OK My recent emergency room INVOICE !!!!

[pangaia]

On Nov 9 I went to the ER,, for sudden short attack of vertigo, and then dizziness. I was there about 4-5 hours.

here's the bill (I have a Medicare advantage plan at $25/MO)

LAB--------------------------------- $8
LAB CHEM -------------------------- $285
LAB HEMATOLOGY------------------ $36
LAB UROLOGY----------------------- $8---- funny NOBODY ever looked it LOL
DIAGNOSTIC CHEST X-RAY-------- $277
CT HEAD SCAN--------------------- $981
EMERGENCY ROOM-----------------$1025
EKG/ECG----------------------------$176

TOTAL----------------------------$2796

INSURANCE PAYMENTS------------ -$412.76
INSURANCE "ADJUSTMENTS"------ -$2293.24

PATIENT (ME) OWES------------$90

I get it..I know how it works, CHARGEMASTER etc... But, I don't GET IT..

[JoeOtterbein]

1. Sorry.

We really need Medicare for All. Now.

[Cicada]

5. I went to emergency room, before Obamacare, $2500 for minor care

I had chest pain. Took an ekg, blood pressure, don’t remember any blood test. Saw doctor for 10 minutes. He told me no problem. I paid over $2475. I could not afford health insurance, preexisting condition. I am self employed. That seems absurd to me. Obamacare was such a blessing. Thank you democrats.

[JoeOtterbein]

6. I'm self-employed too.

It makes it hard to make a buck

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Doctors tell us to forgo the ER, if possible, and head to a specialist's office.

.

Often, the specialist is called out of his office to go to the hospital for such patients, when going to the doctor directly cuts out the middle man. You would probably even get faster service, unless you were in a severe state, but then you would want to go to a regional trauma center instead of a local standard hospital.

.

[pangaia]

24. true.. but this was a sat morning

EVERYTHING happens on the weekend LOL

plus i haad no idea what happened...

[keithbvadu2]

32. Sunday morn kidneystone - I was one of two patients there.

Sunday morn kidneystone - I was one of two patients there.

Monday night kidneystone - half the known world was there. Was lucky to be on a gurney in the hallway.

Folks don't get sick much when they can sleep in.

In the military, I learned that the best time to go to sick call was Friday afternoon.

Worst time was Monday morn.

[pangaia]

35. LOL.. such is the way of life...

[TheBlackAdder]

41. Kidney Stones, try Chanca Piedra. Get the good stuff. either as tea, drops or capsules.

.

It will break up most stones very quickly.

.

[TheBlackAdder]

42. Most doctors offices will have an on-call doctor. Several doctors will fill in for each other.

.

It could be in the same practice or a group of them.

.

[Merlot]

29. My ER issue happened at 10 pm on a Saturday night

Even if it would have happened during regular business hours, my doctor only keeps hours at the local to me office on tuesday/thursdays. If my emergency had happened on a regular office day, calling in, getting approval for the specialist, then finding my way to the specialist would have taken hours. In some emergencies time is of the essence.

I spent the next month waiting and worrying about the ER visit bill as I did not know if the ER I went to was under my plan. Luckily it was, the total bill before insurance paid was $1,600.

[AllaN01Bear]

30. cant do this in california. tried that with a recent trip to my specialist with an afib event in p

gress. normaly the specialist cound have samples on hand to stop the afib but , no longer , i had to goto the er. i am now on a new drug for afib called multaq, a variant of droneadrone , and havent had afib for 4 weeks . aiming for a month. one trip . i accidently got a ambulance bill sent to me instead of my insurance co(which paid it ) was $1000.00 for one mile .

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Kinda like flying. You paid $400 for your seat. Someone else $200. Someone else $500. Ridiculous

[pangaia]

36. Except you know the cost upfront.. :))

[MontanaMama]

3. For profit health care

is a racket. I have a $4500 annual deductible...it sucks. I hope you’re feeling better.

[pangaia]

16. In my case both the hospital and the insurance company are Not For Profit.

I gotta say---
Considering the state of health Ins in USA, I am damn lucky to have what I have.. for what it is worth, at the moment it is Excellus/Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medicare Advantage in Western NY Next year and in most previous years it has been MVP.

[delisen]

4. Question: why did you think the emergency room was needed?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. It's probably easy to tell that the vertigo is not a stroke, ...

... but it's not for amateurs.

I'd probably head for the ER if I suddenly had dizziness.

(But, between Medicare and supplemental, I have good insurance)

[Maru Kitteh]

13. As an RN, allow me to step in if you would.

A sudden onset of symptoms like that could be quite serious, especially if severe, not to mention frightening and debilitating.

Why would you think they would not warrant emergency care?

[delisen]

14. I have medicare, have had an episode of vertigo and dizziness but settled for a

For a telephone call to physician and future appointment.

Should i have headed to an emergency room instead?
I have never seen those symptoms alone given as a recommendation for going immediately to an er, ergo my question to the poster.

[pangaia]

17. Good question..

9 am sat morning. I NEVER ever in my life experience vertigo. And I mean the room was spinning !!!
After that I was quite dizzy. I had no idea what had happened. So I had a friend drive me to the ER..

They of course did check for heart attack or stroke.

Since then I am still dizzy off and on, finally getting in to see specialists starting next week after wasting 3 weeks with a vestibular physical therapist...

Also, since that day I have run into MANY other people who have had vertigo ( who would have known?)

But, now I feel there is something else wrong....

[delisen]

28. Thanks and i hope you get the answer .

...and that it is easily treatable.

[pangaia]

37. I did because I had NO idea what was happening. No experience with vertigo..and dizziness like that.

causes?
As far as I knew it could very easily have been something much more immediately worse...

[CurtEastPoint]

40. I woke up w/vertigo years ago and panicked. What else would you do? ER visit!

[woodsprite]

7. My daughter (uninsured) just got her ER bill

$1780 for ER costs, $995 for the doctor.

She was in there for rapid heartbeat (156), low grade fever, involuntary muscle contractions. Turned out she had RSV and was having a reaction to Mucinex D.

She applied to Medicaid, but not sure if she’ll get it. She just rolled off our insurance and put off getting her own or finding a job with benefits.

[pangaia]

18. Oh, man.. that's abummer

about her condition AND the ins...

[woodsprite]

21. I was thinking we got off pretty lucky

Until the dr sent a separate bill. I don’t remember that happening when I was in there with kidney stones or my husband was in there due to a biscuit joiner accident, but than we were insured.

[pangaia]

26. biscuit joiner accident.. oh god don;t even tell me

i did a lof of woodworking in my life and escaped with nary a scratch

like table saw with NO guard !!!!

[Cartoonist]

9. Is this a complaint?

Only ninety bucks for all that? My copay is thirty bucks a visit.

[pangaia]

19. no no no not at all.

quite the opposite, in fact,

Give the state of usa health ins I was surprised...

I even called the hospital to discuss it.. :&gt ))

[Cartoonist]

23. Splendid

All's well that ends well.

[pangaia]

25. unfortunately, it hasnt ended yet

i am still dizzy much of the time.....

trying to see specialists

[genxlib]

10. Health care billing is a travesty

I have an outrageous story that I hope to write up for an OP if I find time.

Last December I went in for Bariatric Surgery and have lost 85 pounds over the course of the year.

There are two things that make it a good case study.

1. It is a very standardized procedure and is pretty much the same for all patients.

2. The surgeon offers a cash deal for those that don't have insurance. It includes exactly the same care, hospital stay, follow-up etc.

Hospital invoices - $130,000
Insurance/copay - $33,000
Cash price - $10,500

Seriously.

[pangaia]

20. i seriously believe it...

i'd be willing to bet others who have gone to this ER for a similar level of seriousness have paid way more.

tHE HOSPITAL ALSO HAS A SLIDING SCALE FOR PEOPLE WITH NO INS DEPENDING ON THEIR INCOME...

ooppss. sorry caaps lock

[DFW]

11. The last time I saw an emergency room, it was 2011 in Dallas

My bill came to $36,600, reduced to $26,000 since it was being billed to an insurance company (S.O.P, which I still don't get), and for which I was liable for 10%. A few supplemental charges cam in later, boosting my total personal liability to somewhere between $3500 and $4000.

Better than dying (heart attack), but not exactly a cheap day at the park.

My only consolation was on the morning of the day they were going to release me. A woman came in to bring me my breakfast, and she said, "good morning, sir." I heard a slight accent, looked at her features, and responded with "magandang omagá!" She nearly dropped my breakfast tray, she was in such shock. I meet LOTS of Filipinos wherever I go, and so I had some of them teach me a few words of their main language, Tagálog. Of course, the LAST thing they expect is some Anglo in Dallas to recognize where they are from and immediately greet them in their language. The look of shock on her face was almost worth the price of admission

[pangaia]

22. HA HA great story..

I had a simipar one in 2012 when I haad spinal surgery the anesthesiologist had a definitely arabic sunduing name and ME accent, althoug i can not tell one from the other.. I had been to Oman a few years before, so greeted hin in arabic.. and we had a VERY BRIEF conversation, before i told him i was out of words so lets get on with it.. he laughed and stuck a needle in my arm 30 seconds later i was a goner 100,99,98,,97........


funny- a couple years later at a different hospital in the same sysyem, i had cataract surgery.. HE was the anesthesioligisigistst

(why dont these guys come up with shorter words?? HA so we look stupid

[Wawannabe]

15. Mine was $5,000

Broken wrist. Set it and xrays. Was there about 4 hrs also. I ended up paying $936 to hospital and another $128 to the ER physicians group! This does not account for the surgery I had a week later - that was much higher!

[madinmaryland]

27. My wife had two knee replacement surgeries this summer...

After everything was added up, each were about $80K. She used up the last of the deductible of about $1,000 on the first surgery and the second was completely covered. The hospital alone was nearly $65K.

[pangaia]

38. somebody's making a lot of moolah and it ain't you or i

[appleannie1]

31. Thankfully there is a good urgent care place close by.

My hubby had stage 4 lung cancer 5 years ago and beat it to the tune of about 750 thousand for all the chemo, blood transfusions, shots and radiation. Our insurance covered it completely .
Then about 7 months ago he started having what we thought was severe gout. Then he started needing blood transfusions. 4 trips to the hospital in an ambulance and 4 different hospitals later he was diagnosed with leukemia and colon cancer. It was all covered except for $688. I just got the bill yesterday. He died last month. I consider us very, very lucky we had good insurance through where he worked. The total of all his medical bills was well over a million dollars. Medical care in this country does not need to be that expensive and most people cannot afford to ever get sick. The cost of the care can be worse than the illness.

[virgogal]

33. Sorry about the loss of your husband.

[appleannie1]

34. ty

[pangaia]

39. sounds like diagnoses could certainly be better.

problem with 'specialists' is they know, usually, one small area of medicine...

Sorry you lost your husband...