Jump to content
IGNORED

Maxwells and government aid


YPestis

Recommended Posts

I think it's safe to assume the Maxwells don't look kindly on government aid/welfare. Nathan Maxwell uses that "Christian" insurance policy where everyone pays for each others' health care expenses if they feel it's a "moral" medical need.

 

Anyways, business appears to be down for the main Maxwell family. They're not making their Maxwell conferences anymore and they are competing in an increasingly crowded field against larger and more professional companies. Nathan Maxwell is trying to jumpstart his ITOnRamp educational webinar. In this economy, that is not easy. Plus, his wife has had a series of complicated pregnancies resulting in six figure medical bills.

 

Given their precarious situation, what do you think the Maxwells will do if Nathan and Melenie finds themselves heavily in debt? After all, their "health insurance" is essentially a charity whereby money sent is based on the morality of one's medical problems. If Melenie acquires an expensive hospital stay (not hard to do!). Or their next baby needs a few weeks in the NICU, their "insurance" may not cover everything. An $150k bill is not unheard of. What will the Maxwells do then? Will they admit that they need the evil government's aid? Will they allow their kids to be covered under Medicaid? What happens if ITOnRamp goes under? Or doesn't produce enough to support a growing family? Do you think Nathan and Steve will ever admit to utilizing government help?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

I wondered about this too. Do they pay out of pocket for dr's visits for the kids? When I was uninsured for about a year when my daughter was 4/5 yrs and of course there were times when she got sick and needed to see her pediatrician. Just walking in the door before we actually saw her dr. cost me $100. Then another $100 for seeing him and then all the lab costs (she was having lots of UTI's at the time). I racked up a couple thousand dollars that year in medical bills for her.

Do the Maxwell's have no insurance for their kids? How do they do it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think they'll pay any medical bills out of pocket. A hospital will write it off or accept Medicaid money (the Maxwells can't tell a hospital it's not allowed to do that if they aren't taking steps to pay it back, they don't have the power to tell a hospital to eat the loss entirely). They'll justify it as god providing because they won't land in jail over it, and they'll brag about no debt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think they'll pay any medical bills out of pocket. A hospital will write it off or accept Medicaid money (the Maxwells can't tell a hospital it's not allowed to do that if they aren't taking steps to pay it back, they don't have the power to tell a hospital to eat the loss entirely). They'll justify it as god providing because they won't land in jail over it, and they'll brag about no debt.

I didn't think the hospital can accept Medicaid to cover the Maxwell's unpaid expenses unless the Maxwells have medicaid. At the hospitals I've rotated at, the financial aid office always try to get uninsured but qualified people on medicare/medicaid so "the hospitals get paid".

Unpaid medical bills are sent to collections. The Maxwells will be bugged with repayment just like any other debt. That's why I wonder what would happen if they find themselves destitute due to high medical expenses.

I also cannot understand how uninsured couples with kids deal. A visit to the pediatrician's office is quite expensive. Medicaid, while imperfect, offers some protection for their children. It appears the Maxwells are living in lalaland with their heads stuck in the sand. "Our Christian insurance will cover everything because we are Godly and we never do anything bad so we won't go into debt paying for medical expenses". Yeah right. If you can't afford health care, at least make sure you get what you can. Relying on the charity of others and calling it "insurance" is stupid and foolhardy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It only takes one serious illness or accident to wipe you out financially. A premie can very quickly rack up bills of a million dollars while in NICU. Given Mel's pregnancy history, I'd think good insurance would be a priority for Nathan.

I wonder what the rest of the clan has regarding insurance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given their precarious situation, what do you think the Maxwells will do if Nathan and Melenie finds themselves heavily in debt? After all, their "health insurance" is essentially a charity whereby money sent is based on the morality of one's medical problems. If Melenie acquires an expensive hospital stay (not hard to do!). Or their next baby needs a few weeks in the NICU, their "insurance" may not cover everything. An $150k bill is not unheard of. What will the Maxwells do then? Will they admit that they need the evil government's aid? Will they allow their kids to be covered under Medicaid? What happens if ITOnRamp goes under? Or doesn't produce enough to support a growing family? Do you think Nathan and Steve will ever admit to utilizing government help?

I think before they would actually accept government help, Nathan would swallow his pride and start applying for regular jobs, working for someone else, for a normal salary and IDEALLY some health insurance. Whether he would have any luck DOING that is another question, but I think he would try (and probably he'd be forced to, if he were to try for some government programs they will want to know if you're looking for work).

The other issue Nathan would have applying for government aid is the fact that he owns his house debt-free. That is not a small house, they would likely expect him to sell it. He can downsize his house (yes, even if that means moving to a less desirable neighborhood away from his parents) or even end up renting, before getting to the point of having few enough assets to qualify for a lot of stuff. It's not only about income coming in, it's about assets too.

As it is, they do live in quite a nice neighborhood from what I can tell, own their houses outright, and have some pricey bills (they have at least one iPhone, and if they're giving webinars from their house they must have pretty decent internet - at least cable, and probably a commercial line so their IP address doesn't constantly change). I'm certainly not the sort of person who thinks it's terrible to have internet or that people should all wear hairshirts before getting aid, but in the USA in 2012, he probably would be asked to give up some stuff. Obviously a large bill can easily wipe all that out, and the question comes back though - what then?

If his state has some special insurance programs for kids he might have an easier time qualifying for those, but I don't know if he'd accept on principle.

Bottom line (heh) is, I think he'd try for a hired job out in the big bad world first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't think the hospital can accept Medicaid to cover the Maxwell's unpaid expenses unless the Maxwells have medicaid. At the hospitals I've rotated at, the financial aid office always try to get uninsured but qualified people on medicare/medicaid so "the hospitals get paid".

Unpaid medical bills are sent to collections. The Maxwells will be bugged with repayment just like any other debt. That's why I wonder what would happen if they find themselves destitute due to high medical expenses.

I also cannot understand how uninsured couples with kids deal. A visit to the pediatrician's office is quite expensive. Medicaid, while imperfect, offers some protection for their children. It appears the Maxwells are living in lalaland with their heads stuck in the sand. "Our Christian insurance will cover everything because we are Godly and we never do anything bad so we won't go into debt paying for medical expenses". Yeah right. If you can't afford health care, at least make sure you get what you can. Relying on the charity of others and calling it "insurance" is stupid and foolhardy.

One of my friends works in an aid office for a county hospital, and for adults, they can't do a whole lot since it's harder for adults to get Medicaid. But for kids, it just makes the process faster if parents fill out the paperwork. So maybe it depends on the kind of hospital, age of patient, and state. She has griped about how many parents without insurance won't bother filling out paperwork to make it all happen faster. Apparently though they do get something for all the kids. She hasn't mentioned much about the adults who come in other than a lot of them use fake names and social security numbers (8 digits isn't a real number, no matter how much someone swears it is).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As it is, they do live in quite a nice neighborhood from what I can tell

I lived in the same town as the Maxwells, actually only about a half mile or so from them in high school. And I can say the neighborhood they are in is ok. It's very middle class, homes built in the 70s and 80s. The town they are in isn't a big town either though it is close to a large metro area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it seems small town suburban, and they have a nice house in it.

There is a LOT of room to move down from there. That's the thing, people thinking "well, I'm bad off, surely I qualify for Medicaid/welfare/whatever" and then they realize when they apply, actually, that's a whole other universe lower than where you are already.

Owning a house, any house, means you have assets. It's a pretty much impossible dream for a lot of people.

I do think they have a shot at help for the kids' medical bills though, if they went that way. Often that is easier.

Of course the other thing he could do if hard up for money is move into a really cheap rented room and rent his own house out for higher rent, to make a profit. Plenty of people do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, there is lots and lots of room to move down in their town. It's home to a federal pen. and all that goes with it. I didn't know about the Maxwells until I moved away and now I'm irked that I couldn't have my own fundie sighting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it seems small town suburban, and they have a nice house in it.

There is a LOT of room to move down from there. That's the thing, people thinking "well, I'm bad off, surely I qualify for Medicaid/welfare/whatever" and then they realize when they apply, actually, that's a whole other universe lower than where you are already.

Owning a house, any house, means you have assets. It's a pretty much impossible dream for a lot of people.

I do think they have a shot at help for the kids' medical bills though, if they went that way. Often that is easier.

Of course the other thing he could do if hard up for money is move into a really cheap rented room and rent his own house out for higher rent, to make a profit. Plenty of people do that.

Where I live, they would NOT be able to sell their house. They would have to rent it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They live in the KC area, right? If they're sans insurance and have a baby that requires a hospital stay, then yeah, they'll be swamped with big bills in no time. My youngest spent about 36 hours at Children's Mercy in KC in November. The bill? $8000. I can't imagine the panic if we didn't have insurance. Hell, the bill *after* insurance still nearly made me hyperventilate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.