So a man posts his hospital bill online of $11,119.53 (with insurance). How do you feel about this?

reply to post by CleanCare


Once you're rich and powerful, you become greedier.

Peeps have brought up the point of US Hospitals overcharging as well - this is blatantly obvious.

In the US, cancer treatment can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the UK, the NHS estimates that treating a typical cancer patient costs between £30-40,000 and our survival rates aren't any worse and, in many cases, are actually better.

There is quite clearly profiteering going on in the US and the odd thing is that Americans will defend their system over anyone else's, despite being bent over a barrel and taken roughly.

i don't understand the purpose of the post.... i skimmed the comments because i don't have the patience to read each and every one right now but i'm seeing a lot of outrage as if that's how insurance is NOW.

insurance before today, jan 1 2014, has been a scam. the ACA will has capped deductibles and the deductibles are lower than ever. in my state there are over 50 plans to choose from now, when before there were hardly any and you were held hostage by whatever plan you did settle for.

so, what i'm saying is that from here on out we have a new set of rules and as the kinks are worked out it should get better and better. there is now ACTUAL competition between plans so companies do have to serve you better instead of laugh at you if you needed anything.

the more people that sign up for the ACA the better because it will allow insurance companies to offer better options.

i would prefer a single payer deal but thankfully the ACA left that option on the table and at least one state is going for it. maybe in a few years other states will follow when they realize it's working.

reply to post by CleanCare


Depends on a few things:
1. Is this Obamacare health insurance?
2. What type of plan does this guy have?
3. What type of income does he (or his father) have?

All I can say is...wow.
This completely disgusts me. how on earth does it cost $55,000 to have an appendix removed? Heres some perspective for you....
I have the most basic insurance policy -even though I don't need it its nice to know that I am covered for an ambulance ride and my treatment if I have a accident. This will be in a public hospital, but in a private room and with the doctor of my choice. My insurance costs just over $1100 australian per year. I have plenty of extras provided to me like preventative dental care, $500 toward glasses each year which enables me to get 2 pairs every year. Vision tests are covered by medicare, as are regular doctors visits and I know of a few radiology clinics that provide services under medicare. I work in a neurology ward at a private hospital where I have spoken to patients that have paid $5000 for spinal surgery buy some of the most renowned Neurosurgeons in the country. There are a few extra costs such as the Anaesthiatist and pathology, but that is minimal compared to what this young man had to fork out. Sure, they had to pay insurance each year, but the return they get is covered buy rebates and tax allowances from the government.
Insurance is a funny thing.....you pay for something that essentially, does not exist. It is a thing that you may never have to use. Is it the fear of dying that pushes us to do this, or the fear of not knowing if we will be able to afford the cost of living and will become destitute that does it?
This video highlighted to me just how much of an illusion it is to think that the government has our best interests at heart.

I beileve that this is why so many ways to treat ourselves with natural and age old remedies are largey unknown by the younger generations and is slowly being erased from human kowledge. No body woud DARE say publicly that a natural remedy could help someone's health problem. This would replace the need to mask the symptom with pharmaceuticals and endless visits to the doctor for increasing problems with their health. The dreaded thought of Cancer eats away at our minds if we discover a lump, bump or start to get headaches or feel generally unwell for no apparent reason. The knowledge to prevent such issues from occurring in the first place is out there, however the average person does not know of these easy ways to keep our bodies in good enough condition to live out or days without the constant fear of "what if?" Nor are we encouraged to learn the science just why these are so simple, yet so effective - nature is perfect - who are we to say that we know better? Western medicine is -for the most part - a contradiction. The sooner that we can recognise that the "old wives tales" were passed down through generations because they WORKED - the healthier and happier we will be.

reply to post by pasiphae


The average out-of-pocket patient responsibility for the new ACA plans is now $6,000 for an individual and $12,000 for a family. This may be "lower than ever" in your experience Pasiphae, but most people I know have (had) $500 to $2,000 maximum. To make matters worse, they have to pay HIGHER premiums for these new higher deductibles. They are very angry over what they've been forced in to.
-cwm

it makes me feel extremely fortunate to be an australian citizen, living in Australia, 4 months out from giving birth with no out of pocket cost!

reply to post by CleanCare


I'm an Aussie, how much do you Americans pay for the following?

These are all the procedures I have had and costs:

1. When I was around 5 (I'm 33 now) I fell backwards out of the bathroom sink (don't ask) & landed on the tiles below, several hours in Emergency & several tests including X-rays. Accessed by brain surgeon.
Bill - $0 public hospital

2. Surgical removal of teeth for braces, one sideways in the gum next to the nose
Bill - $300 because of using a private surgeon in a private hospital, bill would have been about $1,000 but most covered by either Medicare or our private health insurance

3. 1st baby
Bill - $0 public hospital - if you went private hospital bill would be about $3,000

4. 2nd baby - I got pregnancy diabetes & had an urethra cyst
Bill - $0 public hospital

5. Removal of urethra cyst (where I then had 1 year of pelvic floor reconditioning as an outpatient)
Bill - $0 public hospital

6. 4 wisdom teeth removal (2 impacted)
Bill - $800 because of using a private surgeon in a private hospital bill was $3,200 but most covered by either Medicare or our private health insurance, most dental is not covered by Medicare.

My 7 year old daughter recently knocked her 2 front teeth out at the park. Took her to the doctor because the bleeding wouldn't stop & found the teeth just holding by a thread. He raced her by ambulance to the children's hospital where she had X-rays and a ct scan. She was accessed by a pediatrician, dental surgeon and a plastic surgeon where lucky she only had to get the teeth pushed back in, stitched up & then braces for 1 month. We then had 3 follow up appointments.

Total cost ….......... $0 just a bit of pain and blood.

Oh I forgot our private health insurance costs $205 a month, this also pays for my glasses, contacts and our 2 denist visits a year.

CleanCare
Please give this a look and come back to me.
Source

Now, I'm not sure if I'm feeling sympathy or anger about the man's outrageous bill of $11,119.53.

What interests me more is that an Australian citizen who received the same treatment was not even given a bill.

Am I feeling angry? Am I feeling remorse for the man with the bill? Or am I simply jealous of other countries' health care? I'm really not sure.

Maybe I'm scared.

Scared that I may become the next victim of America's presitigous health care system.

edit on 31-12-2013 by CleanCare because: fact editing

edit on 31-12-2013 by CleanCare because: (no reason given)

Ridiculous. Here in the UK my friend had a motorcycle crash. He broke both legs and had to have multiple operations and plastic surgery. His stay in hospital was 4 months. How much did he have to pay? Nothing. Because, despite the UK's faults, we have the amazing National Health Service, and thank God for it.

As I understand it, Obamacare is a similar system. But a lot of Americans don't want it because the greedy fat chumps are worried they'll be paying for other people's healthcare. Well, yes you will. Just like we do in the UK through our taxes. But that's the way it should be. A caring society where the well-off help the needy. Get over it.

stumason

There is quite clearly profiteering going on in the US and the odd thing is that Americans will defend their system over anyone else's, despite being bent over a barrel and taken roughly.

edit on 1/1/14 by stumason because: (no reason given)

This is so very, very true. I'm always amazed how many yanks will defend their country's crappy aspects just out of blind patriotism. It's rather sad, really.

reply to post by IBelieveInAliens


It is not that we are afraid of paying someone else's bill, we are all for helping the down and out. It is about having to pay more for our coverage, and having more out of pocket expenses.

If I only had to pay taxes for health insurance, and I was provided "free" services, that would be a great thing. But that is not how this works. I am paying a higher monthly bill, plus paying out of pocket for all medical services provided, including prescriptions, until I meet a deductable. And then I am still forced to pay twenty percent more of the bill. My provider picking up eighty percent of the cost at that point.

Notice the "pay, pay, pay" part of this post. That is all that is happening with Obamacare. To give you a visual, it feels like this in America right now:



If it was as easy as paying a tax and getting free medical services, there would not be so many threads on how bad Obamacare is for America. And I bet any American would be happy as hell to have the kind of coverage you speak of.

Thanks,
Blend57

reply to post by CleanCare


You should be scared. I don't know if Obamacare will improve it or not. I don't know how it could have been worse for my family. I have been waiting a long time to tell our story. No one seemed to care about the issue til now. I swear on all things Holy and that I love this happened to us and it can happen to anyone.

My husband poured concrete for a living from 1972 until 2007. About 2002 he began having unbearable pain and it was a kidney stone. Make a five year story short, they misdiagnosed how many stones he had. He had one big one 2x2 inches, that he was passing pieces of for five years, and he continued to pour concrete. Anyway, he ended up in the ER while on the job. Things went from bad to worse. He had two surgeries, blah, blah, blah. He could not work for 6 months, so we lost lost our insurance that we carried for 35years. He recovered enough to go back to work.

Then one week back on the job, he was back in the ER, paralyzed, lungs and all. He was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome. He recovered but permanently disabled. We did not have insurance by then. I had to sleep in the hospital because I did not have gas money, at 56 yrs old, and no family that give a darn.
To apply for medicaid, I was hounded every day for six weeks by social services, to prove this or disprove that, trying to find money and assets. At the same time having to make decisions about my husband's health. Right lady, I am sleeping on a bench and eating from machines.

Anyway, that is over and we survived but we did lose all our hard earned assets. Too poor and stupid to hire attorneys.

What scares me. We raised our kids to believe hard work was worth it. Now I am not so sure.

reply to post by CleanCare


What would the bill have been 18mnths ago?

WeRpeons

Am I feeling angry? Am I feeling remorse for the man with the bill? Or am I simply jealous of other countries' health care? I'm really not sure.

reply to post by CleanCare

 

Be jealous of another countries health care.

Insurance companies in the U.S. decide on what procedures they'll cover. It's why healthcare shouldn't be managed by insurance companies for profit. We're the only industrialized nation that just doesn't get it when it comes to providing a basic right to health care for their citizens. We have more people complaining about the cost of healthcare than the trillions we spend on our military, black projects, corporate welfare, foreign aid, welfare abuse and pork barrel projects.

The largest denier of coverage is the US government in medicare and Medicaid. You think things are bad now, wait until their is "single payer" and no competition and zero free market and a single monopoly is in charge of your healthcare. You think an insurance carrier doesn't care about you but you think a nameless, faceless bureaucrat in health and human services does?

reply to post by Bassago

to add fuel into the fire... it s yours and your fellow citizens money they spend, you pay for all expenditures... and even if it is just a credit they take, YOU must pay it back... does it enhance your rage?

reply to post by CleanCare


So, a medical service costs money, that someone needs to pay???



I guess people should know more about their insurance plans.

For the past three years I and my family have been without insurance ever since I left the school system's employment - on purpose! We've been very healthy throughout the years and with only one or two issues over the years we've always paid in more to the insurance industry than we've ever gotten out of it.

This past month our granddaughter needed caps on her teeth and to have several others filled. Since she's only four the only way to accomplish this was to have this done in an OR setting when she was totally out. Her father and out daughter, having never wed, thank God, was supposed to have been providing health insurance but either quit or got fired from his job having never told our daughter about the resultant loss of child support and insurance. In short, he's a bum but, apparently bums in Texas still get to see the kids they don't support! (/rant) My daughter is putting her daughter on her insurance at work but the timing would have left her uninsured and it was a pre-existing condition anyway. Since the tooth decay was already advanced we couldn't wait so we were stuck.

(Notice to new parents - get your kids on a fluoride tooth paste ASAP. We thought, even though the training tooth paste we were using didn't have fluoride, the fact we were brushing her teeth was good enough but the apple juice she drank constantly took out her front teeth just like the Tang orange juice took her mom's out when she was that age.)

Anyway, my point is my wife talked to the hospital about the cost of this procedure and was told that, if we had insurance, the cost was going to be somewhere between 12 and 15 grand. Next she asked what the cost would be if we paid the bill in full and in cash. The answer? The resultant bill? A little over 5 grand! That's the difference having insurance in our part of Texas makes. That's how much money is wasted on insurance.

I know, not everyone can afford to pay up front and I sympathize with that. We just happen to be in a part of the world that the hospitals aren't trying to gouge people too badly as I feel the final price was probably pretty fair.

Back when this granddaughter was born I was still working in the school system and had insurance. Our daughter was still eligible for our insurance and working the numbers back and forth between the low end plan and the mid-range plan I figured that I would be paying, through premiums, the exact same amount the baby's delivery would cost me (remember, the father's a b-u-m and our daughter didn't have her own insurance then) if we were paying for the delivery in cash - provided nothing went wrong, of course. We were in a different financial condition at that point, though, so I took the insurance out on her as well and dealt with it that way.

Frankly, we are going to pay the penalty for not signing up for Obummer's Care in our tax form this year. Lord only knows what will happen when Beloved Leader takes a look at us next year and we still haven't put our heads on a chopping block then. It's all a racket and we have checked out an WILL stay checked out as long as we can or until His storm troopers come knocking our doors down.

I'd just not pay it period. I have more medical bills that I will never pay. Not like they can put me in jail for it. I'm usa. Insurance pays what it can, I don't have to pay the rest. Just feed it to the garbage can imo.

I'm not getting the obamacare anyway. I make 14k a year before taxes and they want me to pay 6k a year for my insurance. hahahahahaha I have a big ole 6 pack of 'nope' right here.

aint happening.

reply to post by sarra1833


In Washington State, my daughter who makes about the same, now has insurance. She has diabetes and could not get insurance before. She is relieved to have that stress over. So I guess it is each individual's perspective.

I feel very privileged for the free healthcare we have out here in New Zealand. My heart goes out to those struggling with medical bill payments.