I wouldn't spend $20k for a 4 hour stay inside Olivia Wilde, no less the ER.

How 'bout an IOU?

A few weeks ago I had a migraine so bad I thought I was going to die, so since it was middle of the night, my wife drove me to the ER. They took my vitals and told me to wait in the waiting room. I was laying on the hard floor in horrible pain for hours, but then it started to pass. After still not being seen after a few hours, I said "screw it, looks like I'm not going to die after all" and we went home.

I called the next day and ask them if they were going to bill me. They said yes, for the nurse taking my vitals. I can't wait to see how much this is going to be.

Thanks a lot, Fartbamacare.

Really it was $202.11, but since the other 9 people were illegals, they have to roll it into the first citizen they can find.

99... missed a key.

TommyymmoT: I wouldn't spend $20k for a 4 hour stay inside Olivia Wilde, no less the ER.

Pro-rated, that's only about $5 for 4 seconds.

I_Am_Weasel: TommyymmoT: I wouldn't spend $20k for a 4 hour stay inside Olivia Wilde, no less the ER.

Pro-rated, that's only about $5 for 4 seconds.
=========

SOLD!

You say "premature ejaculation".
I say "coming in 1st".

I WON! I WON!

You don't get the discount if you don't have insurance. Sucks to be you. Too bad we don't have single payer and put an end to the outrageous fee structure crapola.

As expected, half the commentors in the linked website are blaming illegals for everything. Granted, their use of the ER as their doctor office is a drain on the hospitals, but they're not the only cause of the problem. And for as many of them as are in the ER, there is now likely as many "real Americans" with no insurance to begin with.

Maybe we should start by asking how much of that cost goes to pad the surgeon's pockets and cover malpractice insurance?

$20k is not at all unheard of for an ER visit. Unreasonable? Depends on what treatments she received. But it's highly likely that most Americans don't know the true cost of health care in this country. Most never look at how much their premiums really are (including what is covered by their employer). Most never see a bill beyond their deductible because they have insurance. Alternatively, some don't go to the doctor at all and only go to the hospital ER when they are sick because they have no insurance. The latter people will ignore the bill because they aren't willing or able to pay it.

People who pay Cobra, carry their own insurance, own a business, or work in the industry tend to know how much things cost.

/Also, malpractice insurance isn't cheap.
//Slashies!
///Crap, I'm bleeding. Off to the ER.

Marcus Aurelius: You don't get the discount if you don't have insurance. Sucks to be you. Too bad we don't have single payer and put an end to the outrageous fee structure crapola.

Yeah, but it's only $5, and she accepts payments.

The private medical industry is just all kinds of awesome, isn't it? We need more of this.

It's fun to blame the illegal immigrants!

There are, what, about 12 million illegal immigrants. Unless each one is using ER on a daily basis, I don't think they're responsible for $20K in ER bills instead of $24.95

Flint Ironstag: A while ago I was unemployed and happened to badly sprain my ankle. After a couple of days it was getting no better with rest and ice so I went to the ER and was checked out and had a couple of x-rays.

Of course since I live in the socialist Great Britain so all it cost me was the price of the latte I got from the vending machine while waiting. And I only had to wait about twenty five minutes. My local ER (A+E here) is brand new and they had all the high tech stuff like the x-rays being digital and on a PC rather than the old big film ones.

I really just cannot imagine having to worry about health insurance. We have private treatment and private insurance here, but as an option should you choose to have it. Just seems so.... barbaric.

Barbaric, socialist... same thing

"Can you break a Gipper?"

Grand_Moff_Joseph: As expected, half the commentors in the linked website are blaming illegals for everything. Granted, their use of the ER as their doctor office is a drain on the hospitals, but they're not the only cause of the problem. And for as many of them as are in the ER, there is now likely as many "real Americans" with no insurance to begin with.

Maybe we should start by asking how much of that cost goes to pad the surgeon's pockets and cover malpractice insurance?

Mostly it's all the extra paper pushers in the middle needing an cut and having to turn a profit on top of that, all the third party insurers, extra malpractice insurance, insurance insurance and HMO's having to turn a profit over and above all else. It's the only explanation why U.S. health care is so much more expensive than here in Canada.
Doctors, specialists anyway at the end of the year do about as well here too. U.S. doc's make more, but get hammered more too...
It's the 18 other extra greedy little grubby hands needing to make money to justify their existence that simply are not a part of the system here.

Flint Ironstag: A while ago I was unemployed and happened to badly sprain my ankle. After a couple of days it was getting no better with rest and ice so I went to the ER and was checked out and had a couple of x-rays.

Of course since I live in the socialist Great Britain so all it cost me was the price of the latte I got from the vending machine while waiting. And I only had to wait about twenty five minutes. My local ER (A+E here) is brand new and they had all the high tech stuff like the x-rays being digital and on a PC rather than the old big film ones.

I really just cannot imagine having to worry about health insurance. We have private treatment and private insurance here, but as an option should you choose to have it. Just seems so.... barbaric.

By contrast: I have a messed up fingernail. I am employed and have health insurance but its coverage its a complicated mess of rules, ratios, percentages, limitations and deductibles. I gotta admit: I can't understand half of it. It makes no sense.

So anyway, my fingernail got so messed up that it looked like it was going to rot off my finger. So I went to my doctor. He put me on antibiotics. That all cost me about $230 (after insurance). The nail didn't get better so I was sent to a hand specialist in a plastic surgery clinic. She put me on stronger antibiotics and had me return for a few visits. That cost me about $300 (after insurance). The antibiotics didn't work so they took several cultures across several more visits. They cost me about $200 (after insurance). Now, they think maybe it's a fungus so I'm painting anti-fungal on my nail every day. Still not healed, still not sure what's wrong, but I'm out over $700. For a fingernail. And I'm a brave, patriotic, insured worker of America. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I wasn't insured.

Our system is farked. Beyond farked. It's clusterfarked.

Universal single payer. NOW.

CitizenTed: Flint Ironstag: A while ago I was unemployed and happened to badly sprain my ankle. After a couple of days it was getting no better with rest and ice so I went to the ER and was checked out and had a couple of x-rays.

Of course since I live in the socialist Great Britain so all it cost me was the price of the latte I got from the vending machine while waiting. And I only had to wait about twenty five minutes. My local ER (A+E here) is brand new and they had all the high tech stuff like the x-rays being digital and on a PC rather than the old big film ones.

I really just cannot imagine having to worry about health insurance. We have private treatment and private insurance here, but as an option should you choose to have it. Just seems so.... barbaric.

By contrast: I have a messed up fingernail. I am employed and have health insurance but its coverage its a complicated mess of rules, ratios, percentages, limitations and deductibles. I gotta admit: I can't understand half of it. It makes no sense.

So anyway, my fingernail got so messed up that it looked like it was going to rot off my finger. So I went to my doctor. He put me on antibiotics. That all cost me about $230 (after insurance). The nail didn't get better so I was sent to a hand specialist in a plastic surgery clinic. She put me on stronger antibiotics and had me return for a few visits. That cost me about $300 (after insurance). The antibiotics didn't work so they took several cultures across several more visits. They cost me about $200 (after insurance). Now, they think maybe it's a fungus so I'm painting anti-fungal on my nail every day. Still not healed, still not sure what's wrong, but I'm out over $700. For a fingernail. And I'm a brave, patriotic, insured worker of America. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I wasn't insured.

Our system is farked. Beyond farked. It's clusterfarked.

Universal single payer. NOW.

In Canada the total cost for all those visits is $0.00, and without any extra insurance at all, you'd be on the hook for the prescription meds.
Now to be fair you would pay a bit more tax here, but it works out to about what you pay for third party insurance anyway.
The other advantage is if you know that it's not gonna kill your wallet, you'll go earlier, instead of putting off until you have to go.
Costs everyone less.

Flint Ironstag: Prescriptions here are a fixed cost, about $12. I've had antibiotics in the past and that $12 covered the entire course, maybe 2 weeks worth?
And if you are unemployed you don't even have to pay that $12.
My brother is diabetic and his insulin is free as well.
And you can ask the pharmacist what the actual cost of the drug would be outside the NHS. Some drugs are cheaper if you pay privately so if it costs less than $12 you can pay the lower cost.

The UK bit the bullet just after WWII and formed the NHS. Problem today is the US has just too many huge corporations and high earning doctors invested in the current system and who are prepared to lobby against any real reform.

The NHS is certainly not perfect, there is waste and sometimes there is a significant waiting list, hence private treatment still exists, but in my whole life I've never had a problem that the NHS didn't deal with in a reasonable time, and I can't think of anyone I know who has had a real problem either.

You know what the worst thing about this whole situation is? The criticism from UK and Canada residents who talk about how they get their health are "for free", as if the taxes they pay at the levels they pay don't count. If you actually count expenditures for health care the costs are likewise extravagant. Someone has to pay for it, it's not "free" or "low cost" for everybody.

Eventually we will have to accept this reality here in the United States, and that's OK. But don't be fooled, US citizens. They get you coming or they get you going. TANSTAAFL.

TommyymmoT: I wouldn't spend $20k for a 4 hour stay inside Olivia Wilde, no less the ER.

I would. Just saying.

9beers: In Canada it would have been free......

3 weeks later.

3 hours maybe, but nice try.
If you actually need care you get it.