Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor.

Coronavirus in the US; ‘No Plan’: A teacher who showed coronavirus symptoms was charged $10,000 for her ER visit — and was never even tested for the disease. ‘Sounds about normal here in the US.’ A serious ‘disincentive’ to seek treatment for America’s working class. Exposing the idiocy of our health ‘system.’ She wasn’t ‘ELIGIBLE.’ If US employers start laying off hundreds of thousands of workers, how will these people pay for coronavirus treatment with no health ‘insurance?’

Paulina Cachero Business Insider•March 11, 2020

• Brooklyn public-school teacher Erin McCarthy went to the NYU Langone Health emergency department in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, after experiencing symptoms associated with the coronavirus. 
• A physician at the ER told her she didn’t meet the criteria to be tested for the coronavirus and sent her home.
• She later discovered NYU Langone charged her over $10,000 for her visit, even though she didn’t receive a test for the coronavirus.
• Thanks to her health insurance, she will have to pay only $75 out of pocket — but the visit raises questions of how those without insurance will be able to afford tests and care for COVID-19.

When she was suffering from a fever, headaches, and tightness in her chest, Brooklyn public-school teacher Erin McCarthy went to a local emergency room to get tested for the coronavirus. 

After a nearly six-hour visit, she said she left without getting tested for the coronavirus and was later slapped with an astonishing medical bill of $10,382.96.

While she will pay only $75 out of pocket, and her insurance company will pay a negotiated-down rate, she said her experience laid bare some very real concerns as the novel coronavirus spreads across the US: the cost of COVID-19 testing and care.

While her insurance coverage saved her thousands of dollars this time, McCarthy was previously hurt in a fall while she was uninsured — it took her years to pay off the ambulance bill. 

“But imagine if I didn’t have insurance,” McCarthy told The City. 

Doctors said McCarthy was not eligible for the coronavirus test

On March 2, McCarthy, 44, said she took herself to the NYU Langone emergency department in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, after experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. She had recently traveled to a region of Italy hard hit by the novel virus. The government is now fighting to control the spread of the virus in the country where infections have soared past 10,000. 

The veteran teacher, who hoped to get tested for the virus, said she spent six hours in the emergency room — 20 minutes with a doctor, a short amount of time getting a chest X-ray, and the majority of the visit spent waiting. 

“And I wasn’t even tested,” McCarthy told The City. 

After hours of waiting around for a test, a doctor in a hazmat suit told her she would not be eligible for the test, despite her showing COVID-19 symptoms, because she did not have immune-system issues and is not elderly.

A patient displaying coronavirus symptoms should fit certain criteria provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to receive a test for COVID-19, since the testing capacity for the virus remains limited. This includes people who have a history of travel to an area with ongoing transmission of the disease, including China, Iran, Japan, and South Korea. Travel to Italy was not included in the affected areas that prompt a coronavirus test at the time of McCarthy’s visit — but it is now. 

A spokesperson for NYU Langone told Business Insider that billing for hospital services is different for each patient, provider, and insurer. The final bill is also affected by what the patient was seen for and what services were provided by the hospital. 

“In addition, there are different parts to a patient bill. One part is what the hospital charges the insurance company; one part is what the insurance company negotiates with the provider and eventually pays; the last part is what the patient owes for the services (also called the co-pay),” the spokesperson added. 

The spokesperson said “the bill in question charged the insurer a fee, the insurer paid a negotiated percentage of that fee and the patient owed only a co-pay of $75.00.” However, it remains unclear why the NYU Langone emergency department in Cobble Hill initially billed her and her insurance company over $10,000.

Business Insider asked NYU Langone to clarify whether the high costs for her care were related to the services she received or specific to treating a patient who believes they have the coronavirus. The hospital declined to answer but said HIPAA “regulations restrict us from speaking to other issues related to her case.”

McCarthy was later tested for COVID-19 after the New York City health commissioner expanded testing for educators, emergency responders, and health workers. While she discovered that she had not contracted the disease, she believes her visit raises questions about the access and affordability of care for those without health insurance. 

The accessibility of coronavirus care 

So far, the US has 31 reported coronavirus deaths and more than 1,150 cases. As the novel virus sweeps the country, Americans have raised concerns about the costs of testing and care related to COVID-19, which many believe could discourage people from seeking care.

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a directive ordering health insurers to waive all costs related to the coronavirus for emergency-room, urgent-care, and doctor visits.

“We can’t let cost be a barrier to access to COVID-19 testing for any New Yorker,” Cuomo tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence, who has been charged with tackling the spread of the virus in the US, announced on March 10 that major insurance companies, including Anthem, Cigna, Humana, and Aetna, would waive copays for testing and cover the cost of treatment of COVID-19 for Americans nationwide. (How about for those who DON’T have insurance because they have been laid off?).

However, those without health insurance and Americans on Medicare and Medicaid may be forced to pay up. The Trump administration said Medicare and Medicaid might not cover all care related to the coronavirus.

Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Monday evening that her agency may not be able to pay for all “products and services” required for coronavirus patients dependent on government insurance.

“We are looking at what we cover and clarifying the types of products and services that our programs will be able to pay for in terms of Medicare and Medicaid,” Verma said.

WHAT A MESS