Hey guys, can I have a quick few minutes of your time?
Hi! My name is Ryan. I’m a sex worker with a one year old son. At the time of giving birth, I had insurance! Yep, insurance that I paid on time, every month. 350$, just for me.
A few days before I went into labor, I called to make sure they covered the hospital I was planning on giving birth at, though since they covered my obgyn and they worked directly with said hospital, I had already assumed they did. Wonderful news, they said they did!
I went into labor, gave birth to a healthy (outside of a bit of jaundice) beautiful baby.
3 months later we get two bills from the hospital. $32,543.56 and another for $8,546 for the two extra days we had to stay due to high jaundice levels.
I called the hospital to clear up that I had insurance and to give them my information, which was when they informed me that my insurance had already made their payment. Just a little over $4,000. When I called my insurance to submit the bill again, they told me I could, but that the outcome would be the same because they don’t full cover the very same hospital that I had previously called to ask if they cover, and had been told YES.
A few weeks after that, I was sick, severely dehydrated and still trying to breast feed as my doctor suggested I do when sick. Due to the inability to keep anything down, I ended up passing out in the shower, puking and shitting on myself and having to go to the E.R by ambulance. My insurance, who I dropped after this incident, also did not cover this. Their excuse? It was a voluntary trip and they deemed it unnecessary. The visit, and the ambulance ride (because I only lived 3 miles from the hospital). I received three bills total for this E.R visit. A physician bill, a bill for the ride, and a bill for everything done at the E.R - totalling a little under 10,000. To be exact, $9,876 - the most expensive being the ambulance ride and then the doctors bill.
I received help from charity care for the 32,000 dollar bill from when I gave birth, but only for a portion of it due to our income. I also depleted our savings to try and make the rest. Fortunately, I have not received any more bills for that specific bill leading me to believe the hospital accepted that as full payment.
However, all of my other bills have been sent into collections. I am able to set up payment plans, despite not being able to afford it.. but whatever, but both companies are looking for 400-500 dollar downpayments, and then the monthly payments.
My husbands work has recently slowed down and he is currently searching for a new job as a very real threat of being laid off has presented itself - he is in construction, and my non-sex work job has recently let me go as they were only using me to fill a seasonal position. I am unable to find another job as I can not afford to put my son in daycare at the moment as my job had offered daycare in-job at a low cost and I though I am trying, I can not seem to find it anywhere.
I am asking for help to get us back on our feet. We now have no savings, are starting to fall behind on all of our bills and can not seem to catch a break and get a firm grip on everything.
Please, please, please if you can donate anything, 1$, 5$, 10$… my family and I would really appreciate it.
My FundMe goal is set at 18,000$ because I only get 60%, however my actual goal is about 11,000$. It will help me pay off most of my medical debt, or help me pay my bills for almost 4 months so I can start paying off the debt without falling even further behind on my living expenses.
I would not ask this if I thought I had another choice. Both companies have sent me letters threatening going to court if I did not make a payment plan with them, in which my wages could be garnished at the least.
I understand many people are in much more dire need than me, and please if you have the chance, HELP THEM FIRST, but if you are ever able too, I would really appreciate the help.
I am offering content for larger donations if you would like.
If you would like to donate to me personally via paypal, you can always contact me so we can talk. If you’d like proof of my bills, the collection notices, etc, before donating, please feel free to contact me and ask.
I can also be reached @ ryanarimfc@gmail.com as well as here on tumblr, or twitter @ryan_ari_ .