Matt Estes’s Surprise Out-of-Pocket Medical Bills

Greetings! It’s likely that if you’re here, you know me but maybe you don’t. Just in case, hello! My name is Matt and I need your help! While visiting my family in IL for the holidays I was admitted to the local hospital (on Christmas Eve no less) because a cut on my foot took a turn and became seriously infected. While getting blood tests to determine the best antibiotics course to run, I ALSO learned that I am diabetic. Merry Christmas to me right? I underwent emergency surgery on Christmas Day to clean up as much of the infection as possible and was finally discharged on Wednesday the 29th. Happy Holidays they were NOT.

Ordinarily this would not be a big deal as I have insurance, however I learned midway through my hospital stay that my insurance does not offer ANY benefit/coverage for post-discharge/outpatient services while I am not in California. This includes prescriptions, follow-up visits to wound care, wound care supplies, etc. Any service rendered post-discharge while I am in Illinois is 100% my responsibility and incurs an out-of-pocket expense.

Unfortunately this includes the pinky toe that I need to have amputated, as this procedure would be outpatient and thus not covered. I am currently working on getting my care transferred to California to try and slow the onslaught of costs to something more manageable, however I already have a large number of bills/expenses that will be due and so I am turning to you, hat in hand, seeking whatever assistance you are able to muster. To be fully transparent this goal is just an initial estimate based on some extrapolated numbers and is likely to change as my insurance starts denying the billed services.

If all you can spare is a thought or prayer, that’s ok too! (Just don’t tell the GoFundMe folks as they might try to tax that and I would prefer to receive the full value of your positive vibes… ;P). You can still help by sharing this with your circle, but if you’ve got a few shekels you can spare, just know you’ll have my eternal gratitude for your help.

-Matt