Anyone else getting screwed on health insurance?

[Ray]

Emergency health care in AK...how much do these 8 running stitches cost? 15 minutes of time with a doc (in an office sitting next to a data entry tech at his desk), 5 minutes of time with a nurse wrapping it up, 5 minutes of time doing the paperwork in-processing. I was at the ER for a few minutes over 4 hours waiting in line behind octogenarian zombies.

So how much was billed? So far $2160 for ER costs and $300 for post op care and removal of the stitches. It cost $270 per stitch to have them installed, but only $9.50 each to take them out. Which was nearly as painful as getting them in since the medical tech had never seen running stitches and just tried to yank them out from one end.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Everyone got screwed except the libtards getting it free now.

 

[jmez]

The issue itself is that Americans are so far removed from the pain of paying for health care that we don't care. If standard market forces were in place these absurd bills would not be so commonplace. We are so far beyond a correction that I have no idea what will fix this situation but it sure as heck isn't forcing people to buy insurance they can't afford to purchase or use.

This is true. Look at Lasik surgery and elective plastic surgery. Neither are usually covered by regular health insurance. Both are paid fully out of pocket. Technology has advanced in both, both still are at a price point that people can pay.

 

[5MilesBack]

He'd likely want us to pay for all of the illegal immigrants health care too.

We already are.

The whole empathy argument could also be used for gun control........"don't you feel for these poor victims......we have to ban guns". I don't fall for the emotional arguments. Empathy is an emotional argument, I prefer to stick to logical arguments.

I saw a sign on a truck today that said "GOD, Guns, and Guts is what made America great". Well, they've taken God out of this country, and we've become a country of pansies.........so the only thing left is to remove the guns, and then we can be just like every other cesspool country in the world. Yay!

 

[Ironman8]

So how much was billed? So far $2160 for ER costs and $300 for post op care and removal of the stitches. It cost $270 per stitch to have them installed, but only $9.50 each to take them out. Which was nearly as painful as getting them in since the medical tech had never seen running stitches and just tried to yank them out from one end.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. There's no way the "fair market value" of a stitch is $270! That's insane. Not to mention the ER costs and Post Op care. Even if you only pay a small percentage of that due to having insurance, it's still a racket! I'd still rather pay 20% of $500 than 20% of $3000!

 

[Ironman8]

Ill just focus on Doctors since you specifically mention them, but it sounds like you dont consider them to be hard working or to also be paying into the "system". They are paying taxes and mandated to maintain insurance or be fined as well.

I'll just spell it out to make sure we don't cross any wires.

Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are absolutely hard working and paying into the system. I have a doctor, nurse, and other healthcare professionals in my family as well, so just know that I don't have anything against them.

When I said "doctors", I was referring to them as part of the broken healthcare system (to include insurance companies) that IS the problem. The problem, as I stated from the beginning, is that costs have gotten out of hand for those of us who do pay taxes and have insurance...and we're left footing the bill for those that don't.

 

[5MilesBack]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. There's no way the "fair market value" of a stitch is $270! That's insane. Not to mention the ER costs and Post Op care. Even if you only pay a small percentage of that due to having insurance, it's still a racket! I'd still rather pay 20% of $500 than 20% of $3000!

Here's one for you. Six years ago I had a detached retina.......I knew it was torn or detached and wanted to go directly to the retinal specialists. But you have to go through your PCM and insurance company first. Well, the insurance company told me to go to the emergency room. I told them the ER couldn't do anything for this. They didn't care, they demanded that I go to the ER first and let them refer me to the retinal specialists.

When the Dr in the ER saw me he asked "What am I supposed to do about this......I don't dilate and diagnose eyes". I explained to him what the insurance company said, so he referred me to the "on-call eye specialist". Two hours later I'm sitting in his office explaining to him the same thing. Turns out he's a plastic surgeon, not an eye doctor. Oh my!

So after all this I finally had an appointment the next day at the retinal specialists that I originally was going to go to. The ER bill was $3000 just for the hospital, then several hundred more for the ER Dr., then a few hundred for the plastic surgeon just for the referral. Then people wonder why I don't go to the doctor much.

 

[Floorguy]

Emergency health care in AK...how much do these 8 running stitches cost? 15 minutes of time with a doc (in an office sitting next to a data entry tech at his desk), 5 minutes of time with a nurse wrapping it up, 5 minutes of time doing the paperwork in-processing. I was at the ER for a few minutes over 4 hours waiting in line behind octogenarian zombies.

So how much was billed? So far $2160 for ER costs and $300 for post op care and removal of the stitches. It cost $270 per stitch to have them installed, but only $9.50 each to take them out. Which was nearly as painful as getting them in since the medical tech had never seen running stitches and just tried to yank them out from one end.

One of the data guys cut their finger on a job I was on in Prudhoe. He made the mistake of asking the safety officer for CH2MHILL for a bandaid. Wound up having to fill out workers comp paperwork AND go to the clinic in Pruhdoe. The trip to the clinic wound up costing him $400 for a spritz of bactine and a bandaid.

 

[Ray]

One of the data guys cut their finger on a job I was on in Prudhoe. He made the mistake of asking the safety officer for CH2MHILL for a bandaid. Wound up having to fill out workers comp paperwork AND go to the clinic in Pruhdoe. The trip to the clinic wound up costing him $400 for a spritz of bactine and a bandaid.

Getting injured on the job sucks. We had a sledge hammer smashed hand on one project, and then a sub had a worker with a twisted ankle. I got to see how the Corps twists their paperwork around to not get things to add up to a lost time event. I was around TAPS when they started to get totally nuts after the BLM and DOT audits in the mid 1990's. I managed to keep too busy on my own work to be sucked into that hell. Best friend now works for them, and the stories, ugh.

For most of my cuts I just wrapped it in electrical tape and cleaned it every night. This one would not stop leaking blood so I bit the bullet and went in. I could have gone to an Urgent Care center in Spenard, but they are known to double bill and then claim to have not been paid by insurance. And there are the hookers in the parking lot.

 

[Floorguy]

His was what amounted to a little more than a papercut though.

 

[PNWGATOR]

My wife recently was injured in a horse accident...ambulance, ER, four days admitted, imaging, primary care, etc....UNREAL!!!!! We have coverage through my employer and we're thankful. Regardless, crazy expensive. I can not imagine how this type of event would impact those without coverage or lesser coverage. Seriously messed up health care system we have. It needs an enema.

 

[jmez]

Costs are out of hand here as well. I broke my femur 4 years ago. They fixed it, 3.5 days in hospital $39,000.

My wife and I have two year old twin boys. They were born a few weeks early. They had to go into the NICU based on their body weight. Both did well. Neither had to be on supplemental oxygen or any kind of treatments. They were termed "growers" by the NICU staff as they were just there to grow so they could go home. They were in for 14 days. About the 5th day they moved them into an "overflow" area because there were so many really sick babies coming in. It was a couple floors up and part of the room was used for storage. The bill for that was $90,000 per baby.

 

[Ironman8]

Jmez,

With a baby on the way...you're scaring the ever loving sh*t out of me. My company only offers high deductible plans...looks like I'll be maxing those out. And hopefully I can do a payment plan.

 

[Trial153]

The only people not being screws by their health insurances are the dead beats getting it for free off the government dole.
Everyone that is paying paying more to offset costs for the freeloaders.

 

[Ironman8]

Here's one for you. Six years ago I had a detached retina.......I knew it was torn or detached and wanted to go directly to the retinal specialists. But you have to go through your PCM and insurance company first. Well, the insurance company told me to go to the emergency room. I told them the ER couldn't do anything for this. They didn't care, they demanded that I go to the ER first and let them refer me to the retinal specialists.

When the Dr in the ER saw me he asked "What am I supposed to do about this......I don't dilate and diagnose eyes". I explained to him what the insurance company said, so he referred me to the "on-call eye specialist". Two hours later I'm sitting in his office explaining to him the same thing. Turns out he's a plastic surgeon, not an eye doctor. Oh my!

So after all this I finally had an appointment the next day at the retinal specialists that I originally was going to go to. The ER bill was $3000 just for the hospital, then several hundred more for the ER Dr., then a few hundred for the plastic surgeon just for the referral. Then people wonder why I don't go to the doctor much.

Yep. Nothing like them pushing you through the system, against your better judgement, only to not treat yet still bill the crap out of you. It's kinda like what I'm seeing with my wife being pregnant. Oh you need this test, that test, and you need to see me weekly, blah blah. I really wonder how much of these "mandatory" tests and check ups are actually needed vs just keeping you in the system and paying a crap ton of money.

And then I have a sister in labor and delivery who tells me that after working two years at a state run hospital, she can count on one hand the number of people that have come in with their own insurance. All the other patients get their babies delivered for free.99. And when you have 25 year old patients having their FIFTH kid, because they know that's how they get more money from the gov (our money!), then you know there's a huge problem! So please forgive me for not believing that gov run healthcare isn't the answer to a problem that was created in large part by the gov to begin with.

I hope you were able to contest some of those bills.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yep. Nothing like them pushing you through the system, against your better judgement, only to not treat yet still bill the crap out of you.

Just to clarify......those were the amounts the insurance company paid, but just shows why insurance costs are so dang high when the insurance companies are demanding unneeded visits and procedures.

 

[Becca]

Jmez,

With a baby on the way...you're scaring the ever loving sh*t out of me. My company only offers high deductible plans...looks like I'll be maxing those out. And hopefully I can do a payment plan.

If you have a high deductible plan, you should look into utilizing an HSA (healthcare spending account) if you are eligible. The new rules passed with the healthcare law changes allow you to put $6600 a year tax deferred into a healthcare spending account. Basically think of it as a retirement account but for health care funds. That money is yours to keep using until it's gone (in other words, there is no use it or lose it by the end of the year), and the list of eligible expenses is a lot broader than those eligible for the traditional FSA plans (which had to be used by the end of the calander year each year). Many employers also offer a match, or a least contribute on your behalf. The pain of having a very high deductible is a little less when you have funds set aside to pay for those costs, and at least you are saving all the taxes you would have paid on that money.

If you are expecting a baby, you can anticipate plenty of out of pocket costs this year, and in future years for your child's health care expenses. The HSA may not cover all of it, but it will help some. If there are years when your costs are less than the money you contribute, then that money will be rolled over and continue to grow, available for your use in the future.

I still miss the low cost, low deductible, low out of pocket coverage we had 5 years ago but I imagine those days are gone forever. No one really explained to me what the HSA option meant when we were forced to switch to a high deductible plan, and for the first several years we didn't fully utilize it. now that I understand it better I realize that its an option that makes the best of a high deductible plan, and gives a cushion for rising out of pocket health care costs.

 

[Mike21]

Everyone got screwed except the libtards getting it free now.

I approve this message.

 

[Ironman8]

Becca,

Thanks a bunch for the info. I actually do have an HSA, but like you said, I haven't used it to its fullest potential. I'll have to start contributing more to it. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[GKPrice]

if you all want more to make your blood boil ..... I work as a maintenance contractor for a privately owned medical implant distributor - the owners are like a perpetual think tank on how to make more money by manipulating the government system to pay for things that last month may have not even existed, I'm not talking "dollars" here (just a mere snapshot into the real world of capitalism) - No parties mentioned but I am conservative by nature and neither side of the "aisle" is gonna willingly do we working class folks any good unless there is something in it for them - whenever a "third" party is mentioned most wrinkle their nose and shake their head BUT we already have one in place, it's called "elite"..........