Posted on 12/03/2013 6:37:18 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
I fell off the step ladder and cut my head open. The educated and trained physician stood in the doorway, had me take off the bandage I'd put on to stop the bleeding and diagnosed the inch and a half gash didn't need his attention other than to accept the payment. He never came into the room.
Then there was the doctor who called over a year after my grandmother had died to say she was over due for her checkup. He had been there when she died.
And the doctor here who has parents sign for welfare to pay for their kids' immunizations even though she was getting the payment from private insurance and writes them up for potential child abuse if a parent dares questions her. I turned her in 20 years ago and has evern been done.
Yes, some people in the medical industry do indeed make very good money.
I questioned the bookkeeping office over a hospital bill that was twice what I was quoted. Turns out a previous patient had skipped the country so their bill was shuffled down to me. Adding insult to injury, the proceedure didn’t work.
No stitches on the kids though.
Lesson here is tell them you are illegally in the sanctuary city and you demand indigent care. If not, threaten them with harassment from immigrant “rights” groups.
I haven’t had insurance for 10 years. When I had an emergency appendectomy they gave me a rediculous bill. I pulled out a checkbook and said, “the hell I’m paying that much.” The were talked down half price at the hospital (still a ripoff) and the surgeon was paid with crisp Benjamins. I still came out ahead. Hospitals will rip everone off because they are run by the Moochelle Obamas of the world. Avoid at all costs.
I have had the experience more than once of paying almost half the cost by paying cash price.
easy answer, don’t go to the doctor
Half of what they billed the insurance company—or half of what they would have received from the insurance company?
The cost of Obamacare?
We have been using Super Glue for wounds ever since a Navy Doctor friend did a tour in Nam. A group of us used to buy super glue and send it to him while he was in Nam, as the Navy didn’t approve it.
The only problem with Super Glue by itself doesn’t have an antibacterial agent and some Super Glue can really burn the skin area where/when applied.
Those problems have been eliminated with New Skin which is an over the counter Medical Super Glue with an antibacterial. It does sting the first couple of times, however it works better than stiches in most wounds. My wife is a life long RN and has handled many wounds with New Skin. Her limit is a cut or gash up to about 1” in length for the wounds.
I was introduced to this product by a MD over a decade ago. Like me he is a fly fisher. Our fingers can get cracks from just being in the water, or we accidentally hook our selves or get finned by a fish. When you wade in any stream or river, that means that you are downstream from humans and critters and whatever they deposit and leave in the water. Downstream infections can be potentially dangerous wounds re infections.
I carry a bottle in my wader pockets, in my fishing shirt or in a water proof bag on/in my kayak. We keep bottles in our vehicles, and my wife carries a bottle in her purse.
Some wounds can happen in nasty conditions like being downstream and other nasty areas like your backyard. A ER doc told me to pour Lipton Green Tea with Honey on the wound to wash it out before using the new skin. Both Green Tea and honey kill germs and will protect your damaged area.
This summer, I had a good size Striper get its revenge on me in our nasty local river. He jerked away as I was trying to use catch and release and get the hook out. I hooked myself in my left index finger. Then, he finned a couple of fingers on my right hand as he got away. I only fish with barbless hooks for easy catch and release of the fish and me.
I was fishing with my grandson, who was having too much fun for us to drive home. I waded back on shore, and washed my wounds with the green tea and honey. My grandson put the New Skin on my fingers. About 20 minutes later I was back fishing. The wounds healed in about a week, and I used the New Skin twice a day for about 3 days. After about a week, my wife and I were able to lift off the peeling New Skin, and my fingers were in good shape.
There is a new New Skin Product, a spray. It should be great for bicycle road rash and other abrasive accidents where you are not gashed but large areas of skin are scoured and abrased.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/New-Skin-Liquid-Bandage-Spray/14205870
I have had the calloused pads of two fingers rip off (playing bass guitar)... super glued them back on, finished the gig. Two different times :)
I have had the calloused pads of two fingers rip off (playing bass guitar)... super glued them back on, finished the gig. Two different times :)
I remember, in those days before Obamacare, every one’s cries, “Dear Leader we are NOT PAYING ENOUGH for healthcare. We NEED to pay more”.
Then the office hounded me for weeks to come on for the follow up. I think they just wanted to bill it out.
I bet they settled for far less than that, no?
Quite a bit less then half.
Now imagine one of the new O-care plans. You'd already be paying the premium, say $400 a month. Then you'd meet your deductible--6-12K is what I am seeing. Then you will be on the hook for a percentage of that 66k. So say, 30%. $22,000
Gonna be a lot of bankruptcies, liens and unpaid hospital bills in the future.
Ofcourse, none of this applies to the welfare class. Funny thing is, it never did.
The cash cost was nearly half of the cost of going through insurance. It was a simple surgical procedure in the doctor’s office. I paid cash, no insurance.
But what do you mean by ‘the cost of going through insurance’—and how do you know the difference?
Ouch!
I just had my right knee used as a pin cushion.. and that came out to $200 :/
(Doc asked me if I hurt.. I told her I think I now know what having a baby felt like... was being sarcastic, of course.. but it WAS painful :/ (she did laugh though ;^))
Getting the government out is the first step. Leftists are afraid of free market medicine, saying that there can be no free market in medicine, by the nature of the problem. I disagree. In the internet era, there can be cost transparency, quality comparisons, ratings etc.
Medical costs are so high because of government regulations and government involvement, together with the "insure everything" mentality, where the consumer is insulated from cost. Catastrophic insurance is good. Most medical care should be cash on the barrel head, like everything else.
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