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Link Posted: 4/25/2013 7:59:28 PM EDT
[#1]
Oh yeah.....

You weren't chained to the hospital bed.


In the future, you can leave any time you want, just walk out ..... had a buddy do just that after an l4-l5 fusion....

doc had him down for 3-5 more days, he says "fuck this I am going home, you can help me, or I will do it myself with a much greater chance of fucking something up"
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:00:34 PM EDT
[#2]
Quoted:
So many factors, so little time.

Fuck it, Learn To Swim.






Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:02:49 PM EDT
[#3]



Quoted:


And the insurance company will really pay about 10-15K.


and if you told them you didnt have insutance they would have let you go home other than the day of surgery and charged you even lss.

 
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:06:36 PM EDT
[#4]
A few months ago I got a severe hemorrhage in the sclera of my left eye.  Lots of blood, and a dark chunk in the sclera, that I could barely see.  As I was working on a rusty exhaust pipe on a car earlier in the day, I wondered if some chunk of rusty metal had gotten in there.  I did feel pain, but it was diffuse, and had no problem with my vision.






Nobody at home but me.  Neighbors gone.  Late night on a Saturday.  All the walk-in clinics were closed.  I just needed someone to take a look at it and let me know what it was.







Sigh.







Went to the ER.







Took a nurse practitioner at most 30 seconds to get a good look at it and confirm the black stuff was just a big blood clot, and not foreign material.  Said it was just a bad bleed and that it will go away in a few days.  Took two weeks, actually.







I never even made it past triage.  They took my vitals, the nurse asked the nurse practitioner to take a quick look as she was walking by, she did, told me the news and said I could go.  Went to checkout, they said they'd send me a bill, and I went home.







Cost was $780.







I called to complain or at least verify.  Was told that was the second lowest they could charge me in their computer system.  Had I walked out after checking in without seeing anyone I would have been charged $350.







I have very high deductible insurance, so that was all out of my pocket.







Then I got a separate bill for $117 for the nurse practitioner.  She was from a separate hospital filling in, so I had to pay her separately.







Then I got a bill for $240 from the doctor.  That's right, the doctor the nurse practitioner worked for.  Doctor never even came to see me.  He probably signed a chart or something.







So, about $1100 for about 10 minutes worth of their time, including triage, examination, and discharge.







I didn't pay the bill.  They sent nasty letters, I threw them away.







After about 3 months, I got a new bill and the nurse practitioner and doctor portions were removed.







Still wouldn't pay.







Months pass.  Get a new bill.  $350.  Their minimum charge.  Said fuck it, and paid it.







Then a few months later I have symptoms of a heart attack, go to the ER, spent overnight in cardiac diagnostic unit at same hospital.  X-rays, CT scans, meds, monitoring, doctors, nurses, everything.  My cost?  About $2700, after my insurance company negotiated a price for me.







(nothing wrong with my heart, btw, my calcium score was zero)







I have a very jaundiced view of medical pricing right now.











 
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:08:12 PM EDT
[#5]
So glad I have health insurance.
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:11:27 PM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Someone has to pay for all those people that camp out at the ER every time they get a hangnail.


this but those prices are not new by any means.
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:14:38 PM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
And the insurance company will really pay about 10-15K.


this also

wife is a biller

Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:15:15 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:

In the future, you can leave any time you want, just walk out ..... had a buddy do just that after an l4-l5 fusion....


Many (most?) insurers will refuse to pay for your stay if you leave AMA.

BTW, docs don't get any special treatment either.  My family had a couple years of big medical expenses, and we reached the $15,000 maximum out-of-pocket two years in a row.  Total bills were somewhere in the 6 figures.  
Link Posted: 4/25/2013 8:17:22 PM EDT
[#9]
The docs were milking nothing. They made a pittance for their time. They had to keep you because they were practicing "CYA medicine," aka cover your ass medicine. They kept you in the hospital because if they had discharged you and on the 0.1% chance you did indeed loose a kidney, they would face a huge lawsuit from whatever lowlife attorney you used to sue them. This is the reality of malpractice attorneys run amok. Medical costs would drop 75% overnight if we had tort reform. The hospital was raking it in, not the docs.
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 6:15:06 AM EDT
[#10]



Quoted:


Oh yeah.....



You weren't chained to the hospital bed.





In the future, you can leave any time you want, just walk out ..... had a buddy do just that after an l4-l5 fusion....



doc had him down for 3-5 more days, he says "fuck this I am going home, you can help me, or I will do it myself with a much greater chance of fucking something up"


I am know for leaving AMA, my wife works at this hospital and hates when i do it but since the Drs she works with tell her I am right she doesn't get embarrassed

Of course I only leave when I can do the stuff at home, last time i was talked into being admitted, I didn't see a specialist for 2 days and my family Dr came in twice a day and he talked to this "specialist"





Finally the Director of nursing came in along with one of the Nuns and asked how things were, well I told her exactly how things were, within 90 minutes the Gastro Drs assistant came in to apologize and I fired him

This Gastro Dr was from the ME and his replacement was also, before the 2nd Dr left he stopped, looked at me and said "I have question for you" so I told him to ask away, his eyebrows shot up and he got a pissed off voice and said "Why you choose Dr ---- over me to begin with" and I swear he looked, acted and sounded just like the soup Nazi

I am still messed up and can't get these ME Drs to listen to me and I am playing hell finding an American Gastro Dr in my area
 
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 2:28:40 PM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
A few months ago I got a severe hemorrhage in the sclera of my left eye.  Lots of blood, and a dark chunk in the sclera, that I could barely see.  As I was working on a rusty exhaust pipe on a car earlier in the day, I wondered if some chunk of rusty metal had gotten in there.  I did feel pain, but it was diffuse, and had no problem with my vision.

Nobody at home but me.  Neighbors gone.  Late night on a Saturday.  All the walk-in clinics were closed.  I just needed someone to take a look at it and let me know what it was.

Sigh.

Went to the ER.

Took a nurse practitioner at most 30 seconds to get a good look at it and confirm the black stuff was just a big blood clot, and not foreign material.  Said it was just a bad bleed and that it will go away in a few days.  Took two weeks, actually.

I never even made it past triage.  They took my vitals, the nurse asked the nurse practitioner to take a quick look as she was walking by, she did, told me the news and said I could go.  Went to checkout, they said they'd send me a bill, and I went home.

Cost was $780.

I called to complain or at least verify.  Was told that was the second lowest they could charge me in their computer system.  Had I walked out after checking in without seeing anyone I would have been charged $350.

I have very high deductible insurance, so that was all out of my pocket.

Then I got a separate bill for $117 for the nurse practitioner.  She was from a separate hospital filling in, so I had to pay her separately.

Then I got a bill for $240 from the doctor.  That's right, the doctor the nurse practitioner worked for.  Doctor never even came to see me.  He probably signed a chart or something.

So, about $1100 for about 10 minutes worth of their time, including triage, examination, and discharge.

I didn't pay the bill.  They sent nasty letters, I threw them away.

After about 3 months, I got a new bill and the nurse practitioner and doctor portions were removed.

Still wouldn't pay.

Months pass.  Get a new bill.  $350.  Their minimum charge.  Said fuck it, and paid it.

Then a few months later I have symptoms of a heart attack, go to the ER, spent overnight in cardiac diagnostic unit at same hospital.  X-rays, CT scans, meds, monitoring, doctors, nurses, everything.  My cost?  About $2700, after my insurance company negotiated a price for me.

(nothing wrong with my heart, btw, my calcium score was zero)

I have a very jaundiced view of medical pricing right now.


 


Just think if auto repair shops billed like hospitals do.

1. Walk in and speak to counter dude. Billed $100

2. Fat Tony drives car into bay. $125.00

3. little Tony pops hoods and finds issue. $300

4. Sinister Sal actually repairs the problem $650

5. Part handler charges $300 for finding the part/s

6. Fat Tony drives car on test drive $125

7. Little Tony takes money and hands over keys. $75

8 Shop owner charges $895 for car being repaired and taking up space in a bay

That is your modern hospital.
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 2:44:08 PM EDT
[#12]



Quoted:



Quoted:



No infection...I even asked why the antibiotics...they said it was precautionary and standard procedure.







Then I'm not sure why they did what they did.



Blocking up one kidney doesn't even change your renal labs... your other kidney easily picks up the slack.  Seems to me this could have been done as an outpatient, barring any infection.  I send even high-grade obstructions home, provided they can follow-up with the Urologist.  





I agree. If there was no apparent infection, it's unclear why he was admitted. The big reasons to admit are concomitant infection or intractable pain.

 



That said, let's assume the admission was justified. I agree with the OP that the cost of a couple days of of IV fluids and antibiotics approaching $100K is obscene. This is what has become of our medical system, and sadly we're leaning more and more toward letting government "fix it".
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 2:44:10 PM EDT
[#13]
Quoted:
Someone has to pay for all those people that camp out at the ER every time they get a hangnail.


FPNI




Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 2:49:51 PM EDT
[#14]
You don't want to know what my cancer treatments have cost I'm still here though and currently in remission in spite of being given less than a 5% chance so ill gladly pay my copays

I couldn't be more thankful for good insurance (united healthcare as well).
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 2:51:31 PM EDT
[#15]
Somebody has to cover the costs of illegals using the e.r. as an urgent care.
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:00:55 PM EDT
[#16]



Quoted:



Quoted:

A few months ago I got a severe hemorrhage in the sclera of my left eye.  Lots of blood, and a dark chunk in the sclera, that I could barely see.  As I was working on a rusty exhaust pipe on a car earlier in the day, I wondered if some chunk of rusty metal had gotten in there.  I did feel pain, but it was diffuse, and had no problem with my vision.



Nobody at home but me.  Neighbors gone.  Late night on a Saturday.  All the walk-in clinics were closed.  I just needed someone to take a look at it and let me know what it was.




Sigh.




Went to the ER.




Took a nurse practitioner at most 30 seconds to get a good look at it and confirm the black stuff was just a big blood clot, and not foreign material.  Said it was just a bad bleed and that it will go away in a few days.  Took two weeks, actually.




I never even made it past triage.  They took my vitals, the nurse asked the nurse practitioner to take a quick look as she was walking by, she did, told me the news and said I could go.  Went to checkout, they said they'd send me a bill, and I went home.




Cost was $780.




I called to complain or at least verify.  Was told that was the second lowest they could charge me in their computer system.  Had I walked out after checking in without seeing anyone I would have been charged $350.




I have very high deductible insurance, so that was all out of my pocket.




Then I got a separate bill for $117 for the nurse practitioner.  She was from a separate hospital filling in, so I had to pay her separately.




Then I got a bill for $240 from the doctor.  That's right, the doctor the nurse practitioner worked for.  Doctor never even came to see me.  He probably signed a chart or something.




So, about $1100 for about 10 minutes worth of their time, including triage, examination, and discharge.




I didn't pay the bill.  They sent nasty letters, I threw them away.




After about 3 months, I got a new bill and the nurse practitioner and doctor portions were removed.




Still wouldn't pay.




Months pass.  Get a new bill.  $350.  Their minimum charge.  Said fuck it, and paid it.




Then a few months later I have symptoms of a heart attack, go to the ER, spent overnight in cardiac diagnostic unit at same hospital.  X-rays, CT scans, meds, monitoring, doctors, nurses, everything.  My cost?  About $2700, after my insurance company negotiated a price for me.




(nothing wrong with my heart, btw, my calcium score was zero)




I have a very jaundiced view of medical pricing right now.






 




Just think if auto repair shops billed like hospitals do.



1. Walk in and speak to counter dude. Billed $100



2. Fat Tony drives car into bay. $125.00



3. little Tony pops hoods and finds issue. $300



4. Sinister Sal actually repairs the problem $650



5. Part handler charges $300 for finding the part/s



6. Fat Tony drives car on test drive $125



7. Little Tony takes money and hands over keys. $75



8 Shop owner charges $895 for car being repaired and taking up space in a bay



That is your modern hospital.
You forgot #9-11



9. Car sounds funny.  

10.Sue shop.

11. Shop 'wins' but still out 40K in legal bills.










 
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:03:58 PM EDT
[#17]



Quoted:



BCBS of Alabama has rejected all charges submitted by West Boca Medical Center as "not medically necessary". I'd call that telling them to "eat a dick"!



The fact that he could not eat/swallow does not matter. As far as the insurer is concerned, he could have gone home the same day he visited the ER. Infection and 104 degree temp be damned.



 


No, just typical inflammatory language insurance companies use.  Like coded wrong by the hospital.

 



There is no emotion in submission of charges or denials.  Just bored clerks entering numbers and computers processing them.  If anything doesn't match up, it gets kicked out.






Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:10:58 PM EDT
[#18]
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:18:25 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
I had an outpatient procedure two years ago that the insurance company decided to deny as a preexisting condition. Hospital sent me a bill for $75,000 then, without me even talking to them, sent a letter two weeks later saying they would take $4,500. I wrote that check fast as hell.


Did you report the "debt forgiven" amount as income on your tax return?  The hospital wrote off the "loss".  You are supposed to report the "gain".

You have $70,500 in unreported "income" I suspect.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:22:24 PM EDT
[#20]
Yeah that is a load of crap.    If people paid out of pocket for these procedures it wouldn't be like that.    My wife needed an MRI so we decided to pay out of pocket and shopped around locally.   We found prices ranging from $450 to $8000 for just an MRI...... and the lower priced ones were places that specialized in that service.    I guarantee noone using insurance shops around to get the best price and keep their costs low.....


 Another time I took my wife to the ER with stomach pains.   Someone came to look at her.....pushed on her tummy a bit and said they didn't know what was wrong.    They gave her two tylenol and said if it didn't go away or got worse to come back then.    We later got the bill for $800.   Geez I could set up a practice without a medical degree to tell people I don't know what is wrong with them either for $1600 an hour.   Either that or those are some really expensive NASA tylenol they gave her.
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:27:06 PM EDT
[#21]
I had a heart attack last Saturday. ER visit, air-evac'ed from WV to Roanoke, 4-day hospital stay with associated tests, and a stent put in.

I'm dying to see what the bill is.
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:47:35 PM EDT
[#22]
I was in the ER for about an hour for my kidney stone.....My bill was $15,000 and I didn't have insurance
I about shit myself when I opened that bill
They ended up reducing the total I owed a few weeks later (probably tacked my balance on some suckers bill who had actually had insurance)




 
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:54:26 PM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
A few weeks back I went to the emergency room late Saturday night for a kidney stone.  This was my 5th one and I needed pain meds.  Every time I have had one, I go to the ER, get pain meds, go home and see my urologist.  Four of the five previous stones had to be surgically removed by a simple 45 minute endoscopic out patient procedure.  This involves general anesthesia, a simple procedure with no cuts, then go home with pain meds and usually go back to work the next day.  Anyway.....ER doc says you have a 7mm stone (no biggie..had them that size before), so I ask for pain meds and tell him I'll call my Doc tomorrow.  He says no way...this is life threatening...if your ureter gets totally blocked you will lose the kidney.  So I get admitted.  Sunday I see the staff urologist (SU) since my normal urologist is 30 miles away and does not practice at this hospital.  I give the SU my history with kidney stones and he says no problem...he says stay a second night and we will remove it Monday morning first thing.  Monday morning rolls around, SU comes in later and says he decided to wait a day to see if it will pass on its own.  I say there is no way...its BS...its 7mm....get the lecture from the SU about losing the kidney.  Tuesday rolls around...SU comes in and says today is the day....I have it removed, but still can't go home.  I have stay another night for "observation".  In the mean time...I am basically sitting in this hospital room bored to death, with hardly any pain because the stone was not moving and had no ureter blockage...wasting time.  So...Wednesday finally rolls around...I am fine...but they do not discharge me until 4 PM!  During my entire stay, I had an IV with fluids, antibiotics, and very few pain meds....I ate their crappy food, saw the Doc a few times, saw the nurses about every four hours, and had the stone removed.

Today I get the statement from the hospital.  My total bill was $97,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, that is ninety seven THOUSAND dollars. I have awesome insurance (United Health Care)...and see they discounted the bill for the insurance down to $85,000.00!!!!! My portion was only a $250.00 co-pay....thank god for good insurance.  Looking back on the whole chain of events....that hospital and docs were just milking the insurance.  This should be criminal.  I seriously doubt I would have had the same treatment if I walked into the ER with NO insurance.  I have sent a similar e-mail to United Health Care outlining how I think the hospital took them for a ride.  Not that it really matters to me with my $250.00 co-pay...but what they did was just ludicrous.  We as a nation, wonder why our health care is so high...how the hell can the hospital justify these costs, because we know the nurse, doc and other labor costs are just a fraction of the overall bill.  I know there is the huge liability insurance expenses...but I paid their premium for the entire month.  The true costs of Obama Care has hit home for me....we as a nation are bankrupt and done...we are dying of cancer....a slow and painful death....our "leaders" are our tumors and they have run us in the ground.  If they took me on the 97K ride for a simple kidney stone...imagine what really sick people will do to the system....




Try again

the insurance company gets more of a discount then that, they will not pay more then $8500

Daughter had surgery bill came to $38,000 Cigna got a discount down to $2800
Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:55:01 PM EDT
[#24]
Quoted:
Snip....

Just think if auto repair shops billed like hospitals do.

1. Walk in and speak to counter dude. Billed $100    

2. Fat Tony drives car into bay. $125.00

3. little Tony pops hoods and finds issue. $300

4. Sinister Sal actually repairs the problem $650

5. Part handler charges $300 for finding the part/s

6. Fat Tony drives car on test drive $125

7. Little Tony takes money and hands over keys. $75

8 Shop owner charges $895 for car being repaired and taking up space in a bay

That is your modern hospital.[/div]


Let's look at it a different way...

You go to the 24 hour Car repair place...they have to have many bays open 24 hours, have 2 or 3 counter dudes, a mechanic for each bay, a service adviser for the bays...but that's only the area for minor repairs....they have to have another area to store the cars, and even a place where they're ONLY allowed to do major repairs....

Talk to the counter dude....he has to check through about 6 different forms, take your insurance information and start a substantial file on you.     Can't verify it directly...so you may have someone else' card, have expired insurance, etc.

Fat Tony then drives your car to the designated bay, and 'hands you off' to the mechanic in the bay.   Little Tony, your mechanic,  has to check the whole car despite your complaining about the door hinge squeaking.

Little Tony then identifies that your hinge is indeed squeaking and you don't have any other major issues.....then they talk to Sinister Sal, the service advisor who double checks the things that Little Tony checked, and identifies the fix for the hinge.

Little Tony calls to the parts place and gets the oil.   This is special oil...you can buy the same thing at home, but because it has an individual serial number on the can, a certified parts guy has to check the serial number, check the order to ensure it's the appropriate oil for the hinge, make sure it won't corrode the specific metal your hinge is made from (because all hinges aren't created with the same metals)..then label it and have a certified courier bring it up to Little Tony.

Little Tony has to call in Frankie to double check the oil (government requirement)...then Little Tony can apply the oil to the hinge.   The extra oil has to be disposed of by "BendOverHereItComesAgain" hazardous waste disposal.  

Fat Tony then checks that the squeak is gone and informs Sinister Sal, who decides you can go home.

Little Tony then goes over 5 pages of instructions on how to properly use the door of your car, what to do if the squeak returns suddenly, etc.  

They send you to Don Corleone who double checks the paperwork....then you go home.    

The paperwork then goes to Sophia who processes it and sends bills out to you or the insurance company.


4 of the people who go through the process never pay despite the bill they get.
2 have 'that gooberment card' (welfare insurance)...which pays about 1/4 or less of the market rate.
3 Speak no English, have no fixed address...so they never even get a bill.
4 have Medicare which pays about 3/4 of what the service should be.
finally...we get to you.
You don't pay.   Your insurance pays...and despite the $2495 bill you get (your numbers)...they have negotiated a discount to $300.   You pay your $50 copay/coinsurance.

Oh...and the first 13 people (non-pay, illegal aliens, Medicaid and Medicare)...the government says "You have to see them"....even if they've never paid before, owe huge balances, etc. etc...you can't refuse to fix their car.

AFARR


Link Posted: 4/26/2013 3:57:09 PM EDT
[#25]
Quoted:
I had a heart attack last Saturday. ER visit, air-evac'ed from WV to Roanoke, 4-day hospital stay with associated tests, and a stent put in.

I'm dying to see what the bill is.


Friend had one came to $105,000, no Insurance they told him he could make payments or if he could come up with 7k in a month they would forgive the rest.

Link Posted: 4/26/2013 4:00:10 PM EDT
[#26]
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