in 2009 that hospitalized me for 6 days including 3 in the ICU. total medical bills were over $100k. In 2013, I had a staph infection that didn’t respond to antibiotics and was hospitalized for several days. Both of my wife’s pregnancies had complications which had us referred to specialists.

I’ve been blessed with a lot of things in life, including (knocks wood) good overall health, but I’ve has more than my fair share of claims including some very large/serious ones. I’ve dealt with Cigna (current insurer), United health, and Aetna. About the only bad experience I’ve had with insurance was when my mother in-law broke her hip and her insurance denied our preferred acute care rehab facility despite her doctor’s recommendation (admittedly with an assist by some string pulling by my wife). But my mother in law made a full recovery — from a broken hip in poor health to begin with at age 77– so I have a hard time arguing her care that was approved by insurance was not appropriate.