie and Michelle are at the best place. The article does not mention them at all, but talks about their NICU and how the family can stay with the tiny babies. link I just wish the hospital wasn't 3 hrs. away from their home. It could be worse though. 3 hrs. there and back in one day for the other kids to see their mom and new baby sister is doable. They also have that big bus, so, they wouldn't necessarily have to go there and back in one day.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 3:27 pm
Doesn't each younger kid have an older kid to "parent" them anyway.. I thought Michelle concentrated mostly on the current newborn in the family, so odd as that structure seems to me, in this instance, it would seem that all the kids at home are paired up and being looked after and of course would be getting frequent updates on Josie. I'm sure they are glad she is now in a place well equipped to care for her needs. And I see from that article that they may already have some rooms set up with cams just so family at home can be included. Sounds like an excellent facility and program.
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Kittyab
Member
07-15-2005
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 7:57 pm
I was raised with my aunts (my grandparents raisned me), it was nothing for my aunts to look after me while my grandparents were out.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Monday, December 14, 2009 - 10:28 pm
I think the younger Duggar kids do all have an older "buddy." I just think they would want to see their mom and their mom would want to see them and that it is probably hard on kids and mom to be so far away from each other for so long...especially since they are such a close family and spend so much time together all day every day. Josie is probably going to need to stay at the hospital for 3 mos. I would think that Michelle would be spending most of her time there.
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Mgmriver
Member
04-27-2009
| Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - 11:18 am
I think the Duggar kids are so well grounded that having mom away won't impact them negatively. They are not selfish folk.
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Kittyab
Member
07-15-2005
| Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - 12:10 pm
Any updates?
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 9:50 am
"Baby Duggar Still Stable; Michelle May Face Risks Jim Bob Says Michelle Recovering But Doctors Say Women With Many Children Have Increased Incontinence, Pregnancy Risks By LAUREN COX and LUCHINA FISHER Dec. 16, 2009 The 19th Duggar child, Josie Brooklyn, remains in stable condition, according to father Jim Bob Duggar. Reality TV mom Michelle Duggar has given birth to a premature girl. In an e-mail sent to ABCNews.com, Duggar wrote: "Hello from the Duggar Family. We are so grateful for all of the prayers and emails of support for our family since Josie Brooklyn Duggar was born 12-10-09. Michelle is [recovering] from the emergency c-section and is doing [a lot] better. Josie is beautiful and in stable condition." Michelle Duggar, star of the TLC reality TV show "18 Kids and Counting," astounded America last week with the announcement of the birth of her 19th child. For now all eyes are on "micro-preemie" Josie Brooklyn in the neonatal intensive care unit, but doctors point out that the Duggar family tradition of back-to-back pregnancies may be slowly adding to the health risks for Michelle and future Duggars. "I am not aware of this couple's reasoning on the matter of contraception," said Dr. John B. Coppes of the Austin Medical Center-Mayo Health System in Austin, Minn. "However, I hope they are aware of the risks for Down syndrome, uterine rupture, future C-sections, pre-eclampsia." TLC continues to report that mother and baby are doing fine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. All pregnancy carries risk, but some doctors say any woman, even with Duggar's stamina, increases her chances for health problems with numerous pregnancies." There's more to the article found here: link
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 10:13 am
"micro-preemie" Josie Brooklyn In that article, the above is also a link that goes to a video. When I first clicked the link, the video opened with an ad. Then the video started playing but it was very annoying because the sound of another ad played in the background. I did notice that the ABC reporter gave the wrong middle name for Josie. (I think she said Ricoli instead of Brooklyn.) I replayed it and only got the video made back in Sept. talking about the pregnancy. I understand Jim Bob and Michelle's reasoning for leaving things up to God. However, maybe now she will consider surgery for herself to protect her health. If they don't practice any kind of contraception, and she gets pregnant again (which I think is very likely, she isn't that old, astounds me that she thought she, at 43 (her age or close) would be past the baby making years, maybe she just isn't educated on the facts), I will be very scared for her and the future baby/ies. Maybe they will pray about it and look at it as a sign from God that he wants them to do something so that all those kids can have their mom around for awhile longer and not lose her to future pregnancy related complications.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 10:54 am
Knowing now that Michelle had to be airlifted to a hospital, it seems that they must live pretty far away from one (at least one capable of handling a serious emergency). The uterine rupture possibility was addressed a couple of babies ago when the family was shown watching an ultrasound of a new baby. It was mentioned that due to previous c-sections, she was at risk of having the scars tearing open. I don't know anything about this sort of thing, but I wonder if she could even survive if this was to happen? Happymom, I agree...she does have a responsibility to be there for the children she already has. I hope she will now take them into consideration. I would think that God would want her to do that, even more than he would want her to keep bringing new babies into this world.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 11:13 am
from the link: "Josie is holding her own. As long as she can get some of that breast milk, that will help build up her immune system." Jim Bob Duggar sent an e-mail to ABCNews.com earlier today about his wife's and daughter's condition. "Hello from the Duggar Family," he wrote. "We are so grateful for all of the prayers and emails of support for our family since Josie Brooklyn Duggar was born 12-10-09. Michelle is [recovering] from the emergency c-section and is doing [a lot] better. Josie is beautiful and in stable condition." Ruark said she expects Michelle to stay in the hospital "for a while." Back home, her other 18 children are "doing quite well" with the help of their grandmother, Jim Bob's mother, Mary, who lives with them. "They have lots of help," Ruark said, "and a big circle of friends. I'm sure they want mom home but the family just takes care of things." (and some of the kids were in El Savador on their Mission trip according to the article - but Jim's mom "lives with them" and is taking care of things the Mission Trip kids are keeping in touch via cell phone every day)
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 11:39 am
how nice that Jim's mom lives with them now. I am sure being a recent widow, she was lonely.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 12:11 pm
She and her husband were both living with them before he passed away.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 12:12 pm
Annie, Grandpa & Grandma Duggar moved in with them when Grandpa started getting bad. Jim Bob even said on one of the shows that when they built the house, they built it keeping in mind that his and/or Michelle's parents would need to stay with them as they got older.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 12:19 pm
On a personal note, today is Miss Meghan's 18th birthday. (I used to babysit her & her "lil brother" who ironically weighed 10 1/2 pounds when he was born.) She was born at 24 weeks, 2 days. Weighed 1 pound 7 ounces. I remember going to class and her dad showing us pictures of her. What a tiny little thing she was. I remember thinking she looked like an alien. She was in NICU for 7 weeks. Thankfully, she had no problems whatsoever. Just needed to gain weight and strengthen her lungs. From the beginning, she was strong willed and stubborn. If she wanted to do something, she would keep at it until she did it. Today, she is #2 in her class of 600+. I pray that little Josie has the good luck that Meghan had.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 12:31 pm
Reader, I'm glad you posted that because the first part of the article was not there earlier today. So weird...I would think it would require a new link. (I don't really understand technology, so, oh well...) It's great to hear more good news about the baby (and Michelle, but I am much more worried about the baby).
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