Cost of emergency-room cholesterol test? Could be $10, might be $10,000

[Zorba]

How much does the company doing the procedure charge your company?

Not sure, sure as hell not 10K/ea though. For that matter I had to get the test for my life insurance physical, plus many other tests. Considering the price of the insurance is about $120/yr I doubt they paid anywhere near 10K as well.

What other goodies do they give you to be a more loyal employee ?

It is hardly a goodie, it is required to get a reduced rate on our insurance. It pisses off most employees. But the fact that many companies test basically all of their employees shows these tests are very inexpensive.

 

[Zorba]

why would you go to ER to check your Cholesterol or even a Hospital??

Makes no sense.....there are clinics throughout the United states that do lab work.

Get a referral from your GP and go.......

It serves you right if a blood test cost you $10,000 in the emergency room if it`s just for cholesterol....

Considering it is probably a basic test they run when people come in with chest pain, I doubt you want to get a referral and then go to a different lab. Hospitals generally run blood test before surgery.

 

[Olikan]

If costs were transparent they would tend to decrease I would think.

It might, yes, prices won`t be so insane... but still high
At the end of the day, a hospital is in a free monopoly, based on distance and time

 

[squarecut1]

Yes I had posted this story in the health thread in OT

 

[KK]

No, it made health insurance available to more people and more affordable for many.

And made it more expensive for most. So much for controlling costs which is the real thing that needs to happen to fix the health care in this country. Too bad Obama and his sheep are too fucking stupid to realize that.

Anyways, after dealing with 1 emergency room visit this year, now in the future I'm going to be asking for an itemized list of what every the fuck they plan on doing.

 

[Paratus]

Mine cost me 4500$

If you are serious, I hope you got some help and are doing better.

 

[KMFJD]

As a non-American, is there any way you could fight these charges? Charging someone an arbitrary price after service has been rendered seems a little strange.

 

[DCal430]

I went to the ER once, and I didn't even see a doctor, just a nurse. The bill for seeing the nurse for 15 to 30 minutes, was about $7,000-8,000. My insurance paid about 5,000 or 6,000. I paid a $50 copay. I was shocked though that just to see a nurse cost so much.

 

[Matt1970]

Time for the government to clean this outrage up. Health care is a utility, and rates and charges should be closely regulated to prevent just these sorts of abuses. Going to the hospital should not be an equivalent of writing a blank check.

13,000 pages was the last count I saw for the ACA and it didn't address this. How many thousands more pages do we need before we "clean this outrage up"?

 

[ch33zw1z]

These hospitals are going to force regulation with their ridiculous prices. Before that occurs, let the gouging continue.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

And made it more expensive for most. So much for controlling costs which is the real thing that needs to happen to fix the health care in this country. Too bad Obama and his sheep are too fucking stupid to realize that.

Anyways, after dealing with 1 emergency room visit this year, now in the future I'm going to be asking for an itemized list of what every the fuck they plan on doing.

That will fail there will always be something else added to the bill

 

[Anarchist420]

I wish more hospitals voluntarily posted their prices. There should be huge tax deductions for all hospitals that post their prices.

 

[Anarchist420]

Considering it is probably a basic test they run when people come in with chest pain, I doubt you want to get a referral and then go to a different lab. Hospitals generally run blood test before surgery.

Hospitals either run unnecessary tests because they're required to by legislation or because they're trying to make more money. in Virginia, you cant go from one medical facility to another without an ambulance which is ridiculous.

 

[shira]

why would you go to ER to check your Cholesterol or even a Hospital??

Makes no sense.....there are clinics throughout the United states that do lab work.

Get a referral from your GP and go.......

It serves you right if a blood test cost you $10,000 in the emergency room if it`s just for cholesterol....

When a person goes to the emergency room, he puts himself in the hands of what he considers medical professionals. If the doctor says "We're doing a cholesterol test," there's presumably a rational reason for that. Yet you're telling us that the patient is going to override what the physician decides.

If a cholesterol test is inappropriate in a particular emergency-room situation, then the physician shouldn't be ordering it. But that isn't the patient's decision to make.

Quick now, you go into the emergency room with sudden-onset severe headaches (and you have no history of headaches) and severe grogginess, and the doctor tells you he's going to have a Plasma Free Metanephrines test run.

What? You don't know what a Plasma Free Metanephrines test is for, or whether it's appropriate in the situation I described?

 

[senseamp]

13,000 pages was the last count I saw for the ACA and it didn't address this. How many thousands more pages do we need before we "clean this outrage up"?

Whatever it takes.
It can start at the state level though. That's where utilities are regulated.

 

[Zodiark1593]

If only I can gouge 10k for telling my customer his hard drive needs replacing.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

When a person goes to the emergency room, he puts himself in the hands of what he considers medical professionals. If the doctor says "We're doing a cholesterol test," there's presumably a rational reason for that. Yet you're telling us that the patient is going to override what the physician decides.

If a cholesterol test is inappropriate in a particular emergency-room situation, then the physician shouldn't be ordering it. But that isn't the patient's decision to make.

Quick now, you go into the emergency room with sudden-onset severe headaches (and you have no history of headaches) and severe grogginess, and the doctor tells you he's going to have a Plasma Free Metanephrines test run.

What? You don't know what a Plasma Free Metanephrines test is for, or whether it's appropriate in the situation I described?

^^^^THIS! Thank you for an excellent summary. The hospital is supposed to be trained experts their opinions should be respected. They should not use that trust to rape someone with extreme charges. This type of behavior would not be tolerated in any other industry.