Medical costs

[LD1]

Son hit the back of his head on the computer desk at the inlaws.

Bleeding was all but stopped by the time we got there. I wanted to do what I have always done for myself....superglue.

Wife insisted we go to the ER.

So, went to the er.....15 min and 3 staples later we were out the door.

Now we got the TWO bills. One for facilities (hospital), one from the physician. I still cannot comprehend why are medical billing is more screwed up than our tax code. One single 15 min visit and I got two bills. You get one in the mail....think, boy that was alot of money but it is what it is...pay it and move on. Then get another expensive bill and :confused2:

At any rate, anyone care to take a guess at how much it cost for 3 staples?

 

[MossRoad]

$1500

 

[EddieWalker]

Thousand bucks each?

Sadly, you are not paying for just your visit, you also have to pay for everyone else that does not pay. By law, hospitals have to provide service to everyone, and people that are not citizens here legally, and illegally, go to the emergency and get free care. It's very common for people to plan their vacation to the US around a medical issue. They get here, they go to the hospital, they get treatment, and then they go back home to their country. A good friend is a Chief Financial Officer for a chain of clinics in the SF Bay area and one of her biggest challenges is budgeting for those people.

The other massive cost to hospitals is treating people addicted to pain killers. They spray their legs with oven cleaner, or cause some other injury to themselves, and go in to the emergency to get treatment. Most of the time it's so bad that they have to spend the night. They never pay because they are unemployed and addicted to drugs.

 

[LD1]

Hospital billed.....

$20 for topical
$380.75 for material
$611.32 for level 3 room charge

Total hospital billed $1012.07

Physician billed
$669 for the physician
$486 for "sugery"

Total physician bill.....$1,155

Total bill was $2,167.07

High ded plan so still under deductible. So insurance pays nothing. But has "Discounted" rates.

So total I actually owe....$1,777.11

 

[rswyan]

Utterly obscene ...

Having said that however, I went into the ER about 10 or 15 years after having cut my hand/finger on a bandsaw while changing a blade ... wasn't a terribly bad cut: $1500.00 for a couple of stitches.

You'd think with inflation, your bill would be higher ...

 

[RNeumann]

I take people to the ER all the time. People learn the er won’t refuse to treat anyone and is open 24/7. It has turned into the the md for so many- most of which are non emergent. When this portion of society gets the bill- if they actually gave their real name and address- it just goes in the trash. This is an unfortunate reality. You just paid the “tax” to assist the folks mentioned above.
Do everything you can to avoid the er for non emergent items. A lot of urgent care places have popped up that take care of most things. While more than a regular md it still prob would have been under $400 for the same service.
Wife will need to mow a lot of lawns to cover this overreaction! Hope the cost was in the budget. Btw you can wait a month or so and tell the er you won’t pay that amount- 9/10 times they will reduce bill if you “pay that day”. They also know to space bills out- responsible folks pay right away....so then they send more bills.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My wife had a stent about 15 years ago, including an overnight stay in the hospital. My first bill was $32,000. She was in the hospital for about 5 days with our firstborn, as I recall, and the total bill, including doctor was about $600.

 

[robbyr]

Superglue works great. Sliced my finger deep right in the crease where finger joins palm. Really needed stitches. Put superglue in it and wrapped it up. Came undone a couple times over the next week or so but kept supergluing it back. After awhile it had healed and I didn’t even realize it.

 

[Paddy]

or you can use an ice cube to numb it and put a few stitches in yourself. Hard to do on your right hand, don't ask how I know : )

 

[tcreeley]

Heard of a case where the bill was 270,000 for major surgery and a week in the hospital. Even with insurance it was a hefty charge. After going back and forth, the final charge to the patient was 12,000 with monthly payments for a year. -- It was good for the patient, but it left me thinking what a scam the healthcare system is pushing in their billing. How many sets of books are there to trot out according to who is looking? - Skilled personnel, but something is wrong.