Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: rpm on October 19, 2006, 06:11:03 PM
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The past week or two I have been having some chest pain. I have been trying to locate my doctor, who has mysteriously disappeared, to make an appointment. Yesterday one of my employees noticed I was having problems and she more or less bullied me into going to the ER to have it checked out.
We have a brand spanking new 5 floor hospital here. There has been much hype over it and how it will serve the county. Most of the residents think it's more than we need or can afford right now. But, I digress.
I walk into the ER, check in and explain my problem and tell them I think it's bronchitis. They get me in, work me up. I have a heart monitor, pulse ox and whatever else they can find hooked up to me and everything looks fine. My BP is a little high (160/100) but I hadn't taken my BP meds before I went to work.
The ER Doctor comes back and says I look fine, but they are going to admit me anyway. ADMIT? Whoa there buckaroo, it's time for let's make a deal. "You don't think I'm serious, I don't think I'm serious. Let me go home and I'll promise to follow up with my Doc or another clinic." He says that's fine, just sign out AMA and I can go. But, my insurance won't pay for anything if I do.
Rock, meet hard place. I wind up being admitted then poked and prodded all night long. For some reason they ordered nitroglycerin patches for me so I had a wonderful 18 hour headache. Since I missed my BP meds, they were nice enough to give them to me by injection in my belly....twice.
After meeting with another doctor this afternoon they agree to discharge me. Total damage, 18 hour stay, $24,370.00 . BTW, my chest still hurts and they gave me nothing for the bronchitis.:huh
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Sad thing is, all the tests could have shown negative, they send ya home with some bronchitis meds...and ya keel over from some 1 in a million thing that no normal test would ever have shown.....your wife sues them for negligence for 87 million dollars...wins
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Originally posted by rpm
The past week or two I have been having some chest pain. I have been trying to locate my doctor, who has mysteriously disappeared, to make an appointment. Yesterday one of my employees noticed I was having problems and she more or less bullied me into going to the ER to have it checked out.
We have a brand spanking new 5 floor hospital here. There has been much hype over it and how it will serve the county. Most of the residents think it's more than we need or can afford right now. But, I digress.
I walk into the ER, check in and explain my problem and tell them I think it's bronchitis. They get me in, work me up. I have a heart monitor, pulse ox and whatever else they can find hooked up to me and everything looks fine. My BP is a little high (160/100) but I hadn't taken my BP meds before I went to work.
The ER Doctor comes back and says I look fine, but they are going to admit me anyway. ADMIT? Whoa there buckaroo, it's time for let's make a deal. "You don't think I'm serious, I don't think I'm serious. Let me go home and I'll promise to follow up with my Doc or another clinic." He says that's fine, just sign out AMA and I can go. But, my insurance won't pay for anything if I do.
Rock, meet hard place. I wind up being admitted then poked and prodded all night long. For some reason they ordered nitroglycerin patches for me so I had a wonderful 18 hour headache. Since I missed my BP meds, they were nice enough to give them to me by injection in my belly....twice.
After meeting with another doctor this afternoon they agree to discharge me. Total damage, 18 hour stay, $24,370.00 . BTW, my chest still hurts and they gave me nothing for the bronchitis.:huh
PWN3D!!
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Originally posted by rpm
After meeting with another doctor this afternoon they agree to discharge me. Total damage, 18 hour stay, $24,370.00 . BTW, my chest still hurts and they gave me nothing for the bronchitis.:huh
Dear mother of god! How could that possibly cost over 24 grand?! :confused:
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Originally posted by Thrawn
Dear mother of god! How could that possibly cost over 24 grand?! :confused:
Asprin $8, Hospital logo cup $40, ect...
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Originally posted by rpm
Asprin $8, Hospital logo cup $40, ect...
Lawyer fee $23,000
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Only sissies go to the ER for chest pains!
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Originally posted by Thrawn
Dear mother of god! How could that possibly cost over 24 grand?! :confused:
Medical coding and billing is a bigger racket than insurance is.
His insurance will only end up paying 1/10-1/8 of that... but if you don't have insurance.... get ready for the bill collectors to start calling wanting thier 24 grand.
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If you're having chest pain and they cannot rule out some type of cardiac event, you will always spend about 9 hours in the hospital. Certain enzymes are released by 'dead' cardiac muscle and are present approx 8 hours after the event.
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What you need is a socialist healthcare!
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Originally posted by CavemanJ
Medical coding and billing is a bigger racket than insurance is.
His insurance will only end up paying 1/10-1/8 of that... but if you don't have insurance.... get ready for the bill collectors to start calling wanting thier 24 grand.
the bill would have been much less if he were a "cash" customer.
it's all a scam. the docs bill $500 knowing they'll only get $150 from the insurance company. United Health Care has dropped the hospital 5 minutes from the house as they wanted more money. My doc of 10 years dropped UHC in jan 06 for the same reason. Just read they do not cover Moffit Cancer Centers anymore ..
As bad as it is, it'd only be worse if the gov ran the show. Can you imagine a "DMV" mentality health industry? If/when that happens, I think I'd just stay home and die in peace before I dealt with some 300lb, don't give a rats arse democrat sitting behind the hospital admin desk like they do at the drivers license place now ...
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I hope all is well rpm, but yeah that is fluffied up.
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Originally posted by CavemanJ
Medical coding and billing is a bigger racket than insurance is.
His insurance will only end up paying 1/10-1/8 of that... but if you don't have insurance.... get ready for the bill collectors to start calling wanting thier 24 grand.
Ya got that right, but even if you have the insurance, the deductable and co-pays are based on the high figure not the low PPO figures that the insurance companies pay..what a racket.
shamus
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Originally posted by mora
What you need is a socialist healthcare!
Sure, why not? Instead of you paying for it, we'll pay for it!
:rolleyes:
Mora, you've just lost your posting priviledges for a day.
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The healthcare industry is corrupt and rotten to the core. Don't trust a word they say--NOT A WORD. All they care about is your money, and how to steal as much of it as possible.
RPM had a typical experience. Don't laugh at his misfortune, because it'll likely happen to you at some point as well.
It only gets worse as you get older. I know, I used to work in the industry. Once you're elderly, do NOT trust the healthcare industry to do anything except look for any possible excuse to deprive you of your rights and suck you dry. When I get old, I hope I have the presence of mind to put a bullet through my forehead before the industry gets its greasy tendrils wrapped around me. I've seen the results of both options firsthand, and given a choice, the bullet is the *far* better option. I know entirely to many people who refused to believe me when I told them how horrible it is, only to admit I was right all along after it's too late. The elderly are treated so bad, it's hard to believe it unless you experience it. I know lots of people who wish they'd killed themselves when they had the chance. Life in a lockdown prison is no life at all, it's torture, and the only crime the people committed is getting old.
With the baby boomers growing older and the health care industry already stretched thin (it's more profitable to cut staff, remember), expect things to only get worse.
J_A_B
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Asprin $8, Hospital logo cup $40, ect...
Lawyer fee $23,000
Whilst it's fashionable to blame legal costs for the rising costs of healthcare, it's not really accurate. According to the CBO, legal costs from malpractice claims and insurance amount to less than 2% of total healthcare costs.
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The shots they gave you weren't for your chest pain. They were to prevent you from throwing a clot and stroking out with your crazy high blood pressure.
If I ever have chestpain and a blood pressure of 160/100 I'd be very reluctant to leave the hospital within 36 hours after the symtoms have resolved.
In fact I'd be bugging my Dr to consult a cardiologist and schedule me for a stress test.
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If your chest still hurts you need to get that figured out and treated. Somewhere, someplace.
Another cheerful perspective is the enormous number of deaths in America attributed to hospitals or medical mistakes each year: 195,000!
I can't get this link to work, but try Googling for it or for medical deaths in america http://www.medical/newstoday.com/
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I hope I have the presence of mind to put a bullet through my forehead
Really putting it in your mouth and shooting up through your head works alot better . How do I know ? My dad did that in 97 :(
Just so you all know it was a easy death ya , but it's damn hard on your loved ones you leave behind .
PS: Did you know this also ? That your brains leak out your mouth after you do it , not a pretty site for you loved ones to find after you do it either .
Please think twice before giving advice about shooting yourself again .
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Airspro--I'm sorry your dad didn't inform you of his intention. My wife knows how I feel, and she agrees with me completely.
Given our age, it's something we probably won't need to worry about for another few decades. My hope is that the law will change between then and now. I certainly don't want to take that course of action, but it's far better than the alternative.
J_A_B
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About 4 months ago, my insulin pump malfunctioned. Or more accurately, I was putting in the delivery system, which is a small canula which goes below the skin and stays there for a few days. It goes in through an autoinjector of sorts - and it malfunctioned and was stuck inside of me - couldn't pull the damn thing out b/c it hurt too much. Was afraid the needle was broken off - so we went to the ER. Had to wait 3 hours, and a coworker shows up next to me with his finger swoollen up - with his wedding band on it. Long short, he gets in before me with his swoollen finger to get the thing cut off.
Meanwhile, its been 4 hours - and I havn't been able to deliver insulin, and didn't have the presence of mind to take a bottle and needle with me to do it while the pump was inactive. I asked the duty nurse to order up a few units so I could get my number back into something which was manageable.
2 hours later...I get it delivered. The nurse tries to put it into my arm, twice failing - I snatch it from her hand "I've done this more then u", and into my stomach.
2 weeks later, the bill - and I still have to laugh about this. ER admission, $350. Vile of insulin...$400. 4unit injection, $200 - which I did myself.
And btw, they got the damn needle thing removed without a hitch.
Wolf
P.S. I'm sure insurance laughed at the last 2 - without it u do get ****ed.
My wife was uninsured for a short while during I was trying to get her coverage. She got ill, sure enough - $2000, and after was covered.
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cheat pain?
maybe your breast implants are leaking...
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This country needs - so badly - to get over its irrational fear of 'socialist' policy and get a National Health Service sorted out.
The health industry in the US is way, way out of control.
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Just so happens someone has proposed just that for Texas.
Another reason I'm voting for Kinky Friedman... Texas Care (http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/healthcare.pdf)
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Originally posted by wooley
This country needs - so badly - to get over its irrational fear of 'socialist' policy and get a National Health Service sorted out.
The health industry in the US is way, way out of control.
In terms of tax money spent your system is more communist than the european systems are. I've actually reversed my view in this issue. I simply get much better return for my money in our system.
It's interesting that we have private hospitals aswell, they have the best doctors and equipment and offer great service(not that there's anything wrong with the public ones), and yet their bills are only a fraction of those described here(even without any "NHS" coverage).