Pope Flick Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I have insurance and only have to pay a co-pay...while I don't know the exact costs to do a surgery etc I must say that those prices seem high...higher than they probably should be...with a large part of the reason probably being due to the insurance companies and red tape etc...especially for the ER visit....and yeah I know the nurse can't order the pain meds but 3 hours before the doc saw me seems like a pretty long wait. That number is around 30-40% from my experience. So that 11 grand they charge your company would be about 7 if you paid cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Once Obamacare is in place, perch will be taking care of that bill for you.... So Obamacare is a form of Reaganomic trickle down? That sounds bipartisan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennykravitz2004 Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 meeeeehhhhh.... I'm not saying the answer is to self diagnose yourself, but that by being more involved in the cost, you might be more inquisitive in what each procedure is for and if it is really needed. I'm not an auto mechanic either, but when I know I'm paying for the repairs, i like to find out what I am paying for, I don't just leave all to the mechanic and say bill me for it. Trust me, needless tests happen alot more than you think. Read this. and this. just like a mechanic would. I would never self-diagnose myself. LOL. I'd somehow find a way to end up like a monkey with 3 asses!!! I work for a software company, and our products track health benefits, reimbursements, claims, etc. Our central products revolve around consumer driven healthcare. FSAs, HSAs, DCAP, HSAs, even PKG & Transit... all that stuff. I see all types of plans companies and brokers can dream up to help spread the cost of healthcare around. I agree with your "mechanic" point, as I also help friends and family as their "IT Dept". They all ask "what was wrong with it", and I might as well just say "I had to toggle the dongle", b/c that will make as much sense to them as the real explanation. And as ideal as educating the public may sound, that is NOT a realistic option. I've worked as an IT Trainer at a computer training company too. And I can't count the number of times I've had the conversation: "I need you to right click here. No... right click. RIGHT click. Your other right." And we want to try and educate these people on healthcare, tests, and meds? Gooooooood luck! But maybe the overall result of a more informed public would work? I don't have the answers, and don't want to come off like I do either. Working in the industry and at the company I do, I have a pretty solid understanding of exactly what (I think) your point is too. I could digress about the recent intro of dialysis for my Dad, his golden parachute health coverage when he retired, and the costs they actually pay. But I won't digress... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_gop_liars Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 So Obamacare is a form of Reaganomic trickle down? That sounds bipartisan. Yes, the rich trust funds like Paris and Perch will be paying for our health care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 So Obamacare is a form of Reaganomic trickle down? That sounds bipartisan. Trickle up poverty, YEAH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 I just got two bills: 1. ER visit where I got there at 1am and was discharged by 8am(but their paperwork says I was discharged at 6am)...had an MRI, got pain meds, they ran urine tests...oh and fwiw it took over 3 hours before they gave me any pain meds or a doc saw me...and this ER wasn't busy (me and two others waiting and I was wheeled past rooms that were all empty and I could hear nurses joking and laughing while laying in pain waiting for a doc...all at a cost of $5,032.08 2. Out Patient Surgery to remove a kidney stone at a cost of $11,318.92 If you were indigent and had no insurance there would be a couple of options for you. First you talk to someone in the business office of the hospital. They can typically reduce the cost to you by 50% or more. When I tore my achilles I was in between insurance. My new insurance wouldn't cover it because it happened the week before the insurance went into effect. The surgery I needed, between the Dr. and Hospital, would have run me around 22K. After talking with the business office I got the total reduced to $8,300 (kinda funny, the lady asked me how much money I had to pay for the surgery... I said around 10K, she said, "well, we'll leave you a little bit... Can you pay $8,300?") Next, there are numerous facilities set up to take care of indigent and uninsured persons, Grady here in Atlanta is an example of this. These facilities receive money from local, state and federal governments to provide care for these people, you can not be turned away from there emergency facilities. Lastly, I'm not sure what happened in the case of the girl that Pope pointed out... seems like a very unfortunate situation. I would venture to say that such occurrences are extremely rare. Another part of her problem may have been that she was actually insured and the business office was unwilling to deal with her as a potential indigent or charitable case, not sure. Her other option it seems would have been to go through the ER of the hospital to get treatment rather than trying to schedule the surgery in advance. But my question is still out there... If people can't receive free healthcare, how is it that there is around $65 billion annually in free healthcare administered nation-wide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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