Huge ER Bill from Texas Children's Hospital (Houston, Howe: loan, lawyer)

[Schumacher713]

Originally Posted by hounewhome1

I wish there were two options:

1.) I won't sue the hospital and I'm ready to sign a waiver - please give me a cheaper rate.

2.) I won't sign a "I'll sue the hospital" waiver - charge me the "Chargmaster" rates i.e. 5 dollars for an alcohol wipe and 15 dollars for a sip of tylenol.

Anyway, come Tuesday I'll start calling to request for discount, let' see how it goes. Long journey ahead. I feel for people who don't have insurance at all and are are legals and need to maintain the credit rating etc. It's easy for illegals; they don't have an SSN and they don't need to worry about their record.

I have a job where they check run checks for credit/driving/drug and I can't afford to have any blemish on my record so I have to pay up; getting a 50% discount on 12K and 2 years to pay off will be Christmas for me.

It has been proven that malpractice would not lower the price of health care much. I think the figure it around 1-2%.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

Agree. THIS is horrible. The people who need it most get scewed the most
Why are hospital so unbelievably insanely expensive? There has to be a reason
It didn't used to be this way.

Because those of us who have insurance have to pay for all the hospital care received by those who don't. The cost goes up for the rest of us who do pay and after insurance pays, we are still left with big bills. It infuriates me that people get medical car w/o paying when I pay so much; however, it is inhumane to deny a sick person care - so we are kind of caught. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a country that just let people hurt, suffer and die.

[fnh]

Originally Posted by texas7

Because those of us who have insurance have to pay for all the hospital care received by those who don't. The cost goes up for the rest of us who do pay and after insurance pays, we are still left with big bills. It infuriates me that people get medical car w/o paying when I pay so much; however, it is inhumane to deny a sick person care - so we are kind of caught. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a country that just let people hurt, suffer and die.

This is only a small part of it really though it does contribute. The fundamental reason prices keep going up so quickly is because we have a "For Profit" healthcare system in this country. Just take a look at what healthcare insurance company executives are paid - hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars a year....

[texas7]

There are people in this country who have credit card debt of much more than 12k, so if I were left with a 12k medical bill, I'd be happy that was all I owed vs. 20-70k. Again, I've never had an issue with any dr. or hospital as long as I made some sort of monthly payment and there were times I made extremely low payments. They always sent the annoying bills showing my payment and the remainder as past due but as long as I paid regular, they never messed up my credit.

Yes it should be mandatory that everyone carry health insurance (even if only catastrophic with the high deductible) but the rest of us shouldn't have to pay for that insurance. I have friends who swear they can't buy health insurance but they have the latest cell phones, electronic gadgets, multiple computers, full-blown cable and their kids participate in every high-dollar extracurricular activity there is, higher-end cars, etc. It isn't that they can't afford it; its where it is on their priority list. I'm not talking about minimum wage people with several kids who are struggling to make ends (but even they have cell phones and ipads, it seems). That is an entirely different issue when it comes to low wage earners.

[houstonfan]

Originally Posted by fnh

This is only a small part of it really though it does contribute. The fundamental reason prices keep going up so quickly is because we have a "For Profit" healthcare system in this country. Just take a look at what healthcare insurance company executives are paid - hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars a year....

This is a big part of it. By reports from industry insiders, it's estimated that about 30% of procedures recommended in hospitals/clinics are unnecessary and driven by economics. Also, hospitals mark up prices bc they'll be 'adjusted' down by the insurance. Then the doctors and staff expect great pay and the hospital and insurance companies expect a healthy profit. That's why a bandaid will cost you $20 when you know they order in bulk and may cost 1cent. Everybody wants a piece of that pie.

I think the right thing to do is force everyone to save up for their own insurance and have a single payer system. Not make their employers pay for it. Make it come out of their paychecks, and have a single payer system and cut all the middle men and insurance companies. Billing will be streamlined with a single overseeing entity and every health care provider will have to be 'in network' with that entity. It's not a perfect system, none are, but it is fair and it is about time we fix a very broken system. (It's funny that the loudest proponent of universal healthcare will squawk when you ask them to pay out of their paycheck. It's fine to stick the tab to somebody else as long as it's not them. What they don't realize is their boss will lay off employees if it becomes too expensive to keep them...but as long as it's not them, right?)

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

I think the right thing to do is force everyone to save up for their own insurance and have a single payer system. Not make their employers pay for it. Make it come out of their paychecks, and have a single payer system and cut all the middle men and insurance companies. Billing will be streamlined with a single overseeing entity and every health care provider will have to be 'in network' with that entity. It's not a perfect system, none are, but it is fair and it is about time we fix a very broken system. (It's funny that the loudest proponent of universal healthcare will squawk when you ask them to pay out of their paycheck. It's fine to stick the tab to somebody else as long as it's not them. What they don't realize is their boss will lay off employees if it becomes too expensive to keep them...but as long as it's not them, right?)

There would have to be changes to the current pricing of insurance because there is no way I could afford insurance if I paid the full amount on my own for my family. I don't think a lot of people could. Most companies don't pay all of the insurance so people are already paying out of their paycheck. I pay about 1/3 of what the full cost to my company is. If the rates go up, they pass more of the cost on to the employees but they still pay a majority of the premium as a benefit to employees. And no, Obamacare isn't making it any more affordable to do on your own if you don't qualify for subsidies. Your post seems to assume that everyone gets free healthcare through their employer. There are people in my family that are paying nearly $1000 a month for their family of 4 through their employer. Making people pay 100% of their insurance costs isn't going to fix anything.

[colcat]

When you have patients that stay in the hospital for weeks, even months at a time and they get out and don't pay back even one red cent....well someone has to pay for it. And yes, it happens ALL the time.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by hounewhome1

I asked the hospital staff many times on how much is the room rent per day etc and is it ok if we leave and come back for regular checkups twice a day (after the first 2 days since things looked ok) but that offer was declined.

You're not under arrest. Nobody can prevent you from leaving. They aren't going to give you their blessing though.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by coconutbutter

hounewhome1, this response was posted to the person who said that if you couldn't pay for services, you were expected to suffer or die as in other countries. This was not posted in response to you.

Nobody said any such thing. I said he was fortunate to be in a "broken" health care system that did not operate on that level.

[hounewhome1]

Originally Posted by oceangaia

You're not under arrest. Nobody can prevent you from leaving. They aren't going to give you their blessing though.

Thanks for your kind and nice words. Now if you could stop hijacking this thread and stay on point, that would be great. You can create a new thread if you like to bash Obama or people who ask for a discount or who say the system is broken.