A trip to the emergency room cost $3000? That's ******* obscene.

[Philosoraptor]

Last week I had to go to the emergency room, but all they did was check my blood and observe me for a couple hours and I was released. I had insurance luckily, and my co-pay was $150. We got the actual bill and the total was THREE GRAND, all I had to pay was my co-pay, but my God, what about folks with NO insurance?

THIS is why I and millions of other Americans are TERRIFIED OF GETTING SICK.

In a country with this much wealth and medical infrastructure, being terrified of getting sick and thrown into the street to die is a gross obscenity.

Getting sick in America can be the most terrifying thing in the world, and that ain't right.

I guess senators and congressmen don't lose a lot of sleep worrying about themselves or their children getting sick and becoming homeless. I guess they're pretty comfy with all that money they get from the big pharms and insurance companies, the heartless bastards.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. My aunt just had a baby. While pregnant, she contracted a severe infection

and required a two month long hospital stay. They ended up having to deliver the baby seven weeks premature via C-section. The baby had to stay in the hospital for about a month.

total cost for having this baby? 260,000 dollars. Thank GOD she had insurance. She ended up having to pay around 5000.

She showed me the bill and I couldn't believe it. What the fuck are you supposed to do if you don't have insurance?

[Philosoraptor]

2. total cost for having this baby? $260,000-- only in America

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. It's twice the cost of their home.

I have no idea how they would have afforded it without insurance. Bankruptcy I guess.

[Philosoraptor]

4. Where does that $260,000 go?

To the doctors and nurses? To the hospital? To the insurance companies? To the senators?

[Yukari Yakumo]

43. "Of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich", eh? {nt}

[knitter4democracy]

51. Well, first of all, the insurance didn't pay all that.

They negotiated down with the various providers. Doctors earn about $100/hr or so (at least in our area), so every minute that the doctor spent with her was adding to the bill. Hospital overhead is insane, as it takes many, many, many people to keep that place running (from keeping the floors clean to taking the blood to running the labs to checking on patients to the pharmacy, etc.). That money will go to pay a lot of salaries, a bit of electricity (their bills are huge), and probably the new EMR computers, too.

[drmeow]

52. And don't forget

the all important profits for the shareholders!

[kikiek]

60. Not too many for profits in our area. Non's still make good money. But in times like these if they

hadn't in the past many would be closing their doors.

[knitter4democracy]

62. Michigan's state constitution says that all hospitals have to be non-profit.

They do more charity care up here than we saw when STBX was in med school in Cleveland.

[kikiek]

59. And cover charity care for people who end up not paying their bill. That is the insane part. We are

already paying for universal health care. Just not efficiently.

[knitter4democracy]

61. Very true.

I've seen our local hospital's annual bill for that and was staggeringly shocked. Huge, huge, huge amount of money.

[dkf]

10. On the other hand $260k for your life and that of your baby seems

a bargain.

My dad was in the hospital with a blood infection. They said that 10 years ago he would have died because they didn't have the drugs that eventually worked for him.

I can't imagine the last almost 5 years without him. He would have missed seeing his grandkids born and grow up.

But what is more depressing is paying $5500 a month for a nursing home when your memory is gone and you have no quality of life. On average a person will live up to 4 years in this condition. That is also $260k.

[enough]

22. I don't know where you live, but in my neighborhood, that figure would be

over $8000 per month for the nursing home, none of which is covered by Medicare.

[dkf]

24. We don't have enough nursing homes in Hawaii

so they allow expanded care homes which are usually run out of actual residences. You are right that nursing homes run about $7000 a month. Care homes in Hawaii can even do hospice.

I think we have the longest life expectancy of all the states, especially because our population of Asian females is big.

[ejpoeta]

13. coming up with $5000 doesn't sound very easy. did they have to take out a loan?

[Stevenmarc]

5. $3000 was the insurance co. price if you didn't have insurance the bill would have been higher

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Yes!

I was telling my aunt the same thing! W/O insurance, the cost of that baby probably would have hit the 300K mark.

[gmoney]

8. not necessarily...

$3000 may have been retail. If they didn't actually do much but keep an eye on him, the actual charges to the insurance co could have been less.

But yeah, it certainly makes one think twice before going. Funny thing is, all those public service announcements are now saying "oh, if you bump your elbow, it could be a heart attack or a stroke, run to the ER right away!" I exaggerate slightly, but I wonder if those PSA's aren't designed to drive people to the hospital unnecessarily.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. No they are not, there are certain signs and symptoms of a heart attack

that are classic

the problem is that they are mostly classic for males.

But if you have shooting pain on your left arm... it could be a heart attack.

[backscatter712]

55. Insurance almost certainly pays less.

Hospitals and insurance companies play the haggling game, taken to ridiculous extremes. Typically, the hospital's bill is $3,000 in this case, and the insurance company will probably pay about $800.

[cabluedem]

11. Yes probably double the cost easy. 6K for what? nt

[dem629]

42. No, it would have been lower.

Before I was covered, I would always make a point of saying I would pay the uninsured amount, and it was always between 30-40% lower.

[madokie]

7. I'm happy to read that you're fine

this is sorta' off but for reference here tiz. In '55 my brother had his appendix burst, the cost of the hospital stay, over night, doctor and all the other expensives came to a total of 155 bucks. In '74 I had to go to the emergency room about 1 in the morning because of food poisoning. I spent about 8 hours there had my stomach pumped and was given something for the pain and guess what the total cost of that stay was, 155 bucks too, doctor and all. No insurance in either of these instances. Run away Health care cost is killing America, one patient at a time, just as sure as pulling a gun out and shooting someone.

[customerserviceguy]

9. Your bill might have only been a 'nominal' three grand

Look closer on the insurance statements, was the 'negotiated' charge lower? This is the game the whole system plays, people with insurance usually have managed care policies that play games with the sticker price. Add in the folks who will never pay (bankrupt, false ID from undocumented, etc.) and you'll see how the poor SOB with no insurance and some accountability gets stuck with the full bill for the three grand.

[CurtEastPoint]

12. I went to the ER for a bat bite and my copay was $100 BUT the EOB from Cigna

showed the hospital charged $2900 for (1) ER visit, (2) immunoglobulin shot and (3) rabies vaccine. How can 2 injections cost $2600?

[ejpoeta]

15. part of the cost is the uninsured patients who come to the hospital

who can't pay the bill. so everyone else pays the bill. that's why I say that we are already paying three times for our healthcare. We pay our insurance premiums (and then copays and deductibles) and then we pay for medicaid and similar programs... then we pay for the ones who can't pay the bill by paying more when we go to the hospital. So the argument of how we are going to pay for singlepayer seems ridiculous. We already do...

[Gman2]

14. That fuckwad liar Bush, killed me with BP A, now for the rest of my life

I am unable to get insurance. I have heart failure. Because they lied for years. And still are. God has blessed me with a condition that so far responds to meds alone. I can NOT get treated in the ER, exceot fir stabilization. Chronic problems are not treated. The LIARS that claim that we all get care in the ER is BULLSHIT. SS dis is a scam that will see you dead if you cannot survive without any Gov help for well over a year. You
HAVE to hire a lowyer, that takes a significant portion of what you fought hard for. And spent money to survive during, and now have no money to reimburse those that helped you survive. The relative saviour, is a well worn path. The SS office tried to scam my mom into agreeing to pay for my Granny, that they didnt. They used extreme guilt on her. Unconscionable. This system is only fit for sociopaths. If they dont fix it, I may go postal at some point, to fix it for them. They had better deal with the millions of people that will die if they dont help. Cuz, we have NOTHING TO LOSE.

[LuckyTheDog]

16. My wife got s $4,400 bill for an ER visit

The idiots at the hospital apparently forgot to process her insurance card after my wife went in as a result of a car accident (no serious injuries, thank goodness). So, the hospital sent us a bill for about $4,400. Luckily, the insurance snafu is being cleared up and we will end up paying just a small part of that.

But wow... $4,400 for 3-hour stay in the ER and a few X-rays? Damn!

[raccoon]

17. Rec'd. Cmon, DUers, 2 more puts this on Greatest! nt

[NNN0LHI]

18. Not to be nosy but what did you go to the emergency room for?

[Philosoraptor]

26. A bad belly ache, much better now thanks.

[NNN0LHI]

33. Sure glad you are feeling better

Take care and see you later.

Don

[snappyturtle]

19. 5th K&R Hope lots of DUers read this outrage of costs.

I think, maybe wrongly think, that care centers whatever form they take, grab the opportunity to bill insurance companies outlandish fees knowing they'll get it! Actually, they have it both ways. My dentistry bill a few years ago cost me more than had I had dental insurance. Insurance companies have limits on what they'll pay for a root canal but who was I to argue. I voiced my displeasure and the gal doing the billing confided in me. I got three 'estimates'....all outrageous.

[JVS]

20. How do they make costs so fucking high? Where's the medical Walmart to roll these prices back?

[xchrom]

21. recommend -- i'm glad you are ok. nt

[T Wolf]

23. My cousin recently was stricken by a brain aneurysm. She was airlifted from her small town hospital

to an urban medical college (45 miles away). She got great care and seems to be doing well.

Now home, she is being dunned by collection agencies. Among them, the helicopter company has billed her $15,000 for the ride.

Granted, it saved her life, and some. But how is she supposed to pay that? And the other bills have not even started to come in yet.

Every other (non-American) civilized person on the planet would be shocked at something like this. Only here do we put profit before people to this degree of callousness.

Single-payer, universal healthCARE now!

[TreasonousBastard]

25. Yeah, my mother went for a small procedure that...

took an hour or so-- one morning in the OR and recovery. No emergency room or problems.

Over $7,000 for that morning. Medicare and Blue Cross paid most of it, but what was it all for?

I keep saying it, other people keep saying it--

Single payer, insurance comapanies... makes no difference. Nothing will get done until we figure out how to control medical costs in this
country.

[ThatsMyBarack]

27. Not that I'm surprised, but....

:mad: :grr: :nuke:

[nichomachus]

28. A friend recently went to an emergency room

in Spain. He is an American living there and a long-standing back problem flared up. He was in agony. Some Spanish friends took him to the ER. They saw him right away -- did a whole battery of tests -- Xrays, CAT etc. They changed his meds because the ones he had gotten in the US were making the problem worse (something the drug company hid from the FDA), they gave him painkillers and set him up with a specialist for the following week. He was in five hours. Because he wasn't on their national health plan, he had to pay. Total cost: $135.

[spinbaby]

35. I have a Spanish story, too

I have an elderly aunt who was traveling in Spain and fell on the pavement. A passerby loaded her and her husband into their car and took them to the ER where her scrapes and bruises were attended to (no breaks, thank goodness). No charge.

[goclark]

29. I had a sprained ankle on a Saturday ~ bill was $2000

at the Emergency Room

Luckily my insurance paid it!

My guy had a high fever and he has other health issues. Took him to the ER and they got his temp down and took his blood pressure and ran some additional test. Next day he came home --Insurance paid $6000.

Something has got to give!

Is it better to call your regular DR. and have him check you into the hospital?

[Dappleganger]

30. That's because they pad your bill to cover the uninsured people

who don't pay.

Which is why we need singly-payer, universal health care.

[WI_DEM]

31. Yep, ER visits can be expensive. Even a "drawing blood" encompases more than what people think

for instance they check the blood for many different things. A hepatic function can be $130, check troponin $239, basic metablolic panel $260--it adds up. Then the ER visit itself, depending on what level you are can be expensive. For instance a level 3 ER visit could be $600, level four $800 (levels 1 & 2 less expensive, obviously). You should ask for an itemized statement and see exactly how the $3000 breaks down.

[Thickasabrick]

32. That was cheap - mine was $17,000 but they ran more tests. I had

insurance too. I also had an ambulance take me.

[TuxedoKat]

34. Four years ago

my husband suspected he had food poisoning and started having an asthma attack on top of that. We brought him
to the emergency room and they started doing all these tests on him for heart attack patients. The bill came to about $4,000.00. The other day I had to bring my daughter to an emergency room for stomach pains as it was after hours. They wanted to give her a pain pill but I told them I'd give her one when we got home because I didn't want to get charged $50.00 for it!

[wan]

36. A big source of the cost...

Many doctors draw very large checks by just being on call for a hospital in case of emergency. They rarely if ever actually set foot in the hospital, but are required to be within a certain distance of the hospital. Usually in a nearby motel.

[ehrnst]

37. When I looked at my itemized bill for a trip to the ER - I found major errors

Like being charged for THREE arm slings - when I only had one.

The nurse forgot to turn off the oxygen when she took the tub off my face - she later discovered this and turned it off, and I was charged for 3 hours of oxygen instead of two...

I pointed out these errors and the total off my bill (in 1991) $500!!

Check EVERYTHING.

[Vincardog]

38. I fractured the hell out of my leg. Total uninsured cost $50,000 and still counting

[progressoid]

39. Even those of us with insurance are terrified of getting sick

This insurance plans are so fucked up.

Will it be covered? Is my doctor a "preferred provider"? Will my condition be considered pre-existing? etc. etc.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. This is why we need to get the profit out of healthcare

and INSURE EVERYBODY with single payer

When dad broke his hip I could ball park what it was going to run, but only because I paid for MY supplies as a medic.

Hell I even said how much the BLS ambulance ride was going to be. I was off by ten bucks

[LibDemAlways]

44. There's a teen in my area who is very sick and in the hospital. Even

though she's insured, the insurance isn't enough and the parents have resorted to fundraising on her behalf. There was a benefit concert just the other day.

It's obscene that in this country where rich people have so much damn money, that middle class and poor people find it necessary to solicit funds to pay for medical expenses. It's a national disgrace.

[RockaFowler]

45. My Husband's bill was $97K

He went in for 3 weeks. We had to pay only $1000 of that, but what exactly was worth over $90,000?? When I saw the bills there were doctors that I never saw (nor my husband for that matter). If someone said hi to my husband, he billed the insurance for that as a consultation.

Can someone tell me why Insurance Companies are now owning Hospitals?? Isn't that a conflict of interest??

[TrogL]

46. Craftygal went to Emerg a couple of weeks ago

She was in a car accident and has a torn rotator cuff.

Our total cost:

Vending machine: $4.00
Nice sling to replace ugly one supplied (free) by hospital: $19.95.

Since then she's had (free) doctor's visits, (free) physiotherapy and is on the list for a (free) MRI.

[Hekate]

48. Dang, you Canadians are merciless with your rationed health care, aren't you?

I don't know how you can stand it. :eyes:

Hekate

[Hekate]

47. Broken record over here: The USA Has Third World Access To Health Care--Pay Or Die.

"Best in the world" only applies as long as you can pay. Church bake sales for your kid's chemotherapy? Please.

:argh: :grr: :nuke: and repeat

Hekate

[littlebit]

49. $16,000

That's what mine was back in april when I had my heart attack. That was just the ER part. Fortunately I only had to pay $500 for the whole four day stay in the hospital.

[Merlot]

50. I paid $2500 to get ONE tooth repaired

No break for not having dental insurance. All out of pocket. Oh, but the dentist office was all smiles as they told me I could put it on my visa.

Sometimes it's funny how people think "put it on your visa" means "you don't have to pay for it."

[LaPera]

53. And republicans want to keep it that way, fighting against a public option & supporting only the

insurance corporations & corporate hospitals that are making huge profits from our tax dollars as well as bleeding workers wages dry.

Universal Health Care for ALL NOW!

[Wednesdays]

54. K&R

:kick:

[LooseWilly]

56. Unless I've been shot or stabbed... I'm not going to the doctor. Period.

I'd rather die and leave all my money to my family than spend it at those rates to save my life.

Fuck it. I'm not worth it...

[Union Yes]

57. I did a thread awhile back on my father's $440,000 heart surgery.

Health Care is only for the rich nowadays.

[UrbScotty]

58. $3,000 to live. Think about that.