Allergic reaction - $250 Infirmary bill

[Tapi]

Americans can walk into an emergency room and be treated immediately, regardless of the ability to pay.

 

Ah...no. At least not my personal experience. I almost feel insulted by this statement, since I still haven't had any good experiences with our wonderful, private sector health care system.

 

I have health insurance through my company (just in case you're wondering, one of the largest Fortune 500 companies). Very good, reputable and comprehensive insurance.

 

About a year ago, I fell going up the stairs and busted my head open. I was taken to the closest hospital, which was a brand new state of the art facility a few minutes from my house. I arrived at 7pm at the Emergency room and it wasn't until 5:00am when I was finally scanned for head trauma and stitched up. They said that they didn't have enough personnel to handle all the patients in a timely manner. During this time I was placed on a gurney in a hallway because they didn't have a place to put me.

 

This was not the first time dealing with the wonderful, immediate treatment that you refer to. We have been to the emergency room before (one time was when my wife was pregnant and started having horrible pains. She sat in the waiting room for 7 hours, screaming in pain until they took her in, once again for lack of personnel. In case you're wondering if this was an emergency or not, she ended up having a miscarriage).

 

These experiences were not at some low cost clinic in the bad part of town, but in state of the art hospitals in very affluent parts of my city.

 

I honestly don't know what other people's experience has been, but what you wrote in your post is a fairy tale in my book....

[piratesprincess]

Wow...thought I would wander about and read another thread...boy did this one take off!

 

Lots of good advice between the political stuff though. Cruise insurance and an Epi pen in the future and a nice letter to cruise line regarding this incident all sound like reasonable suggestions to me.

 

I'd have to say for all the flaws we can find in each other's medical systems, it is amazing to think that most Americans and Canadians are better off than a full 99% of the rest of the world. I'd feel blessed to have the opportunities provided to me in either country.

[Amlee]

The biggest problem our health insurance situation creates is that in most cases, people have health insurance through their employers... This is a big issue because not only does your employer control WHO you see but in some cases, they control WHEN you can see someone and THEN they can control whether or not you have a job based on your medical issues... it's not supposed to happen but it does EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

 

 

 

Our government may have minimal involvement in our healthcare, FOR NOW... but having your employer involved in your healthcare is just as bad, if not worse!

 

Twice now, you have lumped all employers who offer healthcare to employees and compared them to your bad experiance.

 

As an employer that offeres insurance to our employees, I can tell you we aren't all the same. While there are many out there that say you have to go here or there. Not all of us do!

[piratesprincess]

Amlee - I want to play with you! Looking at all those great places you have been! Do you have any reviews posted for your trips?

[Amlee]

Not true... not true at all... If you weren't covered at the time of treatment, no insurance company is going to cover treatment for that condition... Trust me, I'm pretty knowledgeable about how this system works... As I said, I've got a mother who is up to her neck in this system...

 

I am constantly amazed at how misinformed people are about the status of their healthcare... When you've got the coverage, you have no worries... you don't understand the problems involved here until something catastrophic happens... and then watch how quickly your money leaves your pocket...

 

Treating ear infections and sore throats is one thing... As soon as your diagnosis starts costing the insurance company, they are very quick to find a way not to pay...

 

LMAO! I don't care how far up to her neck your mother is. I can tell you that I have been treated for an illness with out insurance and I now have full coverage for that same illness. I had to go to specialist, required surgery and hosptial time all before insurance. I had to wait 12 months before the insurance would kick in, but I have now had insurance for my illness almost 10 years now.

 

My brother's diabetes developed pre-insurance. He is a type 3 diabetic. He was in and out of the hospitals and doctors office years before we got insurance. He also has been treated for the last 10 years for an illness that developed years before.

 

My dad had spinal back surgery in the 70s and 80s WITH OUT insurance. He has since had many more with insurance. All by the same doctor.

[amybear912]

So you're saying you'd rather have the GOVERNMENT involved rather than your employer? Please....tell me what the government has gotten involved in where they have made a situation BETTER? :eek:

 

 

I would rather know that I can get treatment whenever for whatever reason without question than to be faced with:

 

*losing my job because my health issue costs the company too much money.

 

*being denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.

 

*being told that the treatment my doctor recommends is not "medically necessary"

 

I look at it this way... something is better than nothing... For the millions who have nothing, even government sponsored healthcare would be welcome...

 

If you were walking in the desert and someone offered you a half-filled bottle of water or nothing at all... what would you take???

[doodlefan]

So you're saying you'd rather have the GOVERNMENT involved rather than your employer? Please....tell me what the government has gotten involved in where they have made a situation BETTER? :eek:

 

 

The CANADIAN government when they implemented FREE Provincial healthcare covererage for EVERYONE. That's who.:D

 

Wow, you have a very negative view of the Government, and it seems to me that you're anger at your own Government is tainting your opinions of the Canadian Government. Trust me, they are NOTHING alike, for which I am very grateful.

[Amlee]

Amlee - I want to play with you! Looking at all those great places you have been! Do you have any reviews posted for your trips?

 

Come On!

 

I only have a few reviews on here. But I have promised my friends that I will try to keep them updated on my myspace page. I plan to start with the Summit sailing.

 

But if you have any questions about any of the places. Let me know. I'll try to answer them.

 

Edit to add my myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/amleeparker

[amybear912]

Ok, so....because your mother does a job where she, by your own description, only sees the very worst case scenario, you are painting all doctors and insurers with the same brush? Doctors pay high malpractice because PEOPLE SUE LIKE MAD DOGS! And that six figure insurance...well, you're not telling the whole story. That same surgeon earns well over a million dollars a year, so at that point, his insurance is about 10% of his income...not a bad trade off. I too have had to do the whole "find new doctors, new diagnosis" thing. Yes, it's a pain in the butt. Yes, insurance companies make lots of money. So do other companies...so what? They're not there to work for free! As an American, you have the unique ability to earn as much money as you like! Go figure! I would never say that free health insurance is a bad thing, except that there is no such thing as FREE! SOMETHING or SOMEBODY has to pay for it! And when the government is deciding this for you, it's just one more case of removing free will and bringing us closer to a socialist society! Do you REALLY want that? Not me!

 

1. She sees worse case scenarios... And has more work offered to her than she actually has time to do... Anyone looking for job security should get into her line of work... There is WAY more work available than there are people to do the work...She is currently booked for audits 2 years out... and turns down work every single day because there isn't enough time and manpower to do the work... That tells me there are FAR too many issues with this system...

 

2. My BIL DOES NOT make a million dollars... Being a doctor doesn't pay what it used to... Do you know how much money they "write off" every year for whatever reason??? Quite a bit... that's money out of their pockets and essentially means they worked for free...

 

The point is that our healthcare system is DEFINITELY not as rosy as some of you seem to think it is... You think it is rosy because you have been fortunate not to run into a problem - YET... but when you do, I guarantee, you'll definitely be seeing this issue differently...

 

Wanna talk about the hundreds of doctors who double bill Medicare for services??? Or who incorrectly code their services to get more money out of the Medicare or health insurance company???? Who do you think is paying for that??? You would be amazed at how prevalent that scenario is...

 

Keep it coming folks... I've got tons of stories about what is REALLY going on in our healthcare system...

[Amlee]

Keep it coming folks... I've got tons of stories about what is REALLY going on in our healthcare system...

 

Most of which is way off base.:rolleyes:

 

 

OP, I am so sorry this has been taken off topic.

[amybear912]

Most of which is way off base.:rolleyes:

 

 

OP, I am so sorry this has been taken off topic.

 

 

You can continue to believe what you want... If you choose not to believe what is REALLY going on then I just feel sorry for you and hope that you never run into a problem with your healthcare...

 

It's not off base.. these are actual things that my mother deals with on a daily basis... she travels nationwide dealing with these sorts of issues... and as I said, refuses tons of work each day because of lack of time and manpower to get it done...

 

I am sure it is very easy to poo-poo this sort of stuff when you are so far removed from reality... Here's hoping reality doesn't knock you up side the head... chances are your insurance wouldn't cover it!

[Sweetcharlotte30]

So you're saying you'd rather have the GOVERNMENT involved rather than your employer? Please....tell me what the government has gotten involved in where they have made a situation BETTER? :eek:

 

Do you even know how our government works???? I encourage you to do some real research and not go by what "other people have told you".

[Amlee]

LMAO! I don't care how far up to her neck your mother is. I can tell you that I have been treated for an illness with out insurance and I now have full coverage for that same illness. I had to go to specialist, required surgery and hospital time all before insurance. I had to wait 12 months before the insurance would kick in, but I have now had insurance for my illness almost 10 years now.

 

My brother's diabetes developed pre-insurance. He is a type 3 diabetic. He was in and out of the hospitals and doctors office years before we got insurance. He also has been treated for the last 10 years for an illness that developed years before.

 

My dad had spinal back surgery in the 70s and 80s WITH OUT insurance. He has since had many more with insurance. All by the same doctor.

 

You can continue to believe what you want... If you choose not to believe what is REALLY going on then I just feel sorry for you and hope that you never run into a problem with your healthcare...

 

It's not off base.. these are actual things that my mother deals with on a daily basis... she travels nationwide dealing with these sorts of issues... and as I said, refuses tons of work each day because of lack of time and manpower to get it done...

 

I am sure it is very easy to poo-poo this sort of stuff when you are so far removed from reality... Here's hoping reality doesn't knock you up side the head... chances are your insurance wouldn't cover it!

 

 

Since you seem to pick and choose which my post you want to address. An this was the last post on the other page. I'll repost it for you.

 

I am far from reality and don't have to rely on what I'm told. As I know what has happened to me in the past. Also to add, I have switched insurance since the original and my NEW insurance had no problem in covering my continuing health problems from when before I had insurance.

[amybear912]

Since you seem to pick and choose which my post you want to address. An this was the last post on the other page. I'll repost it for you.

 

I am far from reality and don't have to rely on what I'm told. As I know what has happened to me in the past. Also to add, I have switched insurance since the original and my NEW insurance had no problem in covering my continuing health problems from when before I had insurance.

 

 

I apologize... I didn't see that other post...

 

Look... I'm not saying that there aren't some good things that happen with our healthcare system... There are some good stories... and every now and then Mom sees one... but I guess my feeling is that if she is seeing this many problems and has this much work, so much that she turns it away... well, that tells me there are more problems out there than all of us are probably aware of...

 

In her point of view, the system is fraught with problems at so many levels (from the insurance companies to unethical doctors to even patients that know how to play the system) ... hell, we're lucky any of us can receive any kind of care...

 

The biggest problem I see is that these problems are becoming more and more frequent and there are fewer lucky ones (like yourself) ...

 

Doctors are victims of this system too! As I said, the only people winning in this situation are the executives of the insurance companies...

 

It is very easy to be happy with this system if you aren't the one getting screwed... but nowadays, those people who are getting screwed are quickly outnumbering the ones who have it easy... like yourself...

 

Take a look at what the Big 3 auto companies have done to their retirees health benefits... Those people gave years of their lives to a company who promised to provide health benefits after they retired... Now they've taken that away... and lots of other companies are and will be following that lead... Be grateful you aren't one of the millions of people getting screwed by this system... one day, you may not be so lucky...

[amybear912]

As an employer I can tell you that isn't aways the case. We offer insurance (the same that I have) to our employees. They can go to any hospital or doctor of their choice. They do not have to have a referral to see a specialist. Their co-pay is $20 for meds.

 

Again as an employer I can tell you it's very much against the law to decide whether a person can have a job based on their medicial issues. We can't even ask if you have medical issues.

 

If an employer refuses to hire you because of health issues or if you are even asked about health issues, then you can have a major lawsuit against them.

 

Let me edit to add there are exceptions to this. My brother who was a 9 shot a day diabetic lost his DCLs because of his sugar issues. I know of another man who lost his DCL's because he kept falling asleep at the wheel of his gas tanker.

 

I agree that this isn't supposed to happen... but it does... employers find ways to weed people out... Yes, it's illegal... so is speeding and selling drugs... It still happens...

[belle907]

Can we get back to the OP's topic and not get into any more discussions of who has a better health care system and the ol' insurance debates? Enough of this back and forth.

[firefly333]

Can we get back to the OP's topic and not get into any more discussions of who has a better health care system and the ol' insurance debates? Enough of this back and forth.

 

The OP has been asked several questions and hasnt bothered to come back and answer the questions so folks could more intelligently answer him. If the OP doesnt care enough to come bacK?? then people started to talk to each other while they waited for OP to answer.

[cruiselover999]

1. She sees worse case scenarios... And has more work offered to her than she actually has time to do... Anyone looking for job security should get into her line of work... There is WAY more work available than there are people to do the work...She is currently booked for audits 2 years out... and turns down work every single day because there isn't enough time and manpower to do the work... That tells me there are FAR too many issues with this system...

 

2. My BIL DOES NOT make a million dollars... Being a doctor doesn't pay what it used to... Do you know how much money they "write off" every year for whatever reason??? Quite a bit... that's money out of their pockets and essentially means they worked for free...

 

The point is that our healthcare system is DEFINITELY not as rosy as some of you seem to think it is... You think it is rosy because you have been fortunate not to run into a problem - YET... but when you do, I guarantee, you'll definitely be seeing this issue differently...

 

Wanna talk about the hundreds of doctors who double bill Medicare for services??? Or who incorrectly code their services to get more money out of the Medicare or health insurance company???? Who do you think is paying for that??? You would be amazed at how prevalent that scenario is...

 

Keep it coming folks... I've got tons of stories about what is REALLY going on in our healthcare system...

 

Ok, so basically what you are saying is that there are dishonest people in medicine? And this surprises....who? There are dishonest people in all walks of life. But on the whole, they are honest. Oh, and for not making the big bucks....my best friend's hubby just finished his fellowship in Neurosurgery, and took a job in Oklahoma City at 900,000$ per year, to start! And they are paying his malpractice insurance for him! Yeah, they DO make bank!

 

And the whole thing about not covering pre existing conditions...BULL. I know firsthand that they HAVE to cover you if you are insured by your employer. My daughter was born with multiple disorders and has been dealing with them all of her 21 years! We have NEVER had our insurance companies turn us down for ANYTHING. I love my government, but I want them to stay out of my life. Protect me from foreign invasion, and that is it! I'm very happy for you Canadians, and have never tried to say otherwise. But please don't believe everything you read about American health care. Remember, they WANT you to be afraid, so you won't give a second thought to your government making your decisions for you....:eek:

[PaulMedik]

A $250 procedure saved your life and you're thinking you should contest it? You do realize that you would be DEAD without the care you received?

 

Two nights ago we had a 32 year old man who had a pneumothorax (Collapsed lung). We inserted a chest tube to remove the trapped air and blood so his lung could expand. As I was leaving the room the PA was suturing the tube securely and I encountered the mans wife outside the door and she was visibly upset and angry. I asked her if she was OK and she said she was mad because he felt pain during the procedure. She claimed he was assured it would be painless. I asked her if she was aware of what the procedure involved and the fact that he would be totally conscious during the procedure (we didn't want to further suppress his respiratory drive or he'd be on a ventilator.) She said she knew that, but she didn't like him feeling any pain. She wanted to speak to Administration to complain right then. Normally we direct anyone who makes such a request immediately to Administration, but in this case I deviated from policy. I point blank asked her if she was aware that the procedure was to save his life and that he'd likely be dead if we did anything else or delayed the procedure. She replied that she didn't care and that she would be filing a lawsuit against us. She was then escorted out of the ER hallway to a family room.

 

During the procedure we spoke with her husband and throughout he only talked about how he would do anything to be there for his two young children. He made it through the procedure without incident and was admitted later that night. When he was transferred from the ER bed to the floor bed his wife again yelled at everyone that they were not doing anything right because he had pain when we moved him. It was explained to her that a tube is inside his chest and that pain with movement it unavoidable. When administration met with her she wanted the bill 'taken care of' because of her feelings and she again threatened to sue. Administration advised her they would be looking forward to hearing from her lawyers. :rolleyes:

 

I understand that family members are under great amounts of stress and they have emotions that encompass the full range from good to bad. What I will never understand is how they feel money will make them feel better or how getting lives saved for FREE will make them feel better.

 

Humans need milk, bread, meat etc to live. Should we be upset when the grocery stores make us pay for life saving food? How about electric and gas companies that keep us warm in dangerously cold weather?

 

People with food allergies tend to be more likely to have more than one allergy. It's more likely that the OP now has a new allergy previously unknown than a chance encounter with shellfood or whatever the previously known allergy was.

[Sweetcharlotte30]

But please don't believe everything you read about American health care. Remember, they WANT you to be afraid, so you won't give a second thought to your government making your decisions for you....:eek:

 

Our information comes stright from your media: TV news, newspapers, etc... And what excatly are we afraid of??? No heathcare premiums? No healthcare bills? Oh yeah, I'm shaking!! If they want to make sure my healthcare is paid for they can make that decision for me, one less thing I have to worry about getting paid, I already have to worry about the cable, gas, electric, etc... they can pay my healthcare all they like. You make our government out to be some kind of "big brother bad guy". What our government does is collect taxes and distribute them into sectors, one being healthcare. From there it gets trickeld down into the places it needs to go. I have no idea what is wrong with our government making sure our healthcare is paid for. I'm not even sure why you have a problem with it when you're not even living in this country.

[soozles]

PaulMedik, your post reminded me of a story my friend told me. He's a firefighter/EMS, and one of the guys from his firehouse was driving down the highway one night when he sees an SUV roll over. This guy pulls over and rushes over to the guy as he's calling 911 on his cell phone. The guy has no pulse, isn't breathing, so he starts CPR. Being that he is CPR certified, currently in EMS, has a mask with him, I would feel pretty good that he's doing CPR. While he's doing chest compressions, he breaks a few ribs. It happens, you need a lot of force when you do compressions, ribs break. Paramedics show up, take the guy to the hospital, guy lives.

 

About a month later, the rescuer gets a summons. The guy in the SUV is suing him for breaking his ribs. The case actually goes to court, where the judge basically laughs in his face and said "You should be kissing the ground he walks on, not suing over a couple broken ribs. He saved your life, your ribs will heal".

 

I'm sorry, but if somebody saved my life, I honestly doubt I would care what it cost, especially something minimal like $250. Even if it was in the thousands, I would work out some sort of payment plan if I had to, it's your life! I'm not going to sit around and say "Gee, this surgery to save my life costs $50,000, but I only have $500 in the bank. Oh well, too bad for me." No, you do what you have to do, you go on some sort of payment plan if you have to. And in teh US, can't you get Medicaid if you don't have a large income? Yea, it's not the greatest thing in the world, but its better than nothing.

[Sweetcharlotte30]

Out of country medical insurance cost me $65 for the 6 of us for 8 days, so glad I got it. Saves my piece of mind.

[VentureMan_2000]

$250 is about the going price for seeing a Doctor... period. Even the Dentist bill approved by the insurance company seems to be about $200 or more when done... for an hour's work.

 

I just keep thinking... Whiner!

[CFitzRN]

A $250 procedure saved your life and you're thinking you should contest it? You do realize that you would be DEAD without the care you received?

 

Two nights ago we had a 32 year old man who had a pneumothorax (Collapsed lung). We inserted a chest tube to remove the trapped air and blood so his lung could expand. As I was leaving the room the PA was suturing the tube securely and I encountered the mans wife outside the door and she was visibly upset and angry. I asked her if she was OK and she said she was mad because he felt pain during the procedure. She claimed he was assured it would be painless. I asked her if she was aware of what the procedure involved and the fact that he would be totally conscious during the procedure (we didn't want to further suppress his respiratory drive or he'd be on a ventilator.) She said she knew that, but she didn't like him feeling any pain. She wanted to speak to Administration to complain right then. Normally we direct anyone who makes such a request immediately to Administration, but in this case I deviated from policy. I point blank asked her if she was aware that the procedure was to save his life and that he'd likely be dead if we did anything else or delayed the procedure. She replied that she didn't care and that she would be filing a lawsuit against us. She was then escorted out of the ER hallway to a family room.

 

During the procedure we spoke with her husband and throughout he only talked about how he would do anything to be there for his two young children. He made it through the procedure without incident and was admitted later that night. When he was transferred from the ER bed to the floor bed his wife again yelled at everyone that they were not doing anything right because he had pain when we moved him. It was explained to her that a tube is inside his chest and that pain with movement it unavoidable. When administration met with her she wanted the bill 'taken care of' because of her feelings and she again threatened to sue. Administration advised her they would be looking forward to hearing from her lawyers. :rolleyes:

 

I understand that family members are under great amounts of stress and they have emotions that encompass the full range from good to bad. What I will never understand is how they feel money will make them feel better or how getting lives saved for FREE will make them feel better.

 

Humans need milk, bread, meat etc to live. Should we be upset when the grocery stores make us pay for life saving food? How about electric and gas companies that keep us warm in dangerously cold weather?

 

People with food allergies tend to be more likely to have more than one allergy. It's more likely that the OP now has a new allergy previously unknown than a chance encounter with shellfood or whatever the previously known allergy was.

 

Hi - just wanted to say hello to a fellow healthcare worker. I graduate in May (RN) take boards in June and start at the Birthing Ctr of our hospital in July (provided I pass NCLEX of course...) :eek: I loved my ER rotation, though the most exciting thing I got to do was an NG tube for someone with hematemesis. I got to start an IV too - you know how THAT is for a nursing student, right? ;) I nailed that sucker too - it made me happy.

 

Your story made me roll my eyes so hard it hurt. I, too, understand the intense emotions of the families of patients, but that sounds like a blatant attempt to receive special treatment for no reason. Yeesh.

 

Just out of curiosity, do you know what caused the pneumo? Was it an accident (tension pneumo) or spontaneous? We're just now learning this stuff, so I'm very interested in hearing real-life cases. Thanks!

[VentureMan_2000]

 

Your story made me roll my eyes so hard it hurt.

 

 

 

Never thought of putting it that way... but now that you have... I can't think of a better way to have put it.