This is what's wrong with healthcare.

[Billb2]

I cut my finger, kind of bad. Went to the emergency room and got 8 stitches.

Fortunately the ER wasn't busy so I was out in about an hour, about 10 minutes of which was actual medical treatment (clean, stitch, bandage).

The bill was $3,745.15. How can this be? That's nuts!

 

[steppinthrax]

I cut my finger, kind of bad. Went to the emergency room and got 8 stitches.

Fortunately the ER wasn't busy so I was out in about an hour, about 10 minutes of which was actual medical treatment (clean, stitch, bandage).

The bill was $3,745.15. How can this be? That's nuts!

Overpaid doctors, high priced facilities, too much liability, everyone's hand in the pot. I'm forgetting so much other bullshit.

 

[z1ggy]

I cut my finger, kind of bad. Went to the emergency room and got 8 stitches.

Fortunately the ER wasn't busy so I was out in about an hour, about 10 minutes of which was actual medical treatment (clean, stitch, bandage).

The bill was $3,745.15. How can this be? That's nuts!

That's pretty insane. I had a surgery a few yrs ago, where I was in and out of the hospital in about 2 hours. Total bill was about $6k. That was for a 45min surgery, plus anesthesia.

Was this billed directly to you, or was it the invoice from your insurance company?

 

[Anubis]

Overpaid doctors, high priced facilities, too much liability, everyone's hand in the pot. I'm forgetting so much other bullshit.

doctors are not over paid

most of that bill is administrative overhead bull shit. just like nearly all medical bills,. the actual doctors portion is tiny compared to the 500$ gown and 1000$ advil they give you. the hospital is screwing you because the govt makes them do a lot of stupid shit and it costs money and its all rolled into that bill

actual surgeons fees are pretty reasonable, its everything else that fucks people over

 

[MustISO]

We've been going through some medical stuff this year and the costs are absolutely insane. We're not paying any of it directly as it's covered by insurance but the amounts make no sense at all. It's like taking your car in for an oil change and getting a bill for $2,000. When I think about how much I've paid for insurance over the last 20 years I'm sort of glad we're finally using it.

 

[vi edit]

It's a lot like going to Kohls or J.C. Penny's for clothes.

Retail price for a shirt: $79.99.
Sale Price $49.99
Special weekend deal: $24.99
Oh here's a coupon in our flyer for another 20% off...

You only pay: $20!!!

That's how it works with Insurance. They'll reimburse like $500 of that $3700 bill.

 

[Newell Steamer]

The bill was $3,745.15.

The hospital I own, run and operate charges about the same.

Wait - I don't own, run and operate a hospital, so I have no idea about this sort of thing,.. just like you!

 

[waggy]

doctors are not over paid

most of that bill is administrative overhead bull shit. just like nearly all medical bills,. the actual doctors portion is tiny compared to the 500$ gown and 1000$ advil they give you. the hospital is screwing you because the govt makes them do a lot of stupid shit and it costs money and its all rolled into that bill

actual surgeons fees are pretty reasonable, its everything else that fucks people over

/this

when i had a appendix out the overall price was staggering. BUT the doctor bills were cheaper. I was surprised at how much they charged. with a high bill they were not even 10% of the bill.

one thing stood out. socks. i didn't get socks but they charged me for them. they were $25. for 1 pair of socks. $25 ..for socks. 1 pair..

 

[CraKaJaX]

After I had surgery back in Feb, I realized I should have been an anesthesiologist. It was for a TFCC tear (right wrist). I was in and out in about two hours. This is what I witnessed from her:

Wheel patient into room, smile and bullshit with said patient you're about to knock out while Dr gathers tools, knock out patient, ....... , bring patient back to life, wheel patient into recovery room, bullshit with patient until recovered to walk on own two feet.

According to Google, estimate salary: $271,057/yr.

The bill was about 6 grand, not including the couple grand that had already been billed for the MRI ... which is 30 minutes and a guy behind a computer. The machine does 98% of the work - but that's a rant for a different time.

 

[nageov3t]

next time just sew it up yourself if you think the hospital is overcharging you...

After I had surgery back in Feb, I realized I should have been an anesthesiologist. It was for a TFCC tear (right wrist). I was in and out in about two hours. This is what I witnessed from her:

Wheel patient into room, smile and bullshit with said patient you're about to knock out while Dr gathers tools, knock out patient, ....... , bring patient back to life, wheel patient into recovery room, bullshit with patient until recovered to walk on own two feet.

you forget the part of the process where she keeps you from dying 😉

I wouldn't jump into anesthesiology personally, though... it's a job that we'll probably see replaced with a machine in our lifetime.

 

[PliotronX]

After I had surgery back in Feb, I realized I should have been an anesthesiologist. It was for a TFCC tear (right wrist). I was in and out in about two hours. This is what I witnessed from her:

Wheel patient into room, smile and bullshit with said patient you're about to knock out while Dr gathers tools, knock out patient, ....... , bring patient back to life, wheel patient into recovery room, bullshit with patient until recovered to walk on own two feet.

According to Google, estimate salary: $271,057/yr.

The bill was about 6 grand, not including the couple grand that had already been billed for the MRI ... which is 30 minutes and a guy behind a computer. The machine does 98% of the work - but that's a rant for a different time.

There is actually a bit more to it. Calculation of the surgery time with body mass, allergies, stroke and circulatory history and gender all goes into dosages and women tend to experience waking paralysis. A lot of responsibility rests on the anesthesiologist's shoulders as far as the patient care goes. Granted, they don't have to be familiar with as many nuances as pure doctors go, but it is a lot more perilous than it appears. Patients can wake up during being cut wide open or they can go into cardiac arrest at any given moment. I would be stressed TFO.

 

[vi edit]

next time just sew it up yourself if you think the hospital is overcharging you...

you forget the part of the process where she keeps you from dying 😉

I wouldn't jump into anesthesiology personally, though... it's a job that we'll probably see replaced with a machine in our lifetime.

Anesthesiologists are some of the most trained physicians there are. They are typically the "go to" guys for oncall/code stuff happening at a hospital. Especially at smaller community hospitals. Depending on the system they also have a huge role in the recovery and medical management post-op. It's more than turning a knob on a gas machine. Nurse Anesthetists do that at a lot of places anyway 😉

Health care is more than physically laying hands or administering. There's also a huge amount of accountability and responsibility. These guys have their license on the line for decisions that a machine won't make. A computer can recommend, but humans are still required for approval to move ahead.

 

[ponyo]

It's a lot like going to Kohls or J.C. Penny's for clothes.

Retail price for a shirt: $79.99.
Sale Price $49.99
Special weekend deal: $24.99
Oh here's a coupon in our flyer for another 20% off...

You only pay: $20!!!

That's how it works with Insurance. They'll reimburse like $500 of that $3700 bill.

So get rid of the BS made up price and charge the actual market price. Then more people might pay rather than saying screw this, I'm not paying this crazy bill. You don't see this crap in the healthcare of other developed countries. Charge a fair price and more people will use and pay.

 

[CraKaJaX]

next time just sew it up yourself if you think the hospital is overcharging you...



you forget the part of the process where she keeps you from dying 😉

I wouldn't jump into anesthesiology personally, though... it's a job that we'll probably see replaced with a machine in our lifetime.

I can see my step of 'bring patient back to life' being a bit hairy at certain times, especially with older aged people. I forgot to add that I would get eye candy in the form of nurses dressed appropriately on a daily basis. That would sure beat a bunch of old, pissed off engineers that complain all day long. 😀

 

[vi edit]

So get rid of the BS made up price and charge the actual market price. Then more people might pay rather than saying screw this, I'm not paying this crazy bill. You don't see this crap in the healthcare of other developed countries. Charge a fair price and more people will use and pay.

Insurance and government done fucked that up long ago. Insurance plan "A" may only cover $400 of it. Plan "B" may cover $600. Government Medicare may only cover $200 of it. And that's only after weeks if not months of rejected claims due to wrongly worded diagnoses or insufficient procedures to dictate that level of service.

Oh...if it's an ED patient and they have no coverage you are legally obligated to treat them even if they can't pay anything. So they have to spread that out over all the people that do pay.

Most hospitals do have a "cash discount" rate they will give you if you try to pay outside of insurance that is a much different price. But so few people fall into that group that they don't do it automatically.

Insurance (and the government is an insurance provider) have completely destroyed health care cost transparency.

 

[Engineer]

So get rid of the BS made up price and charge the actual market price. Then more people might pay rather than saying screw this, I'm not paying this crazy bill. You don't see this crap in the healthcare of other developed countries. Charge a fair price and more people will use and pay.

This. But....there are too many people who don't / can't / won't pay for the services. The hospitals / doctors don't just forgive the debt. It's passed on to those who do pay. Of course, much of the stuff in this thread is valid but the few people who pay....pay for it all. As is said about alot of stuff, many people still don't have any skin in the game.

Not sure if the current forcing everyone to get medical coverage will fix this either as now the insurance companies want their portion of the pie.

 

[edro]

The people who get screwed are those who can afford it.
A huge portion of medical bills are never paid for, are negotiated down a huge amount, or are paid by the government at a reduced amount.

People who can afford it, skip the doctor and put themselves at risk.
People who can't afford it, take advantage of it and burden the system even more.

Health Savings Accounts are a great way to save money for inevitable healthcare costs, but you can't have one if you have "decent" insurance. It's a fucked up system.

 

[nageov3t]

Most hospitals do have a "cash discount" rate they will give you if you try to pay outside of insurance that is a much different price. But so few people fall into that group that they don't do it automatically.

yeah, this is definitely worth noting.

I fell into that about 6 months back when I injured my knee and went to the hospital without insurance (without knowing it... my accident occurred during my week-long "funemployment" after quitting one job but before starting the next; my old job never informed me that they terminated my benefits the second I punched out on my last day). the uninsured/cash cost ended up being low enough that I just paid out of pocket and didn't even try going the COBRA route.

 

[IronWing]

So get rid of the BS made up price and charge the actual market price.

No one knows what the market price is. Also, when you are bleeding out, what is the fair market price for stitches?

And finally, urgent care is far, far cheaper than the ER. The ER is staffed and provisioned for the worst case emergencies. That is an expensive undertaking. Urgent care places are staffed and provisioned to deal with things like badly cut fingers.

 

[Homerboy]

I took my kid to Urgent Care the other day.

They checked him out said "well everything looks like it's Ok, but we want to make sure he doesn't need to go to ER, so we'll call".... "Yeah ER wants to see him"

So I got double whammied.

I have medical bills coming out my asshole. (which I guess I should probably go see the doctor for...)

 

[edro]

I took my kid to Urgent Care the other day.

They checked him out said "well everything looks like it's Ok, but we want to make sure he doesn't need to go to ER, so we'll call".... "Yeah ER wants to see him"

So I got double whammied.

I have medical bills coming out my asshole. (which I guess I should probably go see the doctor for...)

What was wrong?
Let me guess, he was throwing up and was fine as soon as he went to the ER.

It's extremely aggravating...

 

[CraKaJaX]

I have medical bills coming out my asshole. (which I guess I should probably go see the doctor for...)

Well done. 😀

 

[luv2liv]

for $3000, you coulda went to Mexico get stitches and still have buck loads of cash for other ...stuff.

shame that none of us can do anything about healthcare. 10 years from now, healthcare industry still has us by the balls.

 

[Homerboy]

What was wrong?
Let me guess, he was throwing up and was fine as soon as he went to the ER.

It's extremely aggravating...

He took a rocket of a baseball directly to the throat during a game.

Nurse(s) at the game were like "you need to get him looked at ASAP as it can swell up VERY quickly (think anaphylactic shock)"

So I got him to urgent care right up the street and by the time we left he was fine IMO but since the ER and the urgent care doc wanted xrays to make sure there was no deeper damage (threat of swelling was gone by this point) we headed down the road to the ER.

In hindsight, I should have taken him directly to the ER. But I admit, I'm guessing subconsciously I was thinking "urgent care is 1/2 the price!!" And sadly, THAT train of thought just shouldn't be included in seeking medical assistance, but more sadly, I'm guessing most people do have that in their mind.

 

[flexy]

The bill was $3,745.15. How can this be? That's nuts!

Ok, that's nuts. (Not that it phases me living in Europe ... )

But what's "nutser" is that there are still folks who don't see that there is a problem and who might think this is normal, justifying this somehow.