Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So... A little over 2 weeks ago I took my wife into the ER on a Sunday evening. She was having severe abdominal pains, and they were getting worse.
We were there for about 3 hours - most of which was sitting in the room waiting to see a doctor. While there she had a CT Scan, and an IV with 2 specific medications. She was seen by both a doctor and tended to by a nurse.
We went home with no medications. They did find something wrong, but it wasn't serious, and she's fine now.
Anyway... we got the bill today (yes, insurance will cover at least most of it).
Anybody want to guess what the total hospital bill is? Give it a shot!
The bill was approximately ten times the amount of money that they actually accepted from your insurance company as payment in full. In other words, if Casus was right and the "charges" came to $4500, the total amount of money that will actually pass from the insurance company to the medical providers will be about $450.
In all likelihood, you were not billed by the hospital at all, except for things like lab charges. The ER is space in the hospital building that is leased by a corporation somewhere that operates dozens of emergency rooms all over the country. One of the itemized charges will be "Use of Emergency Room", and that will be the four figures that went on the first line the minute you wheeled her through the swinging doors, and everything anybody did is added on to that. You're lucky you didn't have to call for an ambulance, which would have invoiced over $1,000 to drive her a mile or two to the ER.
Ok well about 1k for the CT depending on what was done maybe a little cheaper. I'd say around 1200 for the ER visit, thats what most hospitals are charging for an overnight stay. The drugs are the real wildcard here, it could be 100 or could be 1k. You may be hit with a seperate Radiologist bill also so be ready for that.
I imagine you are not only paying for your bill, but covering the cost of illegals and others that use ER service with no intention of paying.
Well it also has to do with the fact that a Tylenol doesn't cost 4 dollars.
But the Pharmacist that checked the doctors order and made sure you were getting the right drug costs money, the transporter who brought it down from the Pharmacy costs money. The nurse who RE-checks the doctors order and GIVES you the drug costs money. So there are some of the reasons for the 4 dollar tylenol.....Oh and illegals too.
They generally run more tests, and do some needless procedure to get a little extra money from you, since you have insurance. That pads their numbers on those who come in without insurance that never pay.
So do you have an estimate, or is this thread just an excuse to gripe about "illegals"?
UMC estimates 114.3 million last yr.
I also said others that dont pay, so overall yes this thread is an excuse to gripe about those that use the ER with no intention or means to pay their bill.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
