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#1 (permalink) |
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now 14% blacker
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,229
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the core of the healthcare problem
just got hospital bill in the mail:
-600$ for 11 mile ambulance ride -50$ for oxygen mask i didnt want or need -200$ for "drugs" - one dose of oral steroids which a bottle would cost no more than 10$ in a pharmacy -200$ for "emergency room services" i assume this is just the priveledge of sitting in an emergency room cot for a couple hours while they watch me to make sure the oral steroids dont kill me -200$ personal fee from the doctor, who had to look at me for a minute, prescribe the medicine and then go sit in the coffee room and chat about his kids to the other staff on night shift duty. this is all for a mild alergic reaction while i was on a bike trip, i woke up having an arllergic reaction and my lips were swollen, i found a cop and asked where the nearest hospital was and said i was having an allergic reaction. he calls ambulance, 10 emts roll up on me as if i am dieing, i say i am gonna need a benadryl or something and they say they cant give me medicine unless i go to hospital. i tell them i cant risk massive hospital bills and say that its getting better and i can just wait. they keep making threatening statements like i might die in my sleep and should go to the hospital just to be safe, so i go and spend the night in the hospital. they lie to me and tell me i can take a taxi back to my campsite and i find out at 5 in the morning that no taxis go through the town and im stranded in bumblefuck vermont and uknownst to me im going to be raped by bills in 3 months. anyway, this is a personal story why the health care system is fucked.
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matthew munari
Last edited by tedkennedy; 08-31-2009 at 02:33 PM. |
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#2 (permalink) |
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Duderino
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: chiburbs
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so its going to cost you more to pay for your little visit than it will probably cost me to replace an entire car i just totaled.
yeah our priorities arent fucked in this country. wonder how much all that would have cost in europe...probably free |
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#3 (permalink) |
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now 14% blacker
Join Date: Apr 2005
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i think my insurance found out i am not taking classes this semester and just dropped my ass, i am going to try and appeal and maybe they will cover it based on the fact that i was in classes last spring and am technically still working towards a degree.
either way its just really stressful thinking that any trip to the doctor you could find yourself down a 1000$ for some bullshit and you dont know till the last minute if insurance will even cover your ass.
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matthew munari
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#5 (permalink) |
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Radical Dreamer
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: texas
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its your fault for getting sick. call a church and they'll pass a plate around or something -- that's generously more than you're entitled to
try better next time ya bitch
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![]() “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” rip matt
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#7 (permalink) |
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I am the Walrus
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Big khahuna Burger
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^^??
Regardless, I would talk to your insurance company, the hospital that billed you and explain everything you told us. I would tell them they can go fuck themselves and that you aren't paying until they agree to lower your bill for the bullshit you had to go through. I have no idea if it's going to work, but it's probably worth a try as most people land in the hospital probably just assume shit's expensive or insurance will cover it. Where abouts in Vermont are you staying?
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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ |
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#10 (permalink) |
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Successful Failure
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: where 'they' can't see.
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^^^^ No shit there, I have my Benadryl, my Simbacort and my Albuterol with me when I'm gonna be away for a bit.
But whatever... Wanna bring the health care bills down? Fire your insurance provider. For every one person who needs care, there are two dozen paper pushers doing nothing but, well, pushing paper. This may sound hard to believe, but in America at least, you can negotiate the cost of your care if you're paying cash. Some folks will even extend credit just so they don't have to be beholden to the insurance companies. ALOT of Drs and private practitioners are even going so far as to not accept insurance. They feel it is better for them if you handle the claims and get reimbursed for the cash so they don't have to jump through the hoops to get paid. Medical insurance providers are not in the business of keeping you healthy, on the contrary, if you've been paying in for a few years and get sick, they would prefer you die. Then you're the life insurance providers problem, not theirs.
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"And those who are successful, be always on your guard. Success walks hand in hand with failure, along Hollywood Boulevard" Ray Davies --------------------------------------------------- ![]() ---------------------------------------------------
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#11 (permalink) | |
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now 14% blacker
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,229
Thanks: 71
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Quote:
i guess the point of my thread though is that it should never cost 1000$ just to see a doctor and get a simple medication. if i knew it would have been such a raping and that my insurance wouldn't cover it i would have refused treatment but you dont even know what you owe until you get a bill in the mail.
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matthew munari
Last edited by tedkennedy; 08-31-2009 at 04:00 PM. |
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#12 (permalink) | ||
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I am different
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Rosamond, CA
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Quote:
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R.I.P. Gov Quote:
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#13 (permalink) | |
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Today, I am alive.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NJ
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Quote:
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Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega |
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#14 (permalink) |
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Seasoned YaHookan
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: gulf islands bc
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This dude I know had a boulder get projectile whipped him by a boulder here on the island.
The island doctor gets there within minute before the ambulance even to inject morphine in his butt and treat him for shock. Then the ambulance drives him to the air strip for a heli-vac helicopter ride to the hospital in Victoria BC, the big island and within an hour of getting hurt he was in the hospital having surgery to fix his arm. And then did months of rehab for his arm and stuff at rehabilitation clinics. And all he had to pay for 30$ for the ambulance ride 'cause thats just the way it is on our small island, if your in the big city you don't pay squat. Canada's health care's pretty good like that.
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RIP Gov ![]()
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#15 (permalink) |
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Victoria Aut Mors
Join Date: Dec 1999
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a drug store that sells otc benadryl/national healthcare...pricele ss |
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#16 (permalink) |
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Duderino
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: chiburbs
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lol roach made a funny
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On this life that we call home The years go fast and the days go so slow |
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#17 (permalink) |
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Reactionary Radical
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: New York/New Jersey Metro Wasteland
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where are the HMO defender's on this one? Facts suck don't they?
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![]() "I do not wish any mass at all, but honest men only, lovely, sweet, accomplished women only."-Emma Goldman |
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#18 (permalink) | |
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free the herb
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
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#20 (permalink) | |
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KTF
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: England
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Quote:
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Keep the red flag flying high |
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