Hospitals dumping patients who can't pay on the street

[SteveGrabowski]

Fuck the United States.

On a similar note, one of my childhood friends who can't afford insurance called 911 after having chest pains. $3,000 for the ambulance, $35,000 for a few hours in the hospital. Best part was he showed me the last page of the bill from the hospital that said to please not commit suicide over medical bills. I told him fuck the hospital, he's always got the option of suicide, could do it right on the front steps of the hospital for everyone to see, and we had a good laugh about how hospitals can't garnish the wages of a dead man.

 

[Jaskalas]

Fuck the United States.

You're not wrong.
This country IS a shithole.

 

[UNCjigga]

Skid Row's been around forever--I guess many major metros have their own local version?

 

[nakedfrog]

Fuck the United States.

On a similar note, one of my childhood friends who can't afford insurance called 911 after having chest pains. $3,000 for the ambulance, $35,000 for a few hours in the hospital. Best part was he showed me the last page of the bill from the hospital that said to please not commit suicide over medical bills. I told him fuck the hospital, he's always got the option of suicide, could do it right on the front steps of the hospital for everyone to see, and we had a good laugh about how hospitals can't garnish the wages of a dead man.

Often hospitals will have guidelines where they'll reduce the billing based on income, sometimes based on percentage of the federal poverty line. Requires contacting patient financial services or whatever the equivalent is to get the paperwork going.

But yes, our current healthcare system is kind of a ghastly nightmare for people who aren't well-off (and can grind people who are well-off down to being poor)

 

[Greenman]

You're not wrong.
This country IS a shithole.

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

LOL that being the part of the thread you're offended by. Not dumping sick people on the streets.

 

[MrSquished]

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

As usual. The worst ignorant response comes from one of our resident shitheads.

If you live in a house and the roof starts leaking, you cuss a bit and then get it fixed. You don't just move. Like this asshole says.

We need to fix our home, this country, by separating from the horrible people of the GQP like Greenman

 

[MrSquished]

LOL that being the part of the thread you're offended by. Not dumping sick people on the streets.

He's the worst.

 

[Greenman]

LOL that being the part of the thread you're offended by. Not dumping sick people on the streets.

I'm not offended at all, just offered a suggestion that addressed your dislike of the U.S.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm not offended at all, just offered a suggestion that addressed your dislike of the U.S.

If you were actually trying to address his concerns and our problems, you'd offer to secede and take the rest of the shithole south with you.

 

[Leeea]

Fuck the United States.

On a similar note, one of my childhood friends who can't afford insurance called 911 after having chest pains. $3,000 for the ambulance, $35,000 for a few hours in the hospital. Best part was he showed me the last page of the bill from the hospital that said to please not commit suicide over medical bills. I told him fuck the hospital, he's always got the option of suicide, could do it right on the front steps of the hospital for everyone to see, and we had a good laugh about how hospitals can't garnish the wages of a dead man.

This is all 100% true.


Nursing homes have this technique called hospital dumping.

A nursing home technically cannot get rid of a patient that cannot pay.


But what they can do is wait for said patient to have a medical emergency. And then call 911. And then not accept said patient back from the hospital. The hospital on the other hand can discharge said patient directly to the street.


Now, if your the nursing home, and you have an old elderly unprofitable patient on medicaid that has dementia. Well, medical emergencies are inevitable if you want them to be.

 

[Leeea]

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

Canada is extremely difficult for an American to move to. I tried.

California is much easier.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

That's some arrow to the knee NPC shit right there

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I'm not offended at all, just offered a suggestion that addressed your dislike of the U.S.

It's not dislike, it's hatred. What part of fuck the United States did your pea brain not understand?

 

[Vic]

Hospitals that refuse care to patients who can't pay, or who tried to manipulate those patients into predatory credit arrangements, need to have their non-profit statuses revoked.
Provide care to the needy or pay taxes.

 

[gothuevos]

Late stage capitalism.

Or end stage?

 

[Vic]

You're not wrong.
This country IS a shithole.

The US is not a shithole. The problem is that a great many people in the US are shitheads who hate their fellow Americans and do everything they can to fuck over their fellow Americans.
We call these shitheads conservatives.

 

[Vic]

Late stage capitalism.

Or end stage?

Corruption either way. These hospitals are granted tax-exempt statuses on the condition that they provide care to patients who can't afford it. By denying that care while still enjoying that tax-exempt status, these hospitals are breaking the law.
Naturally conservatives will applaud this law-breaking because it involves fucking over Americans they don't like.

 

[kitkat22]

Sigh, They aren't dumping because they can't pay, they are being discharged because their inpatient stay is complete. Hospitals are not hotels. We already have patients who cannot be placed that have been in the hospital for 1-2 years.

We usually see this situation with individuals refusing to participate in their care. They refuse wound care, meds, therapies pr just want to stay foreverbecause they are waited on hand and foot. We call this an administrative discharge. Basically, the ethics and legal teams review the case and discuss with the attending doctor. They ask if there is any inpatient services that need to be continued and can they be safely discharged.

People are discharged to the streets all the time. Many refuse to leave and have to be escorted out. The hospital or insurance company is not responsible for paying your rent. Turning people out to the streets because of lack of being able to pay is a violation of several laws and unethical. Fastest way for a hospital to lose accreditation.

 

[kitkat22]

I can't "dump" a patient. Also good way to lose my license. 🙄

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Late stage capitalism.

Or end stage?

Is it even late stage? This is what American capitalism was like before Roosevelt turned us into a mild social democracy for a little while. More like correctly functioning capitalism. Our healthcare system is very efficient at doing what it was designed for.

 

[Vic]

Sigh, They aren't dumping because they can't pay, they are being discharged because their inpatient stay is complete. Hospitals are not hotels. We already have patients who cannot be placed that have been in the hospital for 1-2 years.

We usually see this situation with individuals refusing to participate in their care. They refuse wound care, meds, therapies pr just want to stay foreverbecause they are waited on hand and foot. We call this an administrative discharge. Basically, the ethics and legal teams review the case and discuss with the attending doctor. They ask if there is any inpatient services that need to be continued and can they be safely discharged.

People are discharged to the streets all the time. Many refuse to leave and have to be escorted out. The hospital or insurance company is not responsible for paying your rent. Turning people out to the streets because of lack of being able to pay is a violation of several laws and unethical. Fastest way for a hospital to lose accreditation.

This is well stated and a very fair point.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

The US is not a shithole. The problem is that a great many people in the US are shitheads who hate their fellow Americans and do everything they can to fuck over their fellow Americans.
We call these shitheads conservatives.

The US is a shithole. Civilized nations have freedom via healthcare, education, worker rights, family leave, representative government, etc. In the US you go into massive debt just for the right to work anything career level. Civilized nations get real benefits from their tax dollars. We get to fund our national offense so we can keep going on field trips into other countries to kill brown people.

 

[sdifox]

So move to another one. Canada and Mexico are close by, and at least one of them has nationalized health care.

Both have them.

 

[Leeea]

Sigh, They aren't dumping because they can't pay, they are being discharged because their inpatient stay is complete. Hospitals are not hotels. We already have patients who cannot be placed that have been in the hospital for 1-2 years.

We usually see this situation with individuals refusing to participate in their care. They refuse wound care, meds, therapies pr just want to stay foreverbecause they are waited on hand and foot. We call this an administrative discharge. Basically, the ethics and legal teams review the case and discuss with the attending doctor. They ask if there is any inpatient services that need to be continued and can they be safely discharged.

People are discharged to the streets all the time. Many refuse to leave and have to be escorted out. The hospital or insurance company is not responsible for paying your rent. Turning people out to the streets because of lack of being able to pay is a violation of several laws and unethical. Fastest way for a hospital to lose accreditation.

There is the world the way it should be.


and then there is reality:
Nationwide:

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-04-01/patient-dumping-still-a-problem-despite-federal-law

San Diego:

Homeless advocates say San Diego hospitals are still ‘patient dumping’ even though it's illegal

Homeless advocates and medical professionals gathered outside of Scripps Mercy Hospital Wednesday to denounce what they said is ongoing patient dumping.

www.kpbs.org

Las Vegas:

MDLinx International

MDLinx International

www.mdlinx.com

Kansas:

House committee tackles bill designed to inhibit resident dumping by Kansas adult care facilities - Kansas Reflector

Advocates for people in adult care homes in Kansas want to incorporate an appeals process into state law, but the idea was denounced by the industry.

kansasreflector.com

Baltimore:

What is patient dumping? Incident with woman at Baltimore hospital is hardly new

Patient dumping is when a hospital releases a patient to the streets rather than keeping them or connecting them with needed social services. The University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown in Ba…

www.baltimoresun.com