My trip to the ER back in March was not cheap. Quick recap in case you missed it: I came home from SxSW with a double ear infection and a rocking fever and went to the doctor who poked by abdomen and found a spot so painful he sent me to the emergency room to have it CAT scaned. While I was there, no doctor could find that painful spot (I’m guessing it was gas) and after a lot of back and forth over what tests I would or would not have (based entirely on the fact that I didn’t think we could pay for them and the fact that the xray tech advised me to skip out on my bill) I was sent home without any major machines being involved. They took four vials of blood, did a strep test, and then I peed in a cup.
I got the bill from the hospital for $654. “Yikes,” I thought. It’s expensive to get sick with no insurance. But, ok. We’ll deal.”
I got another bill for $2074.23 after that, and I figured they had my account mixed up with someone else’s, because I had already gotten one bill that was much less.
It turns out the $654 is for the doctor, and the second bill was for the hospital itself.
TWO Bills! Even so, I told the billing department that since there were no xrays, CAT scans, or ultrasounds done on me, they must have made a mistake; there was no way I could have generated a two thousand plus hospital bill. They didn’t. It’s $1000 to be admitted and, apparently, $1074.23 for the blood, urine and strep test, making me think we should get rid of the studio and set up a phlebotomy lab.
We got the payments reduced to monthly installments, but this is still a huge blow, considering there is nothing wrong with me that warranted a trip to the hospital at all. And I know why the bill is so inflated – I’m being charged for every other person who went to the ER and skipped out on their bill. I’m not planning on adding to the problem by skipping out on MY bill, but it makes me really angry. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHY ARE YOU FUCKING UP THE MEDICAL SYSTEM?!
Did you notice the roughly 9% fee (tax) that the State of NY adds to the bill of people who are paying cash?
Yes, it’s in there. Not only do you pay full price because you didn’t have insurance, you get to pay even more.
Chaz
2 Jun 09 at 6:19 am
Oh man, I hate medical bills. When I was taken to the hospital when I hurt my back last year I was innudated with bills. The problems was I had hurt myself at back, so it was being taken care of by Workers Comp. But, there was a mix-up along the way and I ended up getting calls from collection agencies. Lovely, right?
Without insurance getting sick is awful. Just awful!
Also, I saw a segment on Good Morning America that said you should request an itemized bill. That sometimes they charge you for things that you didn’t really get, or something like that. They said not to be afraid to call and have someone explain EVERY item on the bill.
Good luck!
Rachel cooper
2 Jun 09 at 8:42 am
uuggghh.
this makes me upset.
the problem is less that folks can’t/don’t pay their medical bills and more that we have a totally effed up medical delivery system.
it’s a for-profit industry which is totally sadistic.
i’m so sorry that this happened to you.
i bet you’ll think twice about going to a doctor if you don’t feel well next time…which is totally unfair.
*steps off of soap box*
reneé
2 Jun 09 at 12:48 pm
Can you get health insurance? Specially if you get sick often. I know it’s not cheap but it’s worth the money. I think there’s some state-funded insurance that you can probably apply for. I mean, it was routine stuff that they did at the hospital and already it cost that much. Can you imagine what it would cost if it’s something serious? To put it in perspective: when I broke my wrist many years ago, the hospital sent me a bill for about $11,000 and all I paid for was a $200 deductible. When I had Reiley, the bill is almost $20,000 and I’m still getting some in – all I paid is $250 hospital copay.
G.
2 Jun 09 at 1:40 pm