Little Tait's Preemie Hospital Bill

[Becket70]

Still, they said they were hoping to get the hospital to accept whatever they could raise, so maybe they will. It's crazy to think a bill that started at something like $750K (IIRC) was cut down to $100K, and now potentially "whatever they can raise".

Hospitals may forgive a portion of the bill but that does not mean the debt disappears. That expense is passed on to others who have insurance through higher hospital bills and higher premiums.

[boysmom]

I'm sure whatever insurance they have is private, and they do exclude pregnancy coverage for 10 months in many cases, IOW, you can't get pregnant for the first 10 months, then it's covered. I have no idea how that would work with a preemie. But, yes, his care should have been covered after birth. My guess is that they had some sort of cruddy policy with a low limit per year and/or per lifetime. I've seen those, Olive Garden bragged that they had insurance, but when I looked at it all it covered was something like 5 doctors visits, no meds, and up to 5K per year if you had to be hospitalized.

[Maggie Mae]

Or go to Canada, or find out if they qualify for Alaska native benefits. I think those are Palin solutions that have been employed in the past.

If they qualified for Alaska Native Benefits, they would have gone to the Alaska Native Medical Center, right next door to the hospital they decided to steal from.

Weird side note: This is the first time I've looked someone up who lives in Alaska on Facebook and not had a single "friend" in common. Not a local business, not a local musician or anything. Very few of Big Tait's friends have jobs listed, but the ones who do all say things like "self employed" or "Business Owner at xyz Ministry." The women, of course, say things like "Homemaker by choice" or "So and so's husband." Creepy. So exclusionary.

I was hoping to find a way to tell him in person that he is now directly responsible, in part, forthe highest health care costs in the nation .

[boysmom]

I bet they regret not accepting medicaid now, but they can't go back I don't think. At the time they probably thought they'd get it down to a more manageable amount and never imagined the hospital would put a lien on their home. It really should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone in a similar situation.

[Culottes]

I bet they regret not accepting medicaid now, but they can't go back I don't think. At the time they probably thought they'd get it down to a more manageable amount and never imagined the hospital would put a lien on their home. It really should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone in a similar situation.

Do we know for sure there's a lien on the home? I have read through the thread and can't recall.

[WonderingInWA]

They are up to $61,500 with 18 days left. Unbelievable how profitable begging can be!

[lilwriter85]

Do we know for sure there's a lien on the home? I have read through the thread and can't recall.

I think countessrascal was speculating about there being a lien on the Zimmerman home due to her clinic dealing with a VF follower and lien was put out on that follower's home.

[AnywhereButHere]

A friend of a friend was posting on Facebook the other day about how they refuse to carry health insurance and just put money aside each month to pay cash for all medical bills. There were a bunch of comments form others on how all that was great until you hit a major expense - like cancer treatments. One comment though, mentioned how great Samaritan Ministries was, and I almost chimed in with "It's Scamaritan - you're spelling it wrong!" Then common sense took over, and I decided it would be very bad manners to poke a stick at someone I don't know. :P

It may be really mean of me, but I almost hope that they don't make their goal just so they get hit in the face with a big old dose of reality.

[lilwriter85]

A friend of a friend was posting on Facebook the other day about how they refuse to carry health insurance and just put money aside each month to pay cash for all medical bills. There were a bunch of comments form others on how all that was great until you hit a major expense - like cancer treatments. One comment though, mentioned how great Samaritan Ministries was, and I almost chimed in with "It's Scamaritan - you're spelling it wrong!" Then common sense took over, and I decided it would be very bad manners to poke a stick at someone I don't know. :P

It may be really mean of me, but I almost hope that they don't make their goal just so they get hit in the face with a big old dose of reality.

You should have chimed with Scamartian. I get a bit annoyed with Scamartian supporters. I remember on Zsu's blog, she did a posting where she talked about not carrying health insurance. I remember she said it wasn't worth and somehow she tied in the family's organic diet to her reasoning. I do worry about Zsu's kids if there is something kind of major accident or they get a serious illness. We all know if Zsu had a premature baby who qualified for Medicare, they wouldn't accept the help like the Zimmermans.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I know its referred to as Scamaritan around here, but do they not pay your bills when you have them? Like the Maxwells' bills for the preemie - I read they were fully funded because of that program. When I google it, I don't see complaints? Wondering if there was a situation here I don't know about?

[slickcat79]

I know its referred to as Scamaritan around here, but do they not pay your bills when you have them? Like the Maxwells' bills for the preemie - I read they were fully funded because of that program. When I google it, I don't see complaints? Wondering if there was a situation here I don't know about?

They will cover a lot of bills for things that they deem worthy, but they have more exclusions than a traditional insurance company. They reject applicants for pre-existing conditions, as well as any expenses arising from what they consider immoral behavior. They don't cover any expenses under $300(?), so that lets out pretty much any preventative care. They (obviously) don't cover any expenses relating to abortion or birth control, or any mental/emotional health services.

It seems like they're pretty up front about what they exclude, but I think the real reason there aren't more complaints is because their members self-police. If you were to make a public complaint about the program, I'm sure you would be immediately dropped from it. Since they don't have any outside oversight or regulation, they can do pretty much whatever they want. If a member doesn't actually want to share their medical problems with a bunch of random strangers, they can't receive payments because their expenses aren't published in the newsletter.

There are so many conflicts of interest associated with Scamaritan members. For example, Doug Phillips is a Tool does not provide health insurance to his employees, but instead refers them to SM. In return, he gets a discount on his membership fees for every referral he makes. It's bad enough that insurance coverage is tied so closely to employment in the US, but that adds on a whole new level of ridiculous. The whole thing just reeks of a MLM scheme.

[Stephanie66]

I have heard a lot more of this, "I refuse to buy insurance!" since ObamaRomneyCare became law. I think there should be some sort of provision that if they can afford it, but refuse, then they have to pay for their care. No bankruptcy, no charity care. If it means they pay 25% of their income for their rest of their lives, so be it.

I am a prime example of the worst case scenario. I had zero risk factors for breast cancer and I still got it. Sometimes, shit happens.

As an aside, I am almost a third of the way done with radiation. If everything goes according to plan, my last treatment will be July 1. :) It's going to be one hell of a 4th of July party this year.

[Bethella]

They will cover a lot of bills for things that they deem worthy, but they have more exclusions than a traditional insurance company. They reject applicants for pre-existing conditions, as well as any expenses arising from what they consider immoral behavior. They don't cover any expenses under $300(?), so that lets out pretty much any preventative care. They (obviously) don't cover any expenses relating to abortion or birth control, or any mental/emotional health services.

It seems like they're pretty up front about what they exclude, but I think the real reason there aren't more complaints is because their members self-police. If you were to make a public complaint about the program, I'm sure you would be immediately dropped from it. Since they don't have any outside oversight or regulation, they can do pretty much whatever they want. If a member doesn't actually want to share their medical problems with a bunch of random strangers, they can't receive payments because their expenses aren't published in the newsletter.

There are so many conflicts of interest associated with Scamaritan members. For example, Doug Phillips is a Tool does not provide health insurance to his employees, but instead refers them to SM. In return, he gets a discount on his membership fees for every referral he makes. It's bad enough that insurance coverage is tied so closely to employment in the US, but that adds on a whole new level of ridiculous. The whole thing just reeks of a MLM scheme.

Basically what if boils down to is that health-sharing ministries provide no guarantee that they will cover medical costs and no recourse to members who get stuck with astronomical medical bills.

[desertvixen]

My feeling is that the people who would complain just don't join.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Basically what if boils down to is that health-sharing ministries provide no guarantee that they will cover medical costs and no recourse to members who get stuck with astronomical medical bills.

I see, I get it now.

Well they sure put a lot of trust in them!

I think that is disgusting that Doug Phillips is a tool would not even provide health insurance to his many employees. So now not only govt healthcare is bad but all health insurance?

[Culottes]

Up to over 61k with 14 days to go. At this point I'm stunned. They are probably going to meet their goal. I guess it pays to ask everyone to pay your bills. Big Tait and John Shrader really know how to get people to help support their families.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

That's a lot of money! How many people do you think donated to this? Probably thousands of small donations.

[gustava]

I wonder how much is "pledged" and how much actually in hand?

[Culottes]

I wonder how much is "pledged" and how much actually in hand?

I went to the website and clicked on the donate button and it went straight to Pay Pal, so I'm assuming all the donations are in their Pay Pal account. Don't they have to claim the money as taxable income since the goal amount of the "gift" is so high? Or do they get out of it because it is actually many smaller gifts? Any tax accountants out there?

[DarkAnts]

I went to the website and clicked on the donate button and it went straight to Pay Pal, so I'm assuming all the donations are in their Pay Pal account. Don't they have to claim the money as taxable income since the goal amount of the "gift" is so high? Or do they get out of it because it is actually many smaller gifts? Any tax accountants out there?

Nope, they are not responsible for gifts given to them. The donor must pay taxes if its over the annual exclusion of $14,000 per recipient per year. From the IRS website

Who pays the gift tax?

The donor is generally responsible for paying the gift tax. Under special arrangements the donee may agree to pay the tax instead. Please visit with your tax professional if you are considering this type of arrangement.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Frequently-Asked-Questions-on-Gift-Taxes

[Culottes]

Thanks for the info, shewearsfunnyhat. So the "gifts" are tax free. Arrrgg... My silver lining was a large tax bill next year and now that's gone.

[Sola]

Don't PayPal have rules for this sort of thing? I remember something on regretsy about how a fundraiser went tits up due to PayPal rules.

[WonderingInWA]

They are up to $71,500. Wow. People are so stupid.

[lilwriter85]

I still think it is mostly the VF crowd donating. Tait Sr. has deep connections in the VF crowd because he was an intern. In the future, another fundie family in crisis will do the same thing and probably won't be as successful like the Zimmermans have been. Not all fundie men have deep connections in VF or ATI. Tait Sr. probably knows that if he didn't have deep connections they would be struggling more to raise funds.

[GolightlyGrrl]

Kelly "2 Chicken Breasts" Crawford is trying to convict her leg humpers to pony up for Little Tait. She's not taking comments because of one dissenter. Which one of you is Gabbie?

generationcedar.com/main/2013/06/a-chance-to-help-little-tait.html#comments