Absolutely enraging. And it’s all on purpose, with zero accountability.
1 Like
…
1 Like
Conservatives are just so, so, so close to lining up behind universal health care. They just can’t make that last foot to get there.
Just wait until they figure out some sort of citizenship or taxpaying or ID requirement that keeps it from being extended to minorities. We’ll have Universal Healthcare For White People as a core part of the deplorable platform.
Whether their donors will let it happen… eh probably not. But a Universal Health Care For White People Only party would def crush electorally.
1 Like
“Suprise! Fuck you” feels like the mantra of the US health care system.
3 Likes
I had new hire orientation for a new job yesterday. 9am-4pm. Probably two hours of that were spent on benefits and insurance info. They (the American healthcare system, insurers, etc) couldn’t make this shit more confusing if they tried. I mean, they do try, but if they tried even harder. It’s also just absurdly expensive.
Meanwhile I still have hundreds of dollars in bills I dont owe showing as past due on one of my hospital accounts. Have already spent literally hours on the phone dealing with it and was assured a month ago they’d be taken off my account. Fucking pain the ass and it hurts knowing how much money these ghouls make from people just rolling over and paying money they don’t owe.
3 Likes
Yeah difference for me now is I have natural immunity and didn’t even blink this time. Just a HU since this tactic appears to be on the rise, and it’s sure to put anyone into a state of anxiety and/or rage. I’d recommend having your doctor / insurance numbers saved so you aren’t fumbling for those under stress. Find out from pharm tech exactly why it’s being denied (which may involve them running it several ways). Learn the ballpark cash price of your Rx in advance and how to get that price using coupon sites / etc. Trying to do any of that stuff unrehearsed while Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” rains from the supermarket loudspeaker is not optimal.
A buddy of mine just got this bill from the ER. He took his wife there for a cut that only ended up needing glue, no stitches.
I can’t tell if this is balance billing or some kind of deductible thing. He doesn’t know either nor does he seem to know if the hospital is in-network.
He’s kicking himself for not just going to urgent care. USA#1!
$2600 for fucking super glue. In Mexico that would cost $30.
I walked in to one of the the best hospitals in Mexico, got an x-ray and a doctor consultation within 2 hours, total cost $100.
The hospital network I work for has contracted ER doctors and the hospital asks for a thousand up front if they can get it.
The thing with urgent care is if it’s not the most rudimentary “here’s a Band-Aid and aspirin” they’ll just charge you and tell you you have to go to the ER.
“people love their private health insurance”
3 Likes
I got stitched up at urgent care. His wife didn’t even end up needing stitches.
That’s balance billing from an ER group that’s out of network. It’s typical bulls hit from a lot of er groups. By the coloring guessing vituity?
Urgent care is perfect for lacs and basic X-ray work
I like how they don’t even tell you whether it’s deductible or “non covered charges”. Could be anything we dunno ¯\(ツ)/¯
The number paid by the insurance is almost certainly what the insurance is willing to pay for whatever level visit that was (probably Level 1 or 2 if they bullshited on the documentation plus the charge for the laceration repair - yes glue counts). Your bud should complain to both his insurance company and whatever ER group charged this.
I strongly suspect it’s balance billing.
How do you guys live with the possibility of bankruptcy around every corner with this nonsense. I think I’d be too scared to ever leave the house.
2 Likes
And it’s not like American hospitals are objectively better either. People want to believe that they’re paying a lot because they’re getting a better service but they absolutely aren’t. Got way better service at NHS than in America’s system.
1 Like
One of my favorite papers is about how patient satisfaction is inversely related to outcomes, believe it was in surgery. Not trying to jump in to say who provides better care in a hospital, just thought of that paper because of your comment.
1 Like