You just can't make this stuff up.

[Coventina]

A good friend of mine had his roommate take him to the hospital this afternoon for chest pains.

He's being kept overnight for observation, but so far his blood chemistry is OK.

While they were in the ER, his roommate had an asthma attack, and she was also admitted!

She's now been diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

They are both on Obamacare.

How would this play out if Obamacare were eliminated?

[PJMcK]

1. They'd die

Damn Republicans.

[rurallib]

2. or go broke

[Turbineguy]

3. The republicans view this differently.

The democrat (sic) party would lose two voters. Good!

[elleng]

4. No way to know,

especially because there's no alternative plan in existence, just House repugs blah blah blah.

Likely a period of time before anything new is actually in effect, anyway.

[mercuryblues]

5. they will be fucked

[GP6971]

6. In 2 words

Not well.

[still_one]

7. I hope they are both ok, and I also hope that they voted Democratic in 2016

[Bob Loblaw]

8. If they were members of Congress

they'd still be covered.

[eleny]

9. K&R

I don't have any thoughts to add regarding your question. But thank goodness they have each other. This was such a series of events. I hope they're doing okay. Thank goodness she was at the hospital already when she had her attack.

[Coventina]

14. Yes, it is really lucky, because if she had been home alone and had the attack,

who knows what would have happened?

Latest report is that they are still both in the hospital being monitored.

[Me.]

10. Be Careful About Being PLaced Under Observation

“Hospitals are increasingly placing patients too ill to be sent home but not sick enough to be admitted into observation services.
Some hospitals may use observation services to avoid inpatient hospital readmissions.

Patients in observation often must pay out-of-pocket for medical services that are covered for inpatients.

Hospitals are increasingly placing emergency room patients who are not sick enough to be admitted or well enough to be sent home in observation services (OS), which can result in large medical bills for the patient, according to a new study in Health Services Research.

“A third of hospitals have observations units now...and more are coming,” says the paper’s lead author Jason Hockenberry, Ph.D., a professor in health policy and management at Emory University. “

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2013/admitted-for-observation-watch-out-for-big-medical-bills

[Marie Marie]

11. Or, the hospital would admit and treat them, and

if they could not pay the bill, it would add to the costs that the rest of us pay. Don't get me wrong, I WANT them to be treated - I am just making the point that one way or another, the rest of us pay for the uninsured. That is why we need affordable insurance coverage for all. Why don't the Republicans get this?

[shenmue]

12. ...

[Coventina]

16. ..

[vlyons]

13. I went into the hospital for 2 weeks for heart failure

Followed by 1 week of rehab with PT. Had a leaky heart value, and my heart rhythm thought it was running a marathon. Good thing that I had medicare and supplemental insurance for hospitalization. Otherwise it would have cost me about $40,000. If I had not gone into the hospital, I would be dead.

[Coventina]

15. Oh goodness! I'm glad things worked out for you!

Very scary!!

[MichMary]

17. Um,

they would have been treated. BY LAW hospitals have to treat people in medical emergency situations, regardless of ability to pay.

[dalton99a]

18. This is an example repeated countless times every day in hospitals across the country