Person Shares His Story Of Trying To Get A CT Scan In America And It’s Infuriating
To me, a European, the US healthcare system is hard to comprehend. However, while reading Adam Weinstein’s story, I’ve learned that even Americans don’t always get it.
When Adam wanted to get a computerized tomography (CT) scan, he had to go through so much trouble, he decided to share the whole experience on Twitter.
At first, it seemed like a simple task: he just wanted to learn whether he could save some money. But instead of finding answers, he constantly ran into more and more questions. In the end, he did manage to get to the bottom of things, proving that you sometimes have to be a pain in the a** to get what’s rightfully yours. I hope we all can learn a little resilience from his viral thread!
More info: Twitter
Image credits: 12019 / 10261 images (Not the actual photo)
Image credits: AdamWeinstein
“[This] was the first time using this insurance,” Adam told Bored Panda. “I obtained it on the Healthcare.gov exchange in December, since I work remotely on a contract basis with my New York-based employer, which is working hard — and struggling mightily — to get me covered through their NY-based benefits.”
Previously, Adam went for about a year without a full-time employer or health coverage, and his health has suffered as a result. “I’m also the first person in my immediate family ever to have insurance; my parents are self-employed, avoid doctors, and pay cash when they need care, which was why I knew to ask about self-pay rates. All of my insurance experiences over my career have been similar to this one; the least bad experiences were using Tricare in the military and campus clinics in graduate school.”
He spent the entire day on Wednesday before he finally got an appointment to get the CT scan taken within driving distance. “Apparently, the first place, which is around the corner from me and in the same health group as my primary specialist, was technically in my plan but is billed as out of plan because it’s a hospital facility. My employer has been very understanding as I’ve lost work productivity in fixing this situation.”
Despite all the hassle he had to go through, Adam doesn’t really blame the staff. “Most of the people I’ve worked with, in clinics and in insurance, are sympathetic but are also hamstrung — and acutely aware of it — by arcane profitmaking rules in a bureaucracy set up by stakeholders way above their paygrades. One insurance rep, in particular, spent an hour with me, calling clinics to set up the procedure and necessary approvals… after a colleague of theirs sort of muffed it. Even then, I had to make some followup calls and chase some billing info to make everything theoretically work. I anticipate more of the same when I go in for the CT scan next week.” He does, however, blame the American health system, calling it ‘a batshit insane patchwork of privileged, cash-hoovering cartels and fiefdoms.’
“Everyone knows it,” he said. “I worry about its ability to address my health, sure, but more to the point, I worry about its capacity to bankrupt me and the people I love. And I worry about a thin, pale version of national patriotism that believes the fault lies with the underemployed, sick and afflicted, rather than the system that’s supposed to tend to them.”
In his youth, Adam was an ardent libertarian who believed that profit motives and frictionless markets could solve big problems. But things have changed. “I grew up, and have now spent nearly two decades in the American workforce. I’ve been mugged, beaten, and left for dead a couple of times by reality, and it’s made me a believer in radical change, not a conservative. You can care about people, or you can care about maximizing revenues, but not both. America is the proof.”
According to a December poll by GALLUP, Americans prefer a healthcare system based on private insurance (54%) over a government-run healthcare system (42%). But it’s worth mentioning that while support for a government-run system averaged 36% from 2010 to 2014, it has been 40% or higher for each of the past five years. Which would you favor and why? Tell us in the comments.
Here’s what people said about the ‘thievery’
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US healthcare finance in a nutshell: 50% bureocracy, 40% lawyers, 9% doctors, 1%: actual price of medicine and equipment.
I don't know whether to up or down vote you. I agree with you and you are right, but what you said sucks..
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The UK National Health Service is far from perfect..... but it's still absolutely f**king brilliant and staffed by dedicated healthcare professionals with the patients' best interests at heart. I love the NHS <3 <3
Come to Lincolnshire and you would find things totlaly different
Load More Replies... My Wife's family is super conservative and they always say, "Well if we had universal healthcare you would never be able to find a doctor". If anybody on here is from outside the US, do you actually have a hard time finding a doctor to get appointments? It took me 3 months to find a doctor in the US to check out my Hernia, so....its not like we can go see a doctor right away here either.
Universal healthcare Sweden here. We get a first contact same day, max 3 to specialized care. Guaranteed by law.
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I don't understand a word...except X-ray and CT. If I get sick, I go to my doc, she will send me to hospital for tests and my insurance covers it all.
Where do you live? Only way that would happen in america is if you are on medicaid. And good luck getting on that.
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Just F'ing vote for Bernie in November, not the Cheetos faced guy who only looks out for himself and his rich friends.
Black and Hispanic unemployment is at its lowest ever. How is Trump only looking out for himself and his rich friends? USA will never be socialist!
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Spanish here. Brother (falls from a tall fountain), gets brought to the ER unconcious, some free of charge tests are performed on him (X-ray, etc.), spends the night in hospital waiting for the results, gets discharged, goes home, has to pay NOTHING
French living in Hungary here. Got intoxicated, was brought to ER by ambulance, got basic checks, IV, spent the night at the hospital, went back home following morning, had to pay nothing. Perks of being European :)
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Don't rub it in. Also, you Canadians are hardly the only ones who have healthcare that doesn't require patients to negotiate a billing jungle like that.
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Many of us don't. Our mortality rate is a disaster (especially when looked at by income.).
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US "health care": Accountants asking lawyers what doctors are allowed to do to treat patients.
I seriously started to tear up reading this. The US is so broken and it's killing people. How do we fix this?
Vote and keep voting. Encourage other people to vote. Vote for people that want to remove corporate money from politics.
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america heathcare should be hold by the mafia. i'm pretty sure the price wouldn't be that high!
Alot of people don't. Inability to afford health care is one of the leading causes of death here in America. Just recently, a few months ago, a bunch of people died because they couldn't afford INSULIN. Something they needed to live was denied because they couldn't afford $400-$800 a shot. And it's not even just that, without insurance, if you got to urgent care, you'r expected to pay at least $200, just to be SEEN by a doctor. Any tests or medication they prescribe you later on is separately charged. When I lost my insurance for a month due to their incompetence, I developed really bad back pain and spent days in bed crying instead of seeking for medical help because I couldn't afford it.
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yeah... Czech Republic here.. insurance payed by state (or your employer) zero crowns for CT
paid 100Czk for been examinate as a priortiy after I was worried to have a broken ankle.... which is.... something about 4 dollars
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Come on America, you had a great president called Obama. He gave you Obamacare... and what did you do? ..... you voted
"Obama care" Affordable care act, was totally skeletonized by the republicans. what was originally proposed and what was finally passed are day and night. It sucks but it "was" a start. They trashed it to make it horrible "see it does not work".
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I've been working in the financial area of this health"care" industry and every so often I comment to my coworkers how this is bs, is nonsense and that I was amazed how there's a career here that the person goes to college to learn Medical Coding! Never seen that elsewhere. At least I work for one of the good ones, we do what we can. But I tell you, if I need anything health related I'll hop on a plane and go to another country, or drive to Canada. Even considering the travel expenses it would still be cheaper.
Doctor wanted me to take a stress test. Local hospital (that owned his clinic) said it was $1600, but I'd get 10% discount for paying at time of service. Hospital twenty miles away said it was $750, with a 50% discount at time of service. I'd take a day off and drive hundreds of miles to save $1000, so of course I went to the other one. WHY, WHY, WHY should there be such wide variance in what hospitals charge for the exact same service?
I've lived int eh UK before for 4 years and their Healthcare System, while it isn't perfect, is far, far better than the US Healthcare System.
Noone have to "Show How Messed Up The US Healthcare System Really Is" - the whole civilized world knows that already. And wonders why there is no revolution in the US. Are they idiots or they just DGAF if they'll die because of some silly injury, because it is not covered by a helath plan they have?
It always seems to me that Americans DGAF about their fellow Americans because the most common lament seems to be "why should I pay for someone else's healthcare". Their so damn brainwashed by rich people they actively vote against their own self interest out of avarice, yet many still think they live in a country with "christian" values!
Load More Replies... The US system is based on greed and corruption. Care for the patient is the least anyone in the country cares about. In the rest of the civilized world, "health" is the main ingredient in the healthcare system. Americans who favor private insurance have no clue how they are being robbed by the insurance scammers, who operate like Mafia bosses.
It's really frustrating to talk to people who are afraid of universal healthcare. The US government spends more money on healthcare per person and we pay more out of pocket than any country with a universal healthcare system. The best healthcare systems are in countries with universal healthcare. SMH...
Adding to the mess, most of those time those estimates are wildly off in both directions. I've learned whenever they ask you to pay up front, don't do it. Last like they wanted me to pay over $600 for a scan up front. When I actually got the bill, it was closer to $100.
I like the lady I read about earlier, possibly on Bored Panda. She said to ask for an itemized bill. She and many commenters said once they itemized, the bill went must lower or nothing because they new people weren't going to accept pay $100 for an aspirin.
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How come when it comes to talk about paying for universal, single-payer healthcare, NO ONE, not even politicians point out that we'd all no longer have to pay our premiums? And if they did it right, the amount that our employers pay in premiums would BY LAW be added to our salaries instead? (The companies shouldn't get it, because they will be saving a lot of money on their end for not having the administrative costs of all the communication, negotiations, paperwork, etc. of managing healthcare insurance). If I got an extra $500/month in my salary, I'd certainly be happy to pay an additional $300/month in taxes. Shouldn't that cover it?
So glad I live in Canada. I don't even know what you folks are talking about!
Germany here. We usually have a GP who looks into all things medical first. If he/she thinks it's necessary you'll be sent to see a specialist. It takes about a week to get an appointment there.
This is an article written by someone who has no idea how insurance works. Self-pay is $300. Facility charges insurance $500 because CMS requires that insurances never pay more than is billed so providers overcharge insurances everything. CMS also requires that insurances pay out CMS rates for all codes billed. That facility probably got paid $280 for that CT Scan, for the technical component and the physician read.
Where did they find a ct scan for $500? I was charged $2k for one. Even within SF depending on which SF hospital you can be charged thousands differences for a CT scan
Should not be free in the UK, you should have to pay something but NOT the huge charges expected in the USA. We have to pay through NI taken from our wages (not taxes) so we should not be handing it out free to foreigners
That country's health system is sooo screwed up. Health care is way too expensive and so are the drugs, thanks to lobby. Now, they want to buy Canadian life saving medecine in bulk, at the risk of causing a shortage because it's cheaper that way. I hope they pass a bill to prevent this. Not that I don't care about sick Americans, far from it. I just hope someone who isn't sponsored by the big pharmas put his feet down and say "NO MORE!". You are being screwed by your own system. Get rid of that orange clown and elect someone who really cares about you. Btw, I'm about to have a IMR and it won't cost me a dime. Oh, In ER, you never hear "Can someone see if that dude can pay for that open fracture?" And the very first question asked in Admission is always:" What happened to you?" or "How can we help you?". Never: "Do you have insurance?".
"...a year without health coverage and his health has suffered as a result." ???? I read all those comments not one has addressed the obvious: Doctors cannot make you healthy!!! What doctors do is a damage control. Only you can make yourselves healthy, which means giving your body all it needs to function properly and be able to fight off infections and diseases, even those which you are genetically predisposed to. I don't need to see a doctor all year around, I don't get flu shots, human papilloma shots, pneumococcal shots, shingles shots, what ever shots. I'm NOT talking about childhood vaccines, those are utterly necessary!!!! as newborn and small children do not develop a strong immune system yet. Yes, I'm a long time vegan. You can down vote me just for that as much as you want, it won't make you healthy and certainly will not change the fact that the plan-based (vegan) diet is miraculous, the natural way of self-preservation....and saves money.
I had back surgery in June 2019. After recovery and a night in the hospital I was given a walker to take home and use if necessary. Two weeks later I get a bill for the walker in the amount of $142. I never used the device, so I called the health care agency and told them I wanted to return the walker because I didn’t use it and wasn’t going to pay $142 for the device. They told me I couldn’t return the walker because it already went through the billing process. I told them I was appealing the charge with the insurance company and would let them know the result. This was last week. Yesterday I get a letter from a collections agency for the amount due. I’m not paying for the walker. Thievery is correct.
Insurance in the US is a crime against humanity. I mean this literally. Most other countries if you get sick, you go see a doctor and (hopefully) get better. In the US you don't see a doctor until the last minute due to the racket mentioned above, and if there is a urgent medical need you will probably go bankrupt (become homeless). When you call for rates you are not given an answer (as noted in this post). Any other business must list their prices... How much is the pizza? It's xx.xx. How much for a manicure? It's xx.xx. How much for this flight? xxx.xx plus xx.xx for baggage... It's not going to change anytime soon because all the politicians enjoy excellent healthcare and have no idea of the reality for most citizens. Don't get sick!
Sylvia, the politicians have no idea of the reality, but most citizens do . What does it tell you???
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BS! I was recently billed $10,000+ for a visit to the ER for f*cking food poisoning! All they did was a blood test, gave me one bag of IV and 1 pill.
The US Health insurance system is garbage honestly... I had to have gallbladder surgery twice (once to remove it, second time to fix the artery that the first surgeon neglected to clamp properly, causing me to internally bleed out... nearly killing me 9_9) and I was met with a bill 3 months later from some doctor that hung out in the operating room for $2k and they were "out of network". Hospital, surgeons, everything else... in network... but this jag-off... nope... you have to contest every charge that you see because hospitals will charge up the a*s for nothing! I got charged $200 for a 6 inch desk fan because I was hot... twice! The first one wasn't working, so they gave me another one! I now keep it as my office fan at work and joke about it! haha
There are many, many problems with the health care system in the U.S. One of them is that most health insurance companies are for profit when they should be not-for-profit (aka non-profit). The objective of maximizing profit and the objective of maximizing patient health are mutually exclusive. Also, consider the multi millions, literally, that the health insurance companies spend on high level executive pay (salaries and benefits and stock options, etc.) and on advertising/marketing instead of on patient care.
There are MANY not-for-profit health insurance companies. Do your research.
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We (Dutch) pay around $130 per MONTH mandatory on insurance above 18 years old, under 18's are covered. And normally $428 max per YEAR as a fee covering various things like pills, bloodworks, after these 428 dollars it's paid for. This happened to me: feeling funny for a year, various bloodworks, nothing, GP sends me to a Neurologist in a small local hospital, he makes me go take a MRI and when I get back home from it I get a call, please come back, doc wants to see you. Turns out I have a large but benign tumor in my head and he already got me an appointment with a top notch neurosurgeon in an university medical center the next day (it was large!) I'm MRI'd again, tumor removed in a 9 hour procedure (1 week after finding out), 4 nights including food, drinks and excellent care. Total for me: $428. I love our health care system!
Was paying $350 a month for insurance through my job, got a gnarly URI (I used to get them every time I got a cold) and was coughing up bloody discharge. I live in a semi-rural area, 3 hours from anything else, super poor place so lots of people needing low/no cost care. Not a single doctor was accepting new patients. Finally I went to the ER, where I waited four hours to see a Dr for ten minutes to tell me what I already knew. I just needed the scrip for antibiotics. Dr billed me separately $150, the ER another $730. I called the insurance who said they'd already paid 2/3 of the bill! I told the hospital I ain't paying S**T until I see what the f**k I'm getting charged for since I paid the Dr and for the meds out of pocket. They couldn't give me a breakdown so I didn't pay. There's no way I could have racked up almost $3k cooling my heels in the waiting room for a few hours. That led me to discover that mega-doses of Vitamin C either cure infections pretty reliably, or placebo them aw
Wow, something similar has recently happened to me as well. Spine doctor ordered an MRI for back pain. Insurance, denied. Drs office called me, told me that even IF they approved it, I would have to pay my full deductible of $2,000. I asked what the cash option would be, $400....so stupid. Then I received a letter from my insurance company explaining why they denied the service...excuses. Where I work everyone has been denied for EVERY procedure their doctors have recommended. EVERYONE. Worst insurance ever.
So tired of bad news posts on BoredPanda..... where are the pretty, funny ones? BP is the place I used to come to get away from the news.......
You'll have to be selective about the clicks. I click on "Latest" at top of the page, then read the titles and look at the images to decide what I want to view. Your other option to go to a humour site. I can't think of any off hand, but I'm sure you can google "Good news", "Funny sites", or "positive news" or something similar.
Load More Replies... How about only reading only stories that make you happy? You do not have to read everything.
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That is a lie. You should learn about the ACA and the cost controls before posting on the internet. https://www.statnews.com/2019/03/22/affordable-care-act-controls-costs/
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And so you can see what's being charged. Great. And what if you can't afford it? That's the problem. People can't afford basic healthcare because NO ONE is reigning in the insurance companies and the healthcare providers.
Load More Replies... US healthcare finance in a nutshell: 50% bureocracy, 40% lawyers, 9% doctors, 1%: actual price of medicine and equipment.
I don't know whether to up or down vote you. I agree with you and you are right, but what you said sucks..
Load More Replies... The UK National Health Service is far from perfect..... but it's still absolutely f**king brilliant and staffed by dedicated healthcare professionals with the patients' best interests at heart. I love the NHS <3 <3
Come to Lincolnshire and you would find things totlaly different
Load More Replies... My Wife's family is super conservative and they always say, "Well if we had universal healthcare you would never be able to find a doctor". If anybody on here is from outside the US, do you actually have a hard time finding a doctor to get appointments? It took me 3 months to find a doctor in the US to check out my Hernia, so....its not like we can go see a doctor right away here either.
Universal healthcare Sweden here. We get a first contact same day, max 3 to specialized care. Guaranteed by law.
Load More Replies... I don't understand a word...except X-ray and CT. If I get sick, I go to my doc, she will send me to hospital for tests and my insurance covers it all.
Where do you live? Only way that would happen in america is if you are on medicaid. And good luck getting on that.
Load More Replies... Just F'ing vote for Bernie in November, not the Cheetos faced guy who only looks out for himself and his rich friends.
Black and Hispanic unemployment is at its lowest ever. How is Trump only looking out for himself and his rich friends? USA will never be socialist!
Load More Replies... Spanish here. Brother (falls from a tall fountain), gets brought to the ER unconcious, some free of charge tests are performed on him (X-ray, etc.), spends the night in hospital waiting for the results, gets discharged, goes home, has to pay NOTHING
French living in Hungary here. Got intoxicated, was brought to ER by ambulance, got basic checks, IV, spent the night at the hospital, went back home following morning, had to pay nothing. Perks of being European :)
Load More Replies... Don't rub it in. Also, you Canadians are hardly the only ones who have healthcare that doesn't require patients to negotiate a billing jungle like that.
Load More Replies... Many of us don't. Our mortality rate is a disaster (especially when looked at by income.).
Load More Replies... US "health care": Accountants asking lawyers what doctors are allowed to do to treat patients.
I seriously started to tear up reading this. The US is so broken and it's killing people. How do we fix this?
Vote and keep voting. Encourage other people to vote. Vote for people that want to remove corporate money from politics.
Load More Replies... america heathcare should be hold by the mafia. i'm pretty sure the price wouldn't be that high!
Alot of people don't. Inability to afford health care is one of the leading causes of death here in America. Just recently, a few months ago, a bunch of people died because they couldn't afford INSULIN. Something they needed to live was denied because they couldn't afford $400-$800 a shot. And it's not even just that, without insurance, if you got to urgent care, you'r expected to pay at least $200, just to be SEEN by a doctor. Any tests or medication they prescribe you later on is separately charged. When I lost my insurance for a month due to their incompetence, I developed really bad back pain and spent days in bed crying instead of seeking for medical help because I couldn't afford it.
Load More Replies... yeah... Czech Republic here.. insurance payed by state (or your employer) zero crowns for CT
paid 100Czk for been examinate as a priortiy after I was worried to have a broken ankle.... which is.... something about 4 dollars
Load More Replies... Come on America, you had a great president called Obama. He gave you Obamacare... and what did you do? ..... you voted
"Obama care" Affordable care act, was totally skeletonized by the republicans. what was originally proposed and what was finally passed are day and night. It sucks but it "was" a start. They trashed it to make it horrible "see it does not work".
Load More Replies... I've been working in the financial area of this health"care" industry and every so often I comment to my coworkers how this is bs, is nonsense and that I was amazed how there's a career here that the person goes to college to learn Medical Coding! Never seen that elsewhere. At least I work for one of the good ones, we do what we can. But I tell you, if I need anything health related I'll hop on a plane and go to another country, or drive to Canada. Even considering the travel expenses it would still be cheaper.
Doctor wanted me to take a stress test. Local hospital (that owned his clinic) said it was $1600, but I'd get 10% discount for paying at time of service. Hospital twenty miles away said it was $750, with a 50% discount at time of service. I'd take a day off and drive hundreds of miles to save $1000, so of course I went to the other one. WHY, WHY, WHY should there be such wide variance in what hospitals charge for the exact same service?
I've lived int eh UK before for 4 years and their Healthcare System, while it isn't perfect, is far, far better than the US Healthcare System.
Noone have to "Show How Messed Up The US Healthcare System Really Is" - the whole civilized world knows that already. And wonders why there is no revolution in the US. Are they idiots or they just DGAF if they'll die because of some silly injury, because it is not covered by a helath plan they have?
It always seems to me that Americans DGAF about their fellow Americans because the most common lament seems to be "why should I pay for someone else's healthcare". Their so damn brainwashed by rich people they actively vote against their own self interest out of avarice, yet many still think they live in a country with "christian" values!
Load More Replies... The US system is based on greed and corruption. Care for the patient is the least anyone in the country cares about. In the rest of the civilized world, "health" is the main ingredient in the healthcare system. Americans who favor private insurance have no clue how they are being robbed by the insurance scammers, who operate like Mafia bosses.
It's really frustrating to talk to people who are afraid of universal healthcare. The US government spends more money on healthcare per person and we pay more out of pocket than any country with a universal healthcare system. The best healthcare systems are in countries with universal healthcare. SMH...
Adding to the mess, most of those time those estimates are wildly off in both directions. I've learned whenever they ask you to pay up front, don't do it. Last like they wanted me to pay over $600 for a scan up front. When I actually got the bill, it was closer to $100.
I like the lady I read about earlier, possibly on Bored Panda. She said to ask for an itemized bill. She and many commenters said once they itemized, the bill went must lower or nothing because they new people weren't going to accept pay $100 for an aspirin.
Load More Replies... How come when it comes to talk about paying for universal, single-payer healthcare, NO ONE, not even politicians point out that we'd all no longer have to pay our premiums? And if they did it right, the amount that our employers pay in premiums would BY LAW be added to our salaries instead? (The companies shouldn't get it, because they will be saving a lot of money on their end for not having the administrative costs of all the communication, negotiations, paperwork, etc. of managing healthcare insurance). If I got an extra $500/month in my salary, I'd certainly be happy to pay an additional $300/month in taxes. Shouldn't that cover it?
So glad I live in Canada. I don't even know what you folks are talking about!
Germany here. We usually have a GP who looks into all things medical first. If he/she thinks it's necessary you'll be sent to see a specialist. It takes about a week to get an appointment there.
This is an article written by someone who has no idea how insurance works. Self-pay is $300. Facility charges insurance $500 because CMS requires that insurances never pay more than is billed so providers overcharge insurances everything. CMS also requires that insurances pay out CMS rates for all codes billed. That facility probably got paid $280 for that CT Scan, for the technical component and the physician read.
Where did they find a ct scan for $500? I was charged $2k for one. Even within SF depending on which SF hospital you can be charged thousands differences for a CT scan
Should not be free in the UK, you should have to pay something but NOT the huge charges expected in the USA. We have to pay through NI taken from our wages (not taxes) so we should not be handing it out free to foreigners
That country's health system is sooo screwed up. Health care is way too expensive and so are the drugs, thanks to lobby. Now, they want to buy Canadian life saving medecine in bulk, at the risk of causing a shortage because it's cheaper that way. I hope they pass a bill to prevent this. Not that I don't care about sick Americans, far from it. I just hope someone who isn't sponsored by the big pharmas put his feet down and say "NO MORE!". You are being screwed by your own system. Get rid of that orange clown and elect someone who really cares about you. Btw, I'm about to have a IMR and it won't cost me a dime. Oh, In ER, you never hear "Can someone see if that dude can pay for that open fracture?" And the very first question asked in Admission is always:" What happened to you?" or "How can we help you?". Never: "Do you have insurance?".
"...a year without health coverage and his health has suffered as a result." ???? I read all those comments not one has addressed the obvious: Doctors cannot make you healthy!!! What doctors do is a damage control. Only you can make yourselves healthy, which means giving your body all it needs to function properly and be able to fight off infections and diseases, even those which you are genetically predisposed to. I don't need to see a doctor all year around, I don't get flu shots, human papilloma shots, pneumococcal shots, shingles shots, what ever shots. I'm NOT talking about childhood vaccines, those are utterly necessary!!!! as newborn and small children do not develop a strong immune system yet. Yes, I'm a long time vegan. You can down vote me just for that as much as you want, it won't make you healthy and certainly will not change the fact that the plan-based (vegan) diet is miraculous, the natural way of self-preservation....and saves money.
I had back surgery in June 2019. After recovery and a night in the hospital I was given a walker to take home and use if necessary. Two weeks later I get a bill for the walker in the amount of $142. I never used the device, so I called the health care agency and told them I wanted to return the walker because I didn’t use it and wasn’t going to pay $142 for the device. They told me I couldn’t return the walker because it already went through the billing process. I told them I was appealing the charge with the insurance company and would let them know the result. This was last week. Yesterday I get a letter from a collections agency for the amount due. I’m not paying for the walker. Thievery is correct.
Insurance in the US is a crime against humanity. I mean this literally. Most other countries if you get sick, you go see a doctor and (hopefully) get better. In the US you don't see a doctor until the last minute due to the racket mentioned above, and if there is a urgent medical need you will probably go bankrupt (become homeless). When you call for rates you are not given an answer (as noted in this post). Any other business must list their prices... How much is the pizza? It's xx.xx. How much for a manicure? It's xx.xx. How much for this flight? xxx.xx plus xx.xx for baggage... It's not going to change anytime soon because all the politicians enjoy excellent healthcare and have no idea of the reality for most citizens. Don't get sick!
Sylvia, the politicians have no idea of the reality, but most citizens do . What does it tell you???
Load More Replies... BS! I was recently billed $10,000+ for a visit to the ER for f*cking food poisoning! All they did was a blood test, gave me one bag of IV and 1 pill.
The US Health insurance system is garbage honestly... I had to have gallbladder surgery twice (once to remove it, second time to fix the artery that the first surgeon neglected to clamp properly, causing me to internally bleed out... nearly killing me 9_9) and I was met with a bill 3 months later from some doctor that hung out in the operating room for $2k and they were "out of network". Hospital, surgeons, everything else... in network... but this jag-off... nope... you have to contest every charge that you see because hospitals will charge up the a*s for nothing! I got charged $200 for a 6 inch desk fan because I was hot... twice! The first one wasn't working, so they gave me another one! I now keep it as my office fan at work and joke about it! haha
There are many, many problems with the health care system in the U.S. One of them is that most health insurance companies are for profit when they should be not-for-profit (aka non-profit). The objective of maximizing profit and the objective of maximizing patient health are mutually exclusive. Also, consider the multi millions, literally, that the health insurance companies spend on high level executive pay (salaries and benefits and stock options, etc.) and on advertising/marketing instead of on patient care.
There are MANY not-for-profit health insurance companies. Do your research.
Load More Replies... We (Dutch) pay around $130 per MONTH mandatory on insurance above 18 years old, under 18's are covered. And normally $428 max per YEAR as a fee covering various things like pills, bloodworks, after these 428 dollars it's paid for. This happened to me: feeling funny for a year, various bloodworks, nothing, GP sends me to a Neurologist in a small local hospital, he makes me go take a MRI and when I get back home from it I get a call, please come back, doc wants to see you. Turns out I have a large but benign tumor in my head and he already got me an appointment with a top notch neurosurgeon in an university medical center the next day (it was large!) I'm MRI'd again, tumor removed in a 9 hour procedure (1 week after finding out), 4 nights including food, drinks and excellent care. Total for me: $428. I love our health care system!
Was paying $350 a month for insurance through my job, got a gnarly URI (I used to get them every time I got a cold) and was coughing up bloody discharge. I live in a semi-rural area, 3 hours from anything else, super poor place so lots of people needing low/no cost care. Not a single doctor was accepting new patients. Finally I went to the ER, where I waited four hours to see a Dr for ten minutes to tell me what I already knew. I just needed the scrip for antibiotics. Dr billed me separately $150, the ER another $730. I called the insurance who said they'd already paid 2/3 of the bill! I told the hospital I ain't paying S**T until I see what the f**k I'm getting charged for since I paid the Dr and for the meds out of pocket. They couldn't give me a breakdown so I didn't pay. There's no way I could have racked up almost $3k cooling my heels in the waiting room for a few hours. That led me to discover that mega-doses of Vitamin C either cure infections pretty reliably, or placebo them aw
Wow, something similar has recently happened to me as well. Spine doctor ordered an MRI for back pain. Insurance, denied. Drs office called me, told me that even IF they approved it, I would have to pay my full deductible of $2,000. I asked what the cash option would be, $400....so stupid. Then I received a letter from my insurance company explaining why they denied the service...excuses. Where I work everyone has been denied for EVERY procedure their doctors have recommended. EVERYONE. Worst insurance ever.
So tired of bad news posts on BoredPanda..... where are the pretty, funny ones? BP is the place I used to come to get away from the news.......
You'll have to be selective about the clicks. I click on "Latest" at top of the page, then read the titles and look at the images to decide what I want to view. Your other option to go to a humour site. I can't think of any off hand, but I'm sure you can google "Good news", "Funny sites", or "positive news" or something similar.
Load More Replies... How about only reading only stories that make you happy? You do not have to read everything.
Load More Replies... That is a lie. You should learn about the ACA and the cost controls before posting on the internet. https://www.statnews.com/2019/03/22/affordable-care-act-controls-costs/
Load More Replies... And so you can see what's being charged. Great. And what if you can't afford it? That's the problem. People can't afford basic healthcare because NO ONE is reigning in the insurance companies and the healthcare providers.
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