Huge ER Bill from Texas Children's Hospital (Mart: bankruptcy, live)

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by hounewhome1

Irrespective of malpractice, illegals etc....20 dollars for band-aid is still expensive. Illegals get billed at 20 dollars for one band-aid also; the fact that since they have no SSN, they don't need to pay.

For us whose job depends on credit history, driving record etc, we have no option but to pay these ridiculous prices.

Don't get me wrong, I truly believe we have needed to fix a lot of things in our healthcare system for quite a while. I think providers need to have upfront pricing on most procedures, medicines, testing and supplies for a long time. They should not "hide" costs by charging $20 for a band-aid.

I also believe that just as other "retailers" should not be allowed gouge, so should hospitals. $20 for a $.30 band-aid is gouging.

The point that I'm trying to make is that a lot of people put blame where it doesn't necessarily belong, which is not me defending the problems that are in healthcare (I fully acknowledge that major problems have been in the system for decades).

[hounewhome1]

@PedroMartinez
But band-aid was invented 93 years ago and still costs 20 dollars for one in ER; sad to see their profit margin at 4-6%

[chris_ut]

Pedro, Cigna may eke out a 5% profit but that is after paying their CEO $20 million plus board members plus executives, same with the hospital systems and doctors. Medicine is certainly a big chunk, my wife had a 2 hour procedure recently and the drugs alone were billed at 15k and this was for a minor fix to a torn muscle. Bottom line is that blaming all this on "illegal Mexicans" as many in this thread are doing is simply ridiculous. The CEO of HCA, which you referenced above, did manage to squeak by on his $48 million pay package after all the illegals got done with him.

[Scientific]

Pinning most of the blame on illegals is short sided. ER's have also turned into geriatric wards. When you have a baby boomer, who refuses to check his/her blood sugar, and gets checked into the ER regularly, and all they have is medicaid. That puts a strain on everyone, because the FD/EMS is tax payer money too. The perfectly legal citizen drug addict, who attempts to get his medication fix going into to an ER with no intent to pay anything.

The system is broken for more than one reason. As a whole, its been abused for so long. By everyone.

[hounewhome1]

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us - TIME

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by hounewhome1

@PedroMartinez
But band-aid was invented 93 years ago and still costs 20 dollars for one in ER; sad to see their profit margin at 4-6%

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

I think providers need to have upfront pricing on most procedures, medicines, testing and supplies for a long time. They should not "hide" costs by charging $20 for a band-aid.

I also believe that just as other "retailers" should not be allowed gouge, so should hospitals. $20 for a $.30 band-aid is gouging.

I agree that they shouldn't be inflating, shifting or hiding costs in a $20 band-aid.

All costs should be upfront and avoid this kind of shuffle.

[daniepwils]

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.

Actually there was a case recently where the parents wanted to take their child and leave the hospital because they wanted to take the child to another hospital for a second opinion. CPS was called and took custody of the child. So yes the parents could have left, but most likely not with their child.

» Child Abducted by CPS after Parents Seek a Second Medical Opinion Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

[JasonAndJulie]

Maybe kids medical bills should be bare minimum no profit. Like if they need to go to the hospital (for real, not for a runny nose) or get vaccines.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Pedro, Cigna may eke out a 5% profit but that is after paying their CEO $20 million plus board members plus executives, same with the hospital systems and doctors.

Let's say they pay their CEO $20 million, their board combined $100 million and other execs $380 million for a combination of $500 million. Their gross revenue is over $20 billion. So $500 million of $20 billion is 2.5%.

If you want a top notch CEO, you have to pay for them. It's a private company with investors, and those investors want to see a profit, and they are willing to pay a CEO $20 million to see that profit.

Sure, most doctors make good money, but think about the dedication, talent, loans and time of their life they invest into their career.

[crbcrbrgv]

I do know this much. This is the only country in the modern world that has such glaring issues with healthcare, not to mention plenty of people ready to call anyone who wants to fix the system a commie.