The procedure took literally 2 hours (including the prep where only nurses were involved), so that is $10,000 per hour! I've already used up half of my health care Flex Spending Account on account of this procedure.
It is a very simple procedure that besides anesthetics takes maybe 30 minutes. So where does this tremendous bill come from?…
The procedure took literally 2 hours (including the prep where only nurses were involved), so that is $10,000 per hour! I've already used up half of my health care Flex Spending Account on account of this procedure.
It is a very simple procedure that besides anesthetics takes maybe 30 minutes. So where does this tremendous bill come from?! I think it probably goes to the hospital administrators, perhaps.
And no one told me up front regarding the cost; they just agreed as long as I was getting my broken nose reset, and under with anesthesia, that doing this procedure as well was two for the price of one.
I totally agree. If you don't have insurance bankruptcy is often the only recourse. And try to get healthcare after a bankruptcy with no insurance.
My company quit paying our health insurance premiums to the carrier during the year. My wife was in the hospital for 3 days and we were told we were no longer covered due to premiums not being paid.
We received a bill for almost $50,000. Ultimately, the issue with the premiums was resolved and the insurance company paid about $12,000 and we paid $1500.
It's sad, but you can't afford to be without insurance.
Elizabeth Warren knows more about bankruptcy law than anyone in the US. She has pushed for not forcing people to declare bankruptcy for unpaid medical bills. Instead the Federal government would pay the debt. It's never gotten traction.
With insurance who has a contract with the hospital, with insurance not contracted with the hospital, Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Part A &B, self pay, etc…
I call it job security. The healthcare-industrial complex is a massive jobs program due to its fragmentation
More than that. They have different payments that they accept depending on your insurance company. Medicare allows significantly (and I mean seriously significantly) less than Anthem, who in turn may allow more than Aetna or Cigna, etc.
Sometimes, the price the provider charges is lower than the insurance allowance, but the member still needs to pay the insurance negotiated price for the procedure.
At least the insurance approved the procedure. It’s appalling that they can reject claims based on nothing at all! My dental insurance refused to pay for work done on my teeth after the dentist office got it approved and had the cost what we thought was covered. Some jerk came back and said we’re not going to cover this. Like practicing medicine without a license! But I am on teacher insurance. It’s the worst!
More even than that. This is Institutionalized Cheating. Daylight robbery.
And since it's the norm -- in America, nowhere else in the world, there's exceptionalism for you -- Americans are blind to it.
Blind and robbed blind.
*
Nose broken 3 times -- at 16, boxing, at 45 and 55, running into glass walls -- I had 2 ops in Belgium... First failed, still a problem with septum, second succeeded. Both times, inpatient. Cost to me: negligible.
Normal in Europe.
*
Moral of the Moral:
Dominance of the Unfittest.
A society governed by social Darwinism, "Survival of the fittest", is divisive, makes competition-for-its-own-sake the sole governing principle, totally ignoring the parallel reality of symbiosis, interdependence, every factor that connects and unites us.
Peter, there's a name for that: kakistocracy (I remember it because it was one of the words in a charity spelling bee my team won). Government by the least suitable citizens of a state.
Yes, probably too many overpaid administrators. But, also many highly trained medical personnel and doctors.
As long as it is an out patient procedure, just stay home and have a plumber, or Roto Router, do the work next time! Will cost you less than $1000, maybe.
And too many overpaid insurance company CEOs. Any insurer who offers Medicare Advantage is in it for the money. Profit over patients: the American way.
Not to defend the cost, but I will defend the procedure as not being simple (had one). It involves not hitting the vagus nerve, which runs through the nose through the nervous system. One passes out easily just standing up, or from the pressure changes in an airplane descent.
My surgeon was excellent, but we both learned how disturbed my vagus nerve was by the procedure. Anyone in a hurry could change someone’s life.
The procedure took literally 2 hours (including the prep where only nurses were involved), so that is $10,000 per hour! I've already used up half of my health care Flex Spending Account on account of this procedure.
It is a very simple procedure that besides anesthetics takes maybe 30 minutes. So where does this tremendous bill come from?! I think it probably goes to the hospital administrators, perhaps.
And no one told me up front regarding the cost; they just agreed as long as I was getting my broken nose reset, and under with anesthesia, that doing this procedure as well was two for the price of one.
You can ask for an itemized bill.
You'll be surprised what is on there.
Got one when my husband was on a vent with no insurance.
Found out one thing they charged him for was oral medication. He was on a vent.
And that's another reason our health care is so expensive, people don't look at the charges and insurance pays and it's vicious circle.
And they have two rates. One for people with insurance and one for people without insurance. Such a scam!
I totally agree. If you don't have insurance bankruptcy is often the only recourse. And try to get healthcare after a bankruptcy with no insurance.
My company quit paying our health insurance premiums to the carrier during the year. My wife was in the hospital for 3 days and we were told we were no longer covered due to premiums not being paid.
We received a bill for almost $50,000. Ultimately, the issue with the premiums was resolved and the insurance company paid about $12,000 and we paid $1500.
It's sad, but you can't afford to be without insurance.
Elizabeth Warren knows more about bankruptcy law than anyone in the US. She has pushed for not forcing people to declare bankruptcy for unpaid medical bills. Instead the Federal government would pay the debt. It's never gotten traction.
With insurance who has a contract with the hospital, with insurance not contracted with the hospital, Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Part A &B, self pay, etc…
I call it job security. The healthcare-industrial complex is a massive jobs program due to its fragmentation
More than that. They have different payments that they accept depending on your insurance company. Medicare allows significantly (and I mean seriously significantly) less than Anthem, who in turn may allow more than Aetna or Cigna, etc.
Sometimes, the price the provider charges is lower than the insurance allowance, but the member still needs to pay the insurance negotiated price for the procedure.
At least the insurance approved the procedure. It’s appalling that they can reject claims based on nothing at all! My dental insurance refused to pay for work done on my teeth after the dentist office got it approved and had the cost what we thought was covered. Some jerk came back and said we’re not going to cover this. Like practicing medicine without a license! But I am on teacher insurance. It’s the worst!
Dang. Good insurance USED to be a benefit of taking on the thankless yet critical task of teaching our children.
I had to wait for more damage to my knee before it was approved for replacement. I was using a walker by then
Were you an inpatient or outpatient?
I didn't even cry after waking up like I did when getting my wisdom teeth out, LOL. So definitely an outpatient :-).
If they offered you a lollipop 🍭 & you accepted it. it would have been at least another thousand!!
I was an outpatient for sure. Just in and out.
Good grief!! Simple procedure = paying through the nose! Sorry, couldn’t help myself!😆👃🏼
Moral of the story:
A society in which cheating has become the norm.
More even than that. This is Institutionalized Cheating. Daylight robbery.
And since it's the norm -- in America, nowhere else in the world, there's exceptionalism for you -- Americans are blind to it.
Blind and robbed blind.
*
Nose broken 3 times -- at 16, boxing, at 45 and 55, running into glass walls -- I had 2 ops in Belgium... First failed, still a problem with septum, second succeeded. Both times, inpatient. Cost to me: negligible.
Normal in Europe.
*
Moral of the Moral:
Dominance of the Unfittest.
A society governed by social Darwinism, "Survival of the fittest", is divisive, makes competition-for-its-own-sake the sole governing principle, totally ignoring the parallel reality of symbiosis, interdependence, every factor that connects and unites us.
UNITED, WE STAND. DIVIDED, WE FALL.
Peter, there's a name for that: kakistocracy (I remember it because it was one of the words in a charity spelling bee my team won). Government by the least suitable citizens of a state.
We've had one on an off for decades.
Yes.
Thanks for the reminder!
"Government by the worst."
I've never used the term, but... what we are getting today are the worst of the worst. Guaranteed.
Those for whom Wealth = Wisdom and ME = GOD.
If the combination's not Satanism, what is?
Yes and as FDR stated - when a democratic form of government is unable to deliver for the majority of citizens, it is ripe for take over.
My junior high brain has just christened this "kakastocracy".
Yes, probably too many overpaid administrators. But, also many highly trained medical personnel and doctors.
As long as it is an out patient procedure, just stay home and have a plumber, or Roto Router, do the work next time! Will cost you less than $1000, maybe.
And too many overpaid insurance company CEOs. Any insurer who offers Medicare Advantage is in it for the money. Profit over patients: the American way.
Not to defend the cost, but I will defend the procedure as not being simple (had one). It involves not hitting the vagus nerve, which runs through the nose through the nervous system. One passes out easily just standing up, or from the pressure changes in an airplane descent.
My surgeon was excellent, but we both learned how disturbed my vagus nerve was by the procedure. Anyone in a hurry could change someone’s life.