The Price is Right.... Emergency Room edition

The whole healthcare system is a shambles. It was already like this before Obamacare, and it continues to spiral out of control.

I wish I had the answers.

I am so lucky that I have insurance and good coverage. I don't know how I would manage to pay for my cancer treatment without it. The amounts billed, and what's actually paid, are just an out-of-control game of providers vs insurance. Understandably, each side wants to win.

Yea, none of the other details matter. ER visit, count on 1500 when you walk thru the door. End of story. I don't think it's right, but that's the way it is.

we were in the emergency room 2 weeks ago.. we paid $75. but we have great insurance. we are looking at surgery next month.. probably cost $100,000... we won't pay much til january.. when we have to pay $300 per person again. our emergency room experience.. we came in at 6 am, saw the intake nurse. waited 5 minutes.. told the doc what the dx was.. and got the presciptions and left. home by 7 am. unfortunately.. the matter hasn't cleared up.. my dh has probably had $2+ million of medical care. in last 30 yrs.. due to accident. there is no way any savings account could have helped us.

I think medicare for everyone.. with a raise for the doctor's fees.. is the only way it will ever get better. it might not be the open choice for everyone.. but everyone could start living without the fear of medical costs.. and we could spend less on administration costs.

Health care costs are crazy. DD had an MRI on her foot 2 weeks ago. Billed amount was $2,200. Tricare paid $325. It's nuts.

I had my first ER trip three years ago. I was having irregular heartbeat, was there for almost 10 hours. Turned out to be PVC. The treatment. A nasty drink of potasssium loaded orange stuff. The bill, $8730. All I had to pay was a $150 copay. But Dayam!!! The cardiologist came in for 10 min max after if been there for 6 hours. That's it!!!!

Glad your dd is okay I was shocked when my fluroscopic-guided steroid injection in my hip was over $4.000.00!
I am also grateful to have awesome insurance; but it's still outrageous! Annnd, my co-pays were $250.00 for
the Xrays and Fluroscope, and another $235.00 to the hospital or doctor---whatever....but paying over $500.00
out--of--pocket for the ONE MONTH** of pain relief I got----UGH, I NEVER would've had it if I'd known !


**One of my friends has the same arthritic problem in her hip; and she had FIVE YEARS of pain relief
after one steroid injection!
Of course, I'm HAPPY for her and others who get pain relief for a substantial time; and yes----I knew there were
NO GUARANTEES----- but now that I know since this is such an expen$ive
co-pay, I will never have one again, no matter how much pain I'm in !!!

My guess was 3k.

A recent ER visut for my husband for severe abdominal pain? History of diverticulitis. Prior bowel resection. Two hours total. Saw the doc for a total of ten minutes.

Abdominal CT. One shot of pain meds. For them to say they did not know what it was. Call a gastro.

Over 12k

Unfortunately medical cost are over the top.  And the problem is that to purchase insurance is just about as bad.  Like everything if you are wealthy and/or have great insurance you are okay.  Also if you are below the poverty level there are many times some kind of safety net or programs to help...it is the middle class again that seems to be most affected.

My nephew has had to have an IVIG infusion about every 2 weeks (we are up to 10 or 11) and at about 18,000.00 a wack just for the medicine not including the cost of having it administered at the hospital, I am not sure how anyone could afford it without insurance.

It makes me sad to think that so many people are not getting the help they need for medical issues.  What the fix is I don't know,but I think something has to be done.  And I don't think this is one of those things that you can say life is not fair or just work harder and get a better job, 

Long story but my dd has had three emergency room visits in the last 5-6 weeks. And in one case they had to transfer her via ambulance to the ER at another hospital. So four ER visits were billed. The cheapest one was $1600 and the most expensive was $7300 (overnight). For the most part it was a lot of labs and iv fluids and a couple of xrays. She has has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Type 1 diabetes. They billed $37 each time they checked her blood sugar. Insurance paid under $6. Half the time I checked her blood on her own meter but because they needed it recorded officially and scanned into the system, they had to do it sometimes.

If at all possible, try to find an urgent care center instead. Some GPs also do stitches, and if you break a bone during their office hours, some can write a STAT script for an x ray at an x ray center or even a hospital. That's what my GP in Chicago would do. 

I'm very fortunate to have incredibly good insurance. My dh stays at his company because of those benefits. We're finally financially solvent because we're not having to pay $$$$ for the hospitalizations, etc. I require. I hate that this type of care isn't available to everyone. It's not fair. 

We got a collections call yesterday. A few years ago, while driving back to Chicago, dh needed an ER. So we stopped in Tennessee. Our insurance paid the bill. The EOB says we own the ER physicians $0.00. The doctors said that we owed the difference between the amount they charge and the amount our insurance is contracted to pay them. They sent it to collections. We straightened it out, we thought. They put it on our credit report as an unpaid debt. We proved we didn't owe it. 

Lather, rinse, repeat. 2 more times. Now again this week. Dh found the EOB yesterday. I called the state of Tennessee to see how to file a grievance against this group. When you go to an ER, you can't choose your doctors, so insurance is supposed to pay. The doctors aren't supposed to charge you the extra. You don't have to pay it. People don't know that, so they pay it anyway. Which is why those doctors bill them. 

So I'm turning them in so the state will tell them to knock it off. 

The weirdest thing is that we weren't sure where that EOB was. A friend had suggested we keep all our EOBS just in case. But the box was in our garage, which is full of boxes waiting for our next move. 

Our elderly cat, Gris, snuck into the garage yesterday. She's only done that once or twice in the 3 years we've lived here. She was rustling around, and dh heard her. So he yelled at her. She knocked a box over on her way back into the house at speed we didn't think she still possessed. 

Guess which box she knocked over. I kid you not. She got lots of kisses and treats, too. And we call them *dumb* animals.

  Whenever you have a CT expect a large bill.  CTs are an expensive charge. A CT machine is incredibly expensive and you also have to account for the CT techs time and the Radiologists fee for reading the scan. Big money.

I feel your pain - my DD fell at school on the playground equipment - bleeding in her private parts. School called and asked us to take her to be treated - Urgent care referred us directly to the ER based on the location of her injury. We were in and out of the ER in less than an hour - they examined her and determined she had lacerations but didn't need stitches and there was no internal concerns and released her. Total fees over $10K, we paid over $1K out of pocket

It's gotten out of hand. I actually received a solicitation to donate to a large medical group in the suburbs of Chicago. I was infuriated. If I get another one I'm going to write "are you f****** kidding me?" on it and send it back.