Whew insurance, WTF hospitals?

[thistlechaser]

I got my itemized bill from the hospital today. I have insurance (THANKFULLY), so it was sent for my information.

I was in the hospital exactly 14 days.

Total bill? $144,769

I nearly fell over. Just the hospital room and (awful) food cost $84,000 for the 14 days.

My antibiotic, the only one that worked, cost $250/dose when put in by the home nurse. When put in at the hospital? $3,990/dose.

I'd like to have a word with those who claim America has the greatest health care system in the world. The service I received was nearly 100% perfect, I have no complaints at all there, but the prices are just so unreasonable that 'unreasonable' doesn't even describe it.

One shot of nasal spray for a stuffy nose, put in by me, cost $179.

In related news, I'm still on the mend. Getting better every day, but still weak and little energy. Returning to work on Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

Comments

[kelen.livejournal.com]

What you need to do is get a lawyer. Why? Because the hospital will charge you for EVERYTHING THEY POSSIBLY can.

That $1 sharpie they've had for six months and used to mark your chart with? They will charge every patient $3 for. :P

Fight this. Get an itemized bill and start demanding things you KNOW are bullshit be removed. I've heard of people reducing their bill to 1/4th what it was.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly glad you had insurance!

The costs are ridiculous. No doubt about it.
The question is how to fix the system...

[elo-sf.livejournal.com]

Be very very glad you have insurance and be prepared to still end up fighting/arguing with them sadly. :(

This is why ACA/Obamacare is so important.

[quistie.livejournal.com]

Welcome to America, where you can have premium health care at a super-premium price!

[kriatyrr.livejournal.com]

you can buy a house for less, if you're not too picky about where you live...

I'm glad you are recovering.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Thanks goodness for insurance! It is crazy how much medical care costs in this country. It should be illegal to charge 4k a dose for medicine.

Glad to hear you are getting better, woohoo!

[daturabelle.livejournal.com]

i'm certainly glad you got the care you needed but seriously?
those prices are downright scary. when i traveled to america, i was advised to take out the highest level of travel insurance i could possibly get just because i was going to america. never before have i had that advice to any other country i've traveled to. i don't understand how the costs can be justified.

[hamsterwoman]

Thank goodness for insurance! but, yeah, that's totally crazy.

Glad you're continuing to feel better! And hope work Monday goes OK.

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

current mood: okay
That's good!

That nasal spray must have been of gold.

[spike7451.livejournal.com]

Good grief, I would have fallen over, I didn't realize health care was so expensive in America!!

So glad to hear you are getting better every day.

*hugs*

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

I'd like to have a word with those who claim America has the greatest health care system in the world.

That's absurd, America has one of the worst health care systems in the civilized world that I've ever heard of!

That bill is outrageous - I can't fathom how they'd ever justify such a cost.

[tea-blossom.livejournal.com]

That's crazy. Are you sure they didn't overcharge you?

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

I knew it was bad, but holy cow! That's incredible.

[loup_noir]

When I looked over the bills for the last six months or so of my mother's last illness, I was aghast. Her insurance was amazing, leaving me to pay for lots of lab works and doctor visits at $5 or $10 a pop, but the cost to the insurers was hideous.

As part of the vast American uninsured (yeah, we're running late), I honestly would apply my own tourniquet and drive myself to an open hospital (preferably our local clinic) before calling 911. If I had to have some joint replaced, I'd go to Mexico.

As for the US being the "best," pshaw! My cousin had treatments in the eighties that weren't being offered here. Sweden kept Lief alive decades past any of the estimates he'd have gotten here. Lief had a heart transplant, an extra kidney piggybacked onto his failing ones, tons of surgeries, etc.... Because Sweden gave a damn about the quality of life of its people, that's why.

Anyway, before I burst a blood vessel grumbling about the US' medical morass, it is so GOOD to see you post again. Take care and get well.

[mel-redcap.livejournal.com]

Sweet mother of Murgatroyd, that is all kinds of fucked up. O_o;;

Hokay, another point of comparison: I am Australian. My husband and I have needed to go to hospital for a few things in the last couple of years. He has private health insurance. I do not.

Him:
- Kidney stone. ER visit (driven by me), lots of morphine, ultrasound, MRI, intravenous antibiotics, equivalent of an overnight stay, more antibiotics to take at home.
- Cut in the palm of his dominant hand. After-hours clinic visit (driven by me), local anaesthetic, buncha stitches, antibiotic.

Me:
- Miscarriage. ER visit (driven by him), overnight stay, ultrasound, more ultrasounds, follow-up visits every couple of days for a week, about three more visits a week apart each, loooooads more ultrasounds, assorted medication.
- Infected cyst-thingy. ER visit (referred by doctor and driven by him), what turned into effectively an overnight stay, minor surgery, intravenous antibiotics, more antibiotics to take at home.

Prices charged by the hospital? Cost to the Medicare system?

No freakin' idea. We did not get given a bill, or even an accounting of stuff we did not have to pay, because we did not have to pay one cent. There are things that Medicare doesn't pay for, or doesn't pay for fully, but ye gods I'm glad I live here.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I am terribly glad for insurance this week for less critical reasons.

*hug* Good luck back at work, and be sure to be kind to yourself. You sound like you're still recovering.