In the US, how do people go bankrupt from medical bills when most insurance have a max out of pocket?

Question

Just was thinking about this the other day while looking at my insurance. How do people in the U.S. accumulate huge bills without hitting their max out of pockets? Are cancer treatments not usually covered by insurance? Are the doctors that provide the treatment just happening to be out of network?

I guess I’m wondering if there is anyway I can plan to not be in a situation of me or my husband rejecting treatment and dying or having huge medical bills cripple us. We’re relatively healthy now, but the future is near.

I’d like to understand better how it seems to be so *common* for people to not be covered by their out of pocket max.

Thanks.

In: 4623

Answer 1

A common misconception is that out-of-pocket maximums cover everything, but that’s not true.

Services that aren’t covered do not count toward the out of pocket maximum. This could even be if a doctor was out-of-network.

Even with insurance, you might rack up huge medical bills.