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rolling rock
The Pinball
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Joined: 15 May 2002
Posts: 16218
Location: unknown zone
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 Posted: 07/30/03 - 12:56 Post subject: Hospital Sticker SHOCK
well, we got the bill for my husband's angio a few weeks ago:
semi private room for one day: 1,260.00
Surgical supplies 10,865.00
Pharmacy 3,382.00
Lab 610.00
Cardiology 16,700.00
Ekg 575.00
Medical Cardio Implant 15,200.00
rough total of $47,000 for a one and a half day stay.  think i'll just hide this one away somewhere.
we are being charged less than $300 so far. TG. i'm waiting for the other bill to arrive..............
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Cappy
Excelent
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Joined: 16 May 2002
Posts: 27368
Location: Spreadsheetylvania
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 12:57 Post subject:
I'm over 200K, already, only out of pocket expenses have been co-pays for doctors visits and perscriptions.
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elkid
Member
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Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 8353
Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:00 Post subject:
What's really fun to see is what the hospital charges, and what your insurance company actually pays them. For The Paramedic's gall bladder surgery, it was only a third of what was submitted.
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shelflifers
Member
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Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 18633
Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:06 Post subject:
HOLY SH.TBALLS!!!!!!
Man, that's a lot of cashola.
I once paid my doctor $150 for him to give me some Tylenol.
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purple hayes
Frightened Inmate #2
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Joined: 14 May 2002
Posts: 14462
Location: ON YOUR LEFT!
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:09 Post subject:
My wife's hospital/surgery bills have left me a little  too. Especially since the ins. company is saying that the 2nd surgery wasn't necessary and they're not going to pay for it.
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thegman
Member
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Joined: 23 Sep 2002
Posts: 3088
Location: 12 yards out.
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:20 Post subject:
Terrifying huh?
Wanna know what the cost of 2 1/2 years of treatment for leukemia runs?
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omega lambda
Member
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Joined: 14 May 2002
Posts: 4691
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:27 Post subject:
| thegman wrote: | Terrifying huh?
Wanna know what the cost of 2 1/2 years of treatment for leukemia runs? |
Probably pretty close to the treatment costs for osteosarcoma. I tell my kidlet that I've got a lot invested in her and that she's worth a lot, so don't mess it up (meaning drive carefully and such!).
But when you look over those bills, don't you really appreciate that you paid only $0.005/q-tip at Target? 
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thegman
Member
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Joined: 23 Sep 2002
Posts: 3088
Location: 12 yards out.
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 13:31 Post subject:
| omega lambda wrote: | | thegman wrote: | Terrifying huh?
Wanna know what the cost of 2 1/2 years of treatment for leukemia runs? |
Probably pretty close to the treatment costs for osteosarcoma. I tell my kidlet that I've got a lot invested in her and that she's worth a lot, so don't mess it up (meaning drive carefully and such!).
But when you look over those bills, don't you really appreciate that you paid only $0.005/q-tip at Target? |
Yup!!
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TimRuns
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Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 10062
Location: Coquitlam, British Columbia
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Posted: 07/30/03 - 23:51 Post subject:
If you ask me, that would be enough money to finance 4 years of my undergraduate studies plus a master's degree.
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elkid
Member
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Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 8353
Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 09:01 Post subject:
| TimRuns wrote: | | If you ask me, that would be enough money to finance 4 years of my undergraduate studies plus a master's degree. |
$47K for 8 years of school? Canadian education is CHEAP! Down here it would cover only for 2 years of undergrad, if that.
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coachmarkos
my boys could swim
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Joined: 14 May 2002
Posts: 11387
Location: 1st in AFC West
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 09:24 Post subject:
Makes you appreciate your health all the more...
Also makes me wonder what my Dad's bill was...he was in the "Heart Hospital" for 5 days.
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Sahara
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Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 3345
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 10:18 Post subject:
| elkid wrote: | | What's really fun to see is what the hospital charges, and what your insurance company actually pays them. For The Paramedic's gall bladder surgery, it was only a third of what was submitted. |
I can't get my head around this. I think hard about it anytime we have a trip to the hospital and the subsequent paperwork/bills.
Yes, I understand that insurance companies direct more business to preferred hospitals and therefore get a quantity discount. BUT... can, or do, the hospitals charge insurance companies less than what it costs them to provide those supplies or services? (Kinda like dumping steel into the States if true, no?)
Is the mark-up for hospital services and supplies really 300%? I guess I'm asking if that is an common markup.
It seems to me that the UNinsured should get the discount... not the other way around. I say this because lack of insurance often means a job without benefits, no job, self-employed, etc.
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elkid
Member
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Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 8353
Location: hiding out in Philly
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 10:45 Post subject:
| Sahara wrote: | | elkid wrote: | | What's really fun to see is what the hospital charges, and what your insurance company actually pays them. For The Paramedic's gall bladder surgery, it was only a third of what was submitted. |
I can't get my head around this. I think hard about it anytime we have a trip to the hospital and the subsequent paperwork/bills.
Yes, I understand that insurance companies direct more business to preferred hospitals and therefore get a quantity discount. BUT... can, or do, the hospitals charge insurance companies less than what it costs them to provide those supplies or services? (Kinda like dumping steel into the States if true, no?)
Is the mark-up for hospital services and supplies really 300%? I guess I'm asking if that is an common markup.
It seems to me that the UNinsured should get the discount... not the other way around. I say this because lack of insurance often means a job without benefits, no job, self-employed, etc. |
It's not really a discount. Yes, there are discounts for preferred hospitals like you said, but not that much. The hospitals actually bill a lot knowing they will get significantly less. If you were to go as a self-paying customer they would charge you less than they would to a third party insurance company. It's not the hospitals who are to blame, but the stupid insurance companies.
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jrjo
Gone Fishin
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Joined: 15 May 2002
Posts: 16451
Location: Lake Wobegon, MN
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 10:52 Post subject:
Just the little I've seen between insurance companies and hospitals negotiating these deals, they're both to blame. And yes Sahara, I too think it's idiotic that the uninsured pay double. Forget about the flat tax folks, this is bigger and flat medical rates is a better torch to carry.
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omega lambda
Member
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Joined: 14 May 2002
Posts: 4691
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Posted: 07/31/03 - 12:17 Post subject:
In my experience as an uninsured patient, I got significant discounts and some services for free.
I agree with jrjo that both sides are to blame, but I think the general public owns some of that too. My two major thoughts on this are that we somehow got the idea that health care was a right and health insurance was a necessity for all things health related, large and small. Instead of paying for doctor's visits and prescriptions and the little stuff, we want it all covered by our insurance. I'm not sure when the shift ocurred, but we decided it wasn't our responsibility to pay or save for medical care (just the insurance premiums), you know sort of like college expenses and retirement. Heck, when I was a kid, folks would pay the doctor with a chicken.
My other thought is that there is no way the general public can keep up with the costs of technology, yet we all want the benefits of it. Every new drug, every new peering device, every new therapy; it all costs millions of dollars to bring to market. The government doesn't fund this, private industry does. That means doctors and hospitals have to buy the technology/therapies from companies who obviously want to make back their R&D costs, clinical trial costs, plus a little profit.
If we decide to regulate medicine, jrjo's idea of flat fees, that would make it easier to pay the bills, but I think it would stifle new technology and therapies. And if we shift to socialized medicine...well...I shudder to think. Next time you go to the DMV, ask yourself if that's how you want the doctor's offices and hospitals to be run.
I think we are stuck squarely between a rock and a hard place. The costs of medical care are skyrocketing and I don't know if it is legitimate. The cost of health insurance is skyrocketing, and I have a sense that it is not legitimate. There's an incredibly vicious circle that has developed, I think we're seeing it as it begins to circle the drain. But I sure as heck don't have any answers. 
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