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RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/2/2013 8:20:08 PM   
Kaliko


Posts: 3381
Joined: 9/25/2010
Status: offline 		I was rear-ended a couple of years ago. I called my doctor (who was literally right around the corner) and asked for them to look at me because my head was hurting a bit. It would have cost me $10 to see them with my insurance. They wouldn't see me (because they said they don't have the right "machines" to test for head injury like that) and sent me to the emergency room (30 minutes away) where I was charged hundreds of dollars for them to shine a light in my eye and bang a hammer on my knee. And they didn't use one "machine."

I'm fortunate to have good health insurance but I am close to people who don't and I understand how life-altering those high costs can be. I hope we're moving in the right direction.

< Message edited by Kaliko -- 5/2/2013 8:27:22 PM >

(in reply to cloudboy)
Profile   Post #: 61
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/2/2013 8:23:25 PM   
tazzygirl


Posts: 37833
Joined: 10/12/2007
Status: offline 		Especially with billing waiting in the ER to sign people up for "credit".

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Profile   Post #: 62
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/2/2013 9:43:34 PM   
MistressDarkArt


Posts: 5178
Status: offline 		Cloudboy, here's a recent example:

Last fall I required a blood transfusion. I received one unit of A+ in the day stay of a local hospital. Some dumbass from the administrative office told me the cost would be $990. I got a bill for $3,000+. My crappy insurance ($430 per month, one person) has a $5,000 deductible so all charges would be out of pocket. I called up the hospital's billing office and gave them a choice: 1) put $990 on my credit card, mark my account paid in full or 2) set up a good faith payment plan of $10 a month for the rest of my natural life.

They chose the $990.

(in reply to tazzygirl)
Profile   Post #: 63
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 3:31:16 AM   
LafayetteLady


Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Northern New Jersey
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Kaliko

I was rear-ended a couple of years ago. I called my doctor (who was literally right around the corner) and asked for them to look at me because my head was hurting a bit. It would have cost me $10 to see them with my insurance. They wouldn't see me (because they said they don't have the right "machines" to test for head injury like that) and sent me to the emergency room (30 minutes away) where I was charged hundreds of dollars for them to shine a light in my eye and bang a hammer on my knee. And they didn't use one "machine."

I'm fortunate to have good health insurance but I am close to people who don't and I understand how life-altering those high costs can be. I hope we're moving in the right direction.



I guess it is lucky for both of them that you didn't have a brain injury. Given the circumstance (car accident), depending on how hard your head shook around, it could have been more serious. Just because your pupils didn't indicate a concussion doesn't mean something else was not wrong.

Oh, plus you could have had whiplash. Your head would hurt, but the injury would have been your neck.

(in reply to Kaliko)
Profile   Post #: 64
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 8:11:18 AM   
kalikshama


Posts: 14805
Joined: 8/8/2010
Status: offline
quote:

Do you understand that "mammograms" are in fact a form of prevention?


No, I don't, but will address this in October.

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Profile   Post #: 65
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 9:45:02 AM   
MercTech


Posts: 3706
Joined: 7/4/2006
Status: offline 		When you have for profit insurance companies owning the majority of the for profit health care providers it is only in their best interests to keep the fees spiraling upwards.
And you have so much third party billing, bills that come in and the company charging you cannot provide any documentation they actually provided you with anything.

Step one in health care reform should be to make it a SEC violation for health insurance companies to own any or part of a health care provider.
Step two would be to require prior consent to any billing and be a single billing for any service. Why should you pay hundreds for a radiologist to look at your tests after your primary care has seen them? A second opinion is for your primary care to cover his tochis not for your benefit.

(in reply to kalikshama)
Profile   Post #: 66
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 10:44:17 AM   
cloudboy


Posts: 7306
Joined: 12/14/2005
Status: offline 		Fuck that is a good story. It occurred to me that for most people "healthcare" is an abstraction. It all changes when something is wrong and you have to get it diagnosed and treated.

I am glad to have found out that the fees charged are negotiable, and that providers value cash up-front over a higher, unpaid bill that might go into collection.

(in reply to MistressDarkArt)
Profile   Post #: 67
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 11:16:41 AM   
tazzygirl


Posts: 37833
Joined: 10/12/2007
Status: offline
quote:

Do you understand that "mammograms" are in fact a form of prevention?


Oh..... do explain to me how a mammogram prevents breast cancer.

_____________________________

Telling me to take Midol wont help your butthurt.
RIP, my demon-child 5-16-11
Duchess of Dissent 1
Dont judge me because I sin differently than you.
If you want it sugar coated, dont ask me what i think! It would violate TOS.

(in reply to Phydeaux)
Profile   Post #: 68
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 7:29:24 PM   
erieangel


Posts: 2237
Joined: 6/19/2011
Status: offline 		Is see a psychiatrist once a month. Out patient psychiatric treatment is a deductible expense on my insurance plan. However, I have not yet received a bill after 5 months, even though each visit costs well over $100. This is because the agency I work for bought a health insurance policy with a deductible of $2,500 then sold it back to me and I bought it with only a $500 deductible. The agency pays their portion of the deductible first, then I pay mine.

Oh and one of the meds I'm on is Prozac. I take 30 mg. a day. My co-payment is $15. If I took 20 mg or 40 mg I could get the Prozac at a discount without using my insurance and pay only $4.00. I can't decrease and the doc is worried that I'll go manic if she increases the dose.

(in reply to tazzygirl)
Profile   Post #: 69
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/3/2013 9:29:49 PM   
littlewonder


Posts: 15659
Status: offline 		It prevents breast cancer by detecting an irregularity that could be in the very early stages and if taken care of then, could be caught before any real damage.

These days though, most drs feel a mammogram is only needed if you feel concerned about something you felt or you have a family history of breast cancer. Most health insurance companies automatically cover yearly mammograms if you're over 40 anyway.



< Message edited by littlewonder -- 5/3/2013 9:30:32 PM >

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Profile   Post #: 70
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/4/2013 5:04:05 AM   
Kaliko


Posts: 3381
Joined: 9/25/2010
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

It prevents breast cancer by detecting an irregularity that could be in the very early stages and if taken care of then, could be caught before any real damage.




The misleading thing about that, though, is that once an irregularity exists, even if in the very early stages, then it has happened. Getting worse certainly can be prevented with early detection, but it doesn't prevent it from happening in the first place.

It's a fine enough slogan as far as slogans go and I don't doubt that the campaign has raised awareness and saved lives. It's easy to say and remember and it gets the general point across. But it's just doesn't seem quite true.



(in reply to littlewonder)
Profile   Post #: 71
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/4/2013 5:58:21 AM   
LafayetteLady


Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Northern New Jersey
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: erieangel

Is see a psychiatrist once a month. Out patient psychiatric treatment is a deductible expense on my insurance plan. However, I have not yet received a bill after 5 months, even though each visit costs well over $100. This is because the agency I work for bought a health insurance policy with a deductible of $2,500 then sold it back to me and I bought it with only a $500 deductible. The agency pays their portion of the deductible first, then I pay mine.

Oh and one of the meds I'm on is Prozac. I take 30 mg. a day. My co-payment is $15. If I took 20 mg or 40 mg I could get the Prozac at a discount without using my insurance and pay only $4.00. I can't decrease and the doc is worried that I'll go manic if she increases the dose.


Ask your doctor to write the script for a higher number of 20mg pills each month, so that you can break them up and take 1 1/2 to meet the 30 mg dose. You will get them for the $4.00 that way.

(in reply to erieangel)
Profile   Post #: 72
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/5/2013 7:17:31 AM   
tazzygirl


Posts: 37833
Joined: 10/12/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

It prevents breast cancer by detecting an irregularity that could be in the very early stages and if taken care of then, could be caught before any real damage.

These days though, most drs feel a mammogram is only needed if you feel concerned about something you felt or you have a family history of breast cancer. Most health insurance companies automatically cover yearly mammograms if you're over 40 anyway.




Thats not prevention... its still detection.

My own doctor wants one every year due to a maternal history of breast cancer.

_____________________________

Telling me to take Midol wont help your butthurt.
RIP, my demon-child 5-16-11
Duchess of Dissent 1
Dont judge me because I sin differently than you.
If you want it sugar coated, dont ask me what i think! It would violate TOS.

(in reply to littlewonder)
Profile   Post #: 73
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/5/2013 12:20:06 PM   
MistressDarkArt


Posts: 5178
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady


quote:

ORIGINAL: erieangel

Is see a psychiatrist once a month. Out patient psychiatric treatment is a deductible expense on my insurance plan. However, I have not yet received a bill after 5 months, even though each visit costs well over $100. This is because the agency I work for bought a health insurance policy with a deductible of $2,500 then sold it back to me and I bought it with only a $500 deductible. The agency pays their portion of the deductible first, then I pay mine.

Oh and one of the meds I'm on is Prozac. I take 30 mg. a day. My co-payment is $15. If I took 20 mg or 40 mg I could get the Prozac at a discount without using my insurance and pay only $4.00. I can't decrease and the doc is worried that I'll go manic if she increases the dose.


Ask your doctor to write the script for a higher number of 20mg pills each month, so that you can break them up and take 1 1/2 to meet the 30 mg dose. You will get them for the $4.00 that way.



I do this with a hormone that is on the 3 mo/$10 list. Works well. If requested, Docs are usually happy to work with patients to save money on Rx's.

(in reply to LafayetteLady)
Profile   Post #: 74
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/5/2013 4:41:20 PM   
LafayetteLady


Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Northern New Jersey
Status: offline 		I know. My old dr. always would give me samples, even though I told him that while my insurance didn't cover my visits to him, they did cover whatever meds he prescribed (usually).

(in reply to MistressDarkArt)
Profile   Post #: 75
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/5/2013 7:37:18 PM   
littlewonder


Posts: 15659
Status: offline 		Well tazzygirl, the women's physicians offices around here call it preventative maintenance.

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Profile   Post #: 76
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/6/2013 3:05:32 PM   
LafayetteLady


Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Northern New Jersey
Status: offline 		~Fast Reply~

Well, here is a GOOD story for a change. Friday, I had to go to the emergency room because of a serious problem with my eye. I had a serious infection and irritation of my cornea. I was told by the PA that it was imperative that I see an ophthalmologist ASAP or risk losing my sight in that eye.

Well, being on *partial* Medicaid (in NJ, that means you don't receive all the services, there is no HMO, no hospital coverage or ER for that matter), I explained that there are no ophthalmologists that accept Medicaid, and I simply am not able to pay out of pocket. Even with a payment plan unless they are willing to accept like five cents a month.

Anyway, the PA contacts the ophthalmologist on call, who tells him he would like to see me that day, and that when I came in, we would discuss the financial issue. Well, I couldn't get transportation for *right away* so the appointment was made for Saturday morning.

I didn't want to get up early on a Saturday and go in there only to find out that he wanted to talk about a payment plan, so I called his office and explained the situation and asked how the financial aspect would be handled. My type of Medicaid is common in NJ, so the office had some knowledge about it, even though they don't accept it.

Long story short (at least a little shorter, lol), the office is taking my Medicaid because of my situation. Basically, because he was the eye doctor on call at the time, he will do what is necessary to follow up on treatment with me. He doesn't legally have to, and after checking around locally about this guy, he has an excellent reputation and a thriving practice. So, I guess he follows up like this because it is the *right* thing to do. I know that not all on-call doctors do this, I found that out last year with all the kidney issues I had.

So, while they may be far and few between, there are good doctors out there who care about people getting the necessary treatment. Oh yea, and the additional eye drops he wanted me to have he provided without another prescription (although those would have been covered). To top it off? He's also a really nice guy, and so were all the staff in his office.

(in reply to littlewonder)
Profile   Post #: 77
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/6/2013 9:41:42 PM   
erieangel


Posts: 2237
Joined: 6/19/2011
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady


quote:

ORIGINAL: erieangel

Is see a psychiatrist once a month. Out patient psychiatric treatment is a deductible expense on my insurance plan. However, I have not yet received a bill after 5 months, even though each visit costs well over $100. This is because the agency I work for bought a health insurance policy with a deductible of $2,500 then sold it back to me and I bought it with only a $500 deductible. The agency pays their portion of the deductible first, then I pay mine.

Oh and one of the meds I'm on is Prozac. I take 30 mg. a day. My co-payment is $15. If I took 20 mg or 40 mg I could get the Prozac at a discount without using my insurance and pay only $4.00. I can't decrease and the doc is worried that I'll go manic if she increases the dose.


Ask your doctor to write the script for a higher number of 20mg pills each month, so that you can break them up and take 1 1/2 to meet the 30 mg dose. You will get them for the $4.00 that way.



Can't, they come in capsules form.

(in reply to LafayetteLady)
Profile   Post #: 78
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/6/2013 9:46:11 PM   
erieangel


Posts: 2237
Joined: 6/19/2011
Status: offline 		My son had to go to the emergency room last week because his back was bothering him. He has several slipped disks from a car accident when he was 18. He got a copy of the bill that had been submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. The total bill for the ER visit and X-rays, everything was just over $100.

I guess sequestration has hit the hospitals.

I wonder how that low ER bill is going to affect the hospital bill for my supervisor's wife when she goes in next month to have her baby? Of course they won't be paying out of pocket, she's on his Highmark plan with our agency, but still, somebody has to cover what Medicare and Medicaid don't pay.


(in reply to erieangel)
Profile   Post #: 79
RE: Eye-Popping Health Care Costs - 5/6/2013 10:13:49 PM   
Moonlightmaddnes


Posts: 958
Joined: 6/4/2012
Status: offline 		yep they are insane. Back in 2005 I had abdominal pain worse then giving birth and went to the ER. Turns out I had an infection that ruptured. I spent 3 weeks in the hospital and had two surgeries. After insurance I still owed 30K.

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Profile   Post #: 80
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