Vegas Free-for-All - OT My emergency room "doctor bill"

OT My emergency room "doctor bill"

chefantwon

Apr 29, 2011
10:52am

Quote

Originally posted by: MaddyHLVA

Quote
Originally posted by: chefantwon
Last November my stomach blew up and took out my gall bladder. I stayed a total of 18 days.

Hospital bill: 107,092.09
Ambulance ride: 740.00
Doctor bill #1: 717.00
Doctor bill #2: 4993.00
Doctor bill #3: 500.00
Ct/x-ray: 570.00

Grand total: $114,612.09 of which I'm paying just over $17k (that's out of my pocket folks)

Here's a bill I just received for a doctors visit w/a TDaP shot

Pharmacy: 188.00 for the TDaP shot (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) childhood shot I last received in the 1970's

Clinic Services (doctor exam): 220.00
Preventative Care: 33.00

Total: 441.00

So, $188.00 went to a few cc's of a medication that's been around since before the 1970's. I wonder what we charge those 3rd world nations for this one?

Get better insurance? Pay the extra money to get a better deal.. Take a little less pay for better insurance...

I can make upwards of 125hr being a traveling RN yet no benefits.. So I settle for 45hr and benefits.. I pay right around 70 dollars a pay for my wife child and myself.. 100% covered after my 25 dollar co-pay which is waived if I'm admitted.

I'm unemployed and the unemployment check barley covers my bills.

MaddyHLVA

Apr 29, 2011
10:58am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: chefantwon

Quote
Originally posted by: MaddyHLVA
Quote
Originally posted by: chefantwon
Last November my stomach blew up and took out my gall bladder. I stayed a total of 18 days.

Hospital bill: 107,092.09
Ambulance ride: 740.00
Doctor bill #1: 717.00
Doctor bill #2: 4993.00
Doctor bill #3: 500.00
Ct/x-ray: 570.00

Grand total: $114,612.09 of which I'm paying just over $17k (that's out of my pocket folks)

Here's a bill I just received for a doctors visit w/a TDaP shot

Pharmacy: 188.00 for the TDaP shot (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) childhood shot I last received in the 1970's

Clinic Services (doctor exam): 220.00
Preventative Care: 33.00

Total: 441.00

So, $188.00 went to a few cc's of a medication that's been around since before the 1970's. I wonder what we charge those 3rd world nations for this one?

Get better insurance? Pay the extra money to get a better deal.. Take a little less pay for better insurance...

I can make upwards of 125hr being a traveling RN yet no benefits.. So I settle for 45hr and benefits.. I pay right around 70 dollars a pay for my wife child and myself.. 100% covered after my 25 dollar co-pay which is waived if I'm admitted.

I'm unemployed and the unemployment check barley covers my bills.

If that is true then there is no way your going to pay 17k... The state/Feds will pick up the bill...Only in America

chefantwon

Apr 29, 2011
11:35am

Block User

I've been paying them since the first of Jan. It may take quite a while, but I AM paying them something.

Dan Svatass

Apr 30, 2011
7:42am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: hoops2
Polls in the US consistently showed satisfaction with our system to be in the high 70% range but the democrats chose to change it anyway

More than 24 hours have passed, and hoops2 still can't support his claim.

Until he does so, I'm afraid I'll have to put him on the long list of our president's critics who feel no obligation to have keep their assertions of fact within the bounds of reality.

MoneyLA

Apr 30, 2011
9:30am

Block User

I LOVE our health care system. I just don't like an emergency room doctor who bills me $1,245 in addition to what the hospital charges me, and did nothing more than look at me while my personal doctor sent in orders and then arrived to handle my case. That's what I don't like-- a $1,245 bill for making eye contact.

Dan Svatass

Apr 30, 2011
10:15am

Block User

Exactly, we have great professionals operating within an awful system.

miniwhale

Apr 30, 2011
10:20am

Block User

MoneyLA, I agree with you. I had a baby at the same hospital I work at. (I work in Labor and Delivery) I had to go back 3 weeks later with some complications. ER doc sees me, but even though my insurance covers hospital charges, it does not cover ER doc. So I have an emergency, but my insurance doesn't cover the doc that works at the same hosp. I delivered at.

We can plan on certain charges ahead of time, maybe for routine or diagnostic tests. But if we have an emergency we are screwed! BUT if we are an illegal immigrant, we cannot be denied care, then can skip out on charges, only to pass them on to those of us who pay out the a$$ for health insurance!

I am an RN and glad I am! I know what to question and who to trust.

Tammi from N. GA

MoneyLA

Apr 30, 2011
10:22am

Block User

chilcoot, I dont really know who is at fault in my case: the doctor, or the company that billed me. I dont know if the doctor told the billing company what to charge me, or if the doctor works for the company that sent me the bill.

in either case, the bill is outrageous.

Ive been in emergency rooms for REAL treatments -- stitches, heart issues, dialysis issues when I was on dialysis -- and I never got a bill from an emergency room doctor for this much.

chipchik

Apr 30, 2011
10:47am

Block User

Ask anyone that has had an emergency room visit. There is a separate charge for using the emergency room.
Why are you surprised? You are paying for the use of the facilities that are offered to you weather you use them or not.
Would you rather be in a country that did not offer emergency room benefits?

snidely333

Apr 30, 2011
10:48am

Block User

Just don't pay the bill. It's an easy solution. Don't pay it and see what happens. If you don't pay it a few times someone with half a brain might actually look at the charge to see if it's valid.

When my son was born the hospital had to call in a neonatolgist as he was an at risk newborn. The insurance company denied the charge for "consultation" of $700. Unless the 3 minutes I chatted with the doctor while she did some paperwork for other patients counts as a consultation, I never had one. Since the insurance company said the claim was denied the doctor sent the bill to me. I also denied its validity. They kept sending bills. I kept denying them. After 1 year they cut the amount in half, said they would offer me a 50% courtesy. I said I wasn't paying them anything as my insurance company said it was not a valid charge. After another year they gave up on me and gave me a 100% courtesy.

Don't give in! Fight the system!

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