I had a similar experience. ER visit then nine days in the hospital with ummm I think three CATs and a couple of ultrasounds, oxygen and medications, and the bill was something that would make you faint. Fortunately I had medical coverage and it was all written down to a copay.
The other night however I suspected that I might need to do this again and though the timing was far from convenient -- I do not have medical coverage at the new job yet -- I went anyway. If you need it, you need it. Fortunately I pulled a doctor who was willing to base himself on clinical signs and forgo the CAT scan and ultrasound, which would have been CYA for him. But see, the market had nothing to do with either his decision or mine. His was based on a standard medical protocol -- though nine out of ten doctors would have ordered the tests to be sure -- mine was pretty much experience with the situation and a preference for risking large debts over risking not having to worry about my debts any more ;P On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 5:04 PM, Scott Stroz<[email protected]> wrote: > > My son spent 5 days in the hospital a few months back. Between the hospital > stay itself, the tests (such as blood work, CT Scan , etc) and the bill from > his pediatrician, guess which was the lowest? The bill from the doctor. > The hospital bill, (stay and tests) far outweighed anything from a > particular doctor. Now tell me, how can a doctor dictate what a hospital > charges for use of its bed and staff? He/she cannot, so I think you need to > rethink your hypothesis on where the blame lies. > I'd be willing to bet that most times the highest bill will come from the > facility where a procedure/test was performed and not from the physician who > ordered/performed the test/procedure or read/interpreted the results. > > On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 1:19 PM, Gruss Gott <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> > Dana wrote: >> > >> > ok, Gruss, sure. But you know -- that isn't always possible. >> > >> >> I'm guessing you mean the choice, but that's a different point. >> >> My point is this: >> >> why is it that with $2000 I can lease a spot on a $100M piece of equip >> that requires pilots, mechanics, staff, etc and is highly regulated. >> And I can use it for 8-20 hours AND get meals and entertainment. >> >> Yet if I go into a hospital I can barely get through the door for $2000. >> >> The point is that costs seem ridiculous in healthcare - they seem WAY >> out of line with any other industry. >> >> Yet what we hear from people is that the "low hanging fruit" is on the >> people that pay the bills NOT on the costs. >> >> I disagree, and it's easy to see why when you compare with the airlines. >> >> Think of it: if the airlines ran a, say, MRI think of how cheap it would >> be!! >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:298490 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
