What is really wrong ? Answer : Medical bills

[secondbase]

our 16 year old daughter had some serious stomach pain at school the other day and thus my wife ended up taking her to the ER to check to see if it may be an appendix.
They did tests etc and a scan and decided it was kidney infection ( she needs to drink water and not the damn energy drinks and pop ).

We got our bill and it is 6600 .

And it does not even include any of the Dr. bills.

whatever in our society that has led to such prices whether it be malpractice insurance or greed on the part of the wealthy health care providers is totally out of hand IMHO

[Victor]

Totally agree secondbase! My answer is greed. I was in the emergency room some time back. Waited 5 hours for the doctor to put some dye in my eye and tell me I had a deep cornea scratch. When the bills were all paid the cost was $2,389.43. When my wife was diagnosed with cancer we got lucky. The insurance policy I had for her was major medical. After I paid the $5,000.00 deductible and the insurance company picked up 100% of the cost which was some where around $200.000.00. After that the insurance company raised her rates and the deductible went to $10,000.00. About 6 months after that they dropped her and said they don`t offer major medical anymore. Fu*kin as*holes. When it come to hospitals or insurance companies. I know one thing for sure. They better not pick me to be on the jury of one of there cases.

[QuadzillaXXX]

that's crazy.....our medical bills just seem to nickel and dime us to death, you get everything paid, think you're okay, then a few bucks pop up from some dr appt or something a month ago, really adds up

[cook county capper]

2008 when I broke my leg twice and had blood clots, I was in for a part of 24 days. Total cost = $92,000. Amount I had to pay = $7,000+ because I am on blood thinners the rest of my life and go to the doctor regularly.

Bringing this up, get a COMPLETE printout of everything done to you. I found so many mistakes it wasn't even funny.

The best one. $499.00 charge for a triangle foam wedge for my leg. They brought it in my room and I said its a big pillow, I don't need more crap on my bed. They took it away, still was charged.

Second best, my blood thinner pill was $2.00 a pop. I buy these for $0.11 at Target Pharmacy. 18x more at the hospital.

[Lukester]

In Ontario if the Hospital charges the Gov i.e. $600 for an ER visit such as your daughter's a walk-in clinic would be much less and a family doctor's 5 minute visit would be $200 in comparison--so 1/3 the cost which is not bad, but still. I don't know the exact figures but it would be much less than your bill. Many don't have family doctors and our ERs are filled to capacity with a waiting time of 6-10 hours before a doctor sees you.

$6,000+ is absurd compared to our health plan.

Lately, the VRE has infected most hospitals in the USA, especially in Philadelphia where they have given up on even trying to control it. Ontario's hospitals is still under control for now. It's a bad time to spend time in a hospital right now--and the longer the period of time you spend in it the more you sre open to these bacterias/viruses which lodge in your wounds, lungs and stomach. Not that it's deadly but don't know how this will turn out if unchecked for long periods of time and more & more people cathching it.

So try to get a Family Physician instead...and lots of time they will see kids right away or the next day.

[thinkingdog]

In Alberta, ER wait times are insanely long with a recent study indicating that only 45% of patients are treated within 8 hours! Then again, there is no bill at the end of your visit ...

Every system has its pros and cons.

[justdonating]

Medical are costs are absurd. Its the biggest fukin' scam around. Even with insurance you take it in the ass. You work your ass off everyday to pay your insurance premium only to find out you've still got high ass co-pays, overpriced prescriptions, and then the dreaded fukin' deductibles. Had a kid almost 2 years ago. After the insurance company kicks in $50k, I'm still out almost $5k. Fukin' Tylenol at $25 a pop. Diapers at $25 each. What a crock of shit. No way a 2.5 day stay at the hospital to deliver a baby with zero complications should be almost $55k.

I'm glad my daughter was 100% healthy, but I left feeling like I got it in the ass with no reach around.

[Big Pimpin]

become an illegal and your costs are free = problem solved


you are welcome

[Lukester]

Originally Posted by thinkingdog

In Alberta, ER wait times are insanely long with a recent study indicating that only 45% of patients are treated within 8 hours! Then again, there is no bill at the end of your visit ...

Every system has its pros and cons.

Stop reeling them in, td!

[Beep]

Prior to medicare, a family could get a major medical policy for $100 bucks a year, not 100 a month, 100 per year. There were no pre exisiting conditions clauses, the industry was competitive, much like car insurance today, is relatively low cost and competitive. The max you could claim was $5000. All the heart attacks, car accidents etc, nobody ever went over the $5000 mark, it was unheard of to go over $5000 in medical bills. There was a 500 deductible, which is like 2000 today. My parents would not take you to a doctor unless you really needed to go, you had to have something really wrong to go to the doctor. But it was insurance, if the event you had a major problem, the insurance would kick in.

Then came medicare. With medicare the hospitals are free to charge whatever they want and line the pockets because the govt is paying for most people. The govt has an open checkbook and just says we will pay whatever you charge. That is the clear problem, medicare. There is good reason for concern for the insurance premiums, but that is not the cause the cause is medicare. You discontinue medicare and allow the market to dictate the price, the insurance companies become competitive again, and prices would drop like a rock as well as insurance. What politician is going to run on a platform of discontinuing medicare? Nobody. This will not be solved until the people understand this and revolt against our government, until then nothing will change, and it does not appear that anything will change soon.

[Snowman]

I was in the hospital about 10 years ago for about 3 weeks and my pharmacy bill alone was 200,000...I think the drug companies are the ones that are ****ing everyone imo

[Lukester]

Originally Posted by Snowman

I was in the hospital about 10 years ago for about 3 weeks and my pharmacy bill alone was 200,000...I think the drug companies are the ones that are ****ing everyone imo

a 6-digit number? maybe a 3- or a 4-digit number but 6- is

[TSZ]

Wow thank God I live in Canada. Free healthcare is worth the 13% tax we pay IMO.
You all should consider moving here if u have serious medical problems and are a frequent visitor. We only pay if we stay in a bed and even then 12 days is about 200$ bucks. 99% of
my prescriptions/er visits/surgeries/doctors visits are free as long as I keep paying my 25$ monthly insurance premium.

[JR7302001]

Originally Posted by TSZ

Wow thank God I live in Canada. Free healthcare is worth the 13% tax we pay IMO.
You all should consider moving here if u have serious medical problems and are a frequent visitor. We only pay if we stay in a bed and even then 12 days is about 200$ bucks. 99% of
my prescriptions/er visits/surgeries/doctors visits are free as long as I keep paying my 25$ monthly insurance premium.

Not really, not with those wait times. What we need to do is get society from thinking that it is everyones duty to support someone who can't cut it. Not for me, all I need to do is take care of me and my family. There is no reason to pay taxes for someone to sit home and watch their favorite TV programs!!!

[thinkingdog]

Originally Posted by Lukester

Stop reeling them in, td!

I'd take our Canadian health care system over the U.S., but I've talked to plenty of Americans who love their system as I love ours. There is good and bad with every system...