Surprise Emergency Room Bill (2 Viewers)

[Dago]

@DaveXA and @where yat brah

is all good. the surgery will at least get rid of the pain and I got a couple nice pimp canes and it isn't like I haven't faced long odds like this before. I was told I wouldn't recover after Guillain-Barre' and I was told I would never walk again without help after two of my spine surgeries and I got myself back to normal on my own without help (actually the third time they did send me to PT). This will be the fourth time learning to walk again (without assistance).

 

[brandon8283]

Commenters were shocked when an anonymous user posted his friend's medical bills totaling $244,995 after he was treated for a rattlesnake bite.......

The Bill​

"A friend of mine recently got bit by a rattlesnake while on an evening hike," the viral post read.. "This was his bill from the hospital. He doesn't think his crappy insurance will cover much of it (U.S.)."

The image attached showed a billed amount of more than $244,000 but since it was recent, it was still unclear how much the person would owe or if insurance would cover the costs.

Although antivenom is accessible in the U.S., sometimes the vials can cost upwards of $100,000, according to UNC Health's pharmacy team.

Why is Antivenom Expensive?​

The VIPER Institute's research reported a breakdown of the price of the antivenom:

• Cost to manufacture the antivenom: 10 percent of the sticker price.
• Licensing fees legal costs: About 28 percent of the cost.
• Hospital markups, which they say are generally discounted by health insurers for patients with coverage: About 70 percent of the cost.

Redditor Reactions​

More than 3,300 users commented on the post, many wondering why the treatment for a snake bite was so steep.

"I'd love to see the breakdown of that amount billed, what can possibly amount to $200k+ for treating a snake bite. Is the antidote made from moon dust or something?" one user commented.

"Tell the friend to ask for an itemized bill. That sometimes lowers it because they calculate things and break it down more," one user commented.

"It sounds like the snake is liable. Lawyer up Greg," another user joked.

"If this was in Denmark, we don't have rattlesnakes though, the total hospital bill would amount to $0."

"In return we do have the luxury of paying the highest taxes in the world," another user commented.............

MSN

www.msn.com

Lord that pisses me off...certainly wouldn't surprise me if it's true

Also, kudos for adding that it isn't verified. So much of what is on the internet is fake to troll people or to get attention/sympathy.

This is likely 100% true. I have an old friend who is a wetland consultant. He was bitten by a rattlesnake a few years back. His hospital bill before insurance was over $400,000.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I’ll put this here

This sounds like an absolute total nightmare

If we aren’t going to go single pay or at least make it do stuff like this doesn’t and can’t happen
=========================

When you take up residency in Cancerland, as I did when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2020, you regularly hear yourself described as “battling” cancer.

With my one-pill-a-day biomarker-directed therapy, I prefer to say that I’m “tackling” cancer. But if I am at war, it’s with an insurance system that works more like an extortion scheme.


In mid-January 2022, my phone rang early in the morning. This is my recollection of that call.


“Hi, this is Unintelligible Name from SaveOn.”

“Who? I don’t use Sav-On pharmacy.”

“We’re not Sav-On pharmacy, we’re SaveOnSP, specialty pharmacy.”

SaveOn is pronounced exactly the same as Sav-On, just to be more confusing.


“I just changed insurers,” I said, “and I’ve been in close contact with my new plan. They contract with Express Scripts, who’ve assigned Accredo as my specialty pharmacy.”


“Yes, and we’re your specialty pharmacy’s specialty pharmacy. If you don’t sign up through us you’ll be charged the full amount of your co-pay of $4,500 every month for your specialty medication. We have all your information. You just have to verbally consent to let us manage your account.”

I was stunned and so sure this was a scam call that I neglected to ask how they had arrived at this $4,500 co-pay, and how that could even be possible because that number was larger than my plan’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.


“You’ll receive a bill, but don’t pay it,” my caller continued. “Working with us ensures that you have a zero co-pay.”

“Okay?” I replied. Was there a real choice?

I’ve had lengthier consent discussions for a one-time hookup. I promptly forgot about the call and received no paperwork, but a few weeks later my monthly shipment of medication arrived along with an invoice from Express Scripts for $4,445.

It noted that I might not owe this amount; nevertheless, it had a detachable payment slip, and a return envelope was provided. Remembering the caller’s assurances, I tossed the bill into my ever-expanding, supersize file I’ve labeled “insurance gobbledygook.”

But when I visited an ATM the next day, my balance was significantly lower than I expected. $4,445 had been deducted by Express Scripts.

After I discovered that ginormous deduction from my account, I spent the majority of my waking hours that week ping-ponging between customer service representatives of my insurer, Express Scripts and Accredo.

(The name SaveOnSP appeared neither on my invoice nor on my account portals at Express Scripts and Accredo.)

I was transferred so many times in my crusade to satisfy the gods that govern the peculiar ecosystems of customer service call centers — which require you to offer up your member ID, Social Security number, date of birth, Zip code and sacrifice of the first born, and shriek “operator” over and over into the void — that I can’t remember which representative informed me that they didn’t show me as being enrolled with SaveOnSP…….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/09/09/insurance-copay-specialty-medications-cancer/

 

[saintmdterps]

And, yet, those who are on Medicare and gov't healthcare overwhelming vote for people opposed to instituting universal healthcare.

Just like those who rail against Socialism as they collect their military pension or Social Security checks.

 

[saintmdterps]

That's what I said. Regular American healthcare is the least efficient system on earth. Carrying elephants up hill in slings made with lettuce and toothpicks would be more efficient.

Medicare and government healthcare are orders more efficient than what passes as our insurance based system.

Because our private insurers care about one thing and one thing only-their bottom line. Nothing else matters.

three things that should never be operated for profit:
1) Healthcare
2) Prisons
3) Education

Because they correspond exactly with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

 

[dtc]

And, yet, those who are on Medicare and gov't healthcare overwhelming vote for people opposed to instituting universal healthcare.

That's because Americans are stupid, greedy and short-sighted.

 

[Xeno]

Because our private insurers care about onw thing and one thing only-their bottom line. Nothing else matters.

three things that should never be operated for profit:
1) Healthcare
2) Prisons
3) Education

Because they correspond exactly with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Do I detect a fellow Cody's Showdy connoisseur?

 

[boutte]

That's because Americans are stupid, greedy and short-sighted.

Don't forget brainwashed, poorly educated and complacent.

 

[dtc]

Don't forget brainwashed, poorly educated and complacent.

You're right. Also, happy and confident in their ignorance and hypocrisy.

 

[saintmdterps]

You're right. Also, happy and confident in their ignorance and hypocrisy.

Which is demonstrated by their willingness and eagerness to pay 20% of their paycheck to healthcare premiums for a system that grossly underperforms by any measure as opposed to paying an additional 4% for expanding Medicare into a single-system payer when Medicare outperforms the private option by any measure. Cuz Socialism

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

Medical care in the US has sadly turned into a game of "Let see how much we can squeeze out of every patient". Its almost becoming like a car dealership or a MLA scam.

 

[Tapxe]

Seems as good a place as any for this.

Life expectancy in the U.S. continues to drop, driven by COVID-19

Americans' life expectancy dropped for the second year in a row and is the biggest drop since the 1920s. COVID-19 is driving the downward trend, according to CDC data.

www.npr.org

"A lot of much poorer countries do much better than us in life expectancy," he says. "It's not genetics, it's that we have been falling behind for 50 years."

 

[saintmdterps]

Seems as good a place as any for this.

Life expectancy in the U.S. continues to drop, driven by COVID-19

Americans' life expectancy dropped for the second year in a row and is the biggest drop since the 1920s. COVID-19 is driving the downward trend, according to CDC data.

www.npr.org

It’s not just the quantity of life that’s lagging, it’s also quality of life. Poor medical management of chronic diseases like diabetes, CHF, and COPD diminish both quantity and quality of life.

 

[Saint_Ward]

It’s not just the quantity of life that’s lagging, it’s also quality of life. Poor medical management of chronic diseases like diabetes, CHF, and COPD diminish both quantity and quality of life.

And I'd imagine... diet.

We eat a lot of sheet.

 

[Crzycjunx76]

Seems as good a place as any for this.

Life expectancy in the U.S. continues to drop, driven by COVID-19

Americans' life expectancy dropped for the second year in a row and is the biggest drop since the 1920s. COVID-19 is driving the downward trend, according to CDC data.

www.npr.org

I think it was my Father who cynically joked "Well we figured out how to solve Social Security" when it became apparent that we had failed to halt COVID before the rubicon.