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Maybe Obamas healthcare will help me?
fizzer
Member Posts: 748 ✭✭
Long story short.... I have had gout for 11 years, on Dec.18(sun) I had to go to the emergency room at 9:30pm. I was hoping to make it to the morning to see my GP, but the pain got unbearable.
I was there a total of 30 minutes. Never saw a doctor, only a nurse practitioner. Was given 2 pills for inflamation, given a script for more anti-inflamitory meds and for vicodin. They would not give me pain meds there because I was driving.(I should have asked for a cortozone shot,but they did not offer either).
Afterwards I had to drive almost 30 minutes to find a 24hr pharmacy, then wait another 20 to get the meds.
Today I received the hospital bill..........$979.
Insurance picked up most of it but the $200 copay, my GP would have been $25.
Something is wrong in this country when this bill is almost $1k
Rant over.
I was there a total of 30 minutes. Never saw a doctor, only a nurse practitioner. Was given 2 pills for inflamation, given a script for more anti-inflamitory meds and for vicodin. They would not give me pain meds there because I was driving.(I should have asked for a cortozone shot,but they did not offer either).
Afterwards I had to drive almost 30 minutes to find a 24hr pharmacy, then wait another 20 to get the meds.
Today I received the hospital bill..........$979.
Insurance picked up most of it but the $200 copay, my GP would have been $25.
Something is wrong in this country when this bill is almost $1k
Rant over.
Comments
if the majority of people were paying out of pocket for expenses, costs would be reasonable or people wouldnt use the services.
there was a time when this was the case. then companies started offering insurance as a perk. it wasnt long before people expected it. once the majority was insured, costs were able to be manipulated out of control. docs raise prices, insurance companies raise reimbursements and the cycle starts anew.
sadly, there is no solution that both fixes the problem and doesnt straight up screw us down the road.
nothing to do with obamacare, same for my wife 2007.
keep a few of those super pain killers in case there is a next time.
pat
quote:Originally posted by KEVD18
the bill was so high because the payer(insurance) and payee(hospital) are in cahoots.
if the majority of people were paying out of pocket for expenses, costs would be reasonable or people wouldnt use the services.
there was a time when this was the case. then companies started offering insurance as a perk. it wasnt long before people expected it. once the majority was insured, costs were able to be manipulated out of control. docs raise prices, insurance companies raise reimbursements and the cycle starts anew.
sadly, there is no solution that both fixes the problem and doesnt straight up screw us down the road.
For the times I have to go to the ER to get looked at it is wild. They do a simple x-ray and have a Dr look at it then tell me everything is like it should be. Then they ask if I need any meds, I never do I have what I need at home. Then they send me a bill for $1,300. That is crazy.
from the nurse's group, the ER doctor's group, & they aren't participating.
But, this is standard procedure, & no one is taking advantage of you. If your ER is like many in this country
full of Medicaid patients for whom they get 10-20 cents on the dollar for services from the government
they have to pay their bills somehow. And, by federal law, anyone who comes into the ER must be treated without regard for their ability to pay. So, they have to overcharge US to pay for THEM.
The government isn't going to pay. Government has no money; it is just a mechanism to redistribute OUR money.
Neal
"Sometimes, you're just going to have to take a pain pill." --- Barack Hussein Obama
so if that is the case how can they take you to court atferwards when you can't pay ? and do all kinds of bad things to your credit ect ?
It's not a permanent fix, but there's something in cherry juice that helps the body dissolve the uric acid build-up.
Might try putting yourself on a regiment of it. A glass or two a day certainly wouldn't hurt.
BTW, I hate cherry juice, but gout runs in my family. I've got it, but it's usually not bad enough for me to tell it's even there.
You will probably get a couple of more bills, & those won't be covered at all
from the nurse's group, the ER doctor's group, & they aren't participating.
But, this is standard procedure, & no one is taking advantage of you. If your ER is like many in this country
full of Medicaid patients for whom they get 10-20 cents on the dollar for services from the government
they have to pay their bills somehow. And, by federal law, anyone who comes into the ER must be treated without regard for their ability to pay. So, they have to overcharge US to pay for THEM.
The government isn't going to pay. Government has no money; it is just a mechanism to redistribute OUR money.
Neal
"Sometimes, you're just going to have to take a pain pill." --- Barack Hussein Obama
Plus you have deadbeats like a guy I used to know from work. He was a manager of a wholesale house but refused insurance because he didn't want to pay 100 bucks a month.
His wife had a baby, and he totally stiffed the OB/GYN doc as well as the hospital. Didn't even offer to make a payment plan, and told them he didn't give a crap what they did to his credit.
You could tell he was proud about it too,.....he told the story a number of times.[xx(]
I called him a scumbag to his face, in front of about 10 customers.