Toggle sidebar

Hospital billing

P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
 
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
Anon1717806835 said:
I know if I ever have a heart attack and end up in the ER, I want to see a complete estimate of all the costs beforehand. That way I can compare it to menu at the funeral home....
Click to expand...
Well you know, knowing ahead of time what charges are gonna be allows one to plan. I don't have to look at a restaurant menu right this second to decide what i want to eat as i'm hungry.

When i get hungry, i already have an idea of where and I can afford to go or what i'd like to eat based on quality and service.
 
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
Bulldog45 said:
How many other people were in the ER? Just assume the hospital won’t collect anything from them and there you go.
Click to expand...
I understand that this is part of the problem, but i feel like there are ways to fix this. Didn't obamacare save everyone and make sure everyone has inusrance? (i'm kidding; sort of)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leeshouldveflanked
was21

was21

Senior
May 29, 2007
9,937
584
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
Do you have insurance? Once the insurance is filed you probably won't owe that much. Most medical facilities and doctors' office often put inflated charges on bills. If they accept Medicare and whatever supplemental insurance you have, that's what they get paid.
 
  • Like
Reactions: patdog
P

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,799
26,189
113
How the heck is an emergency room going to be able to give you an estimate of what it will cost when they have no idea what they will need to do until after they examine you? $1,506 for an emergency room visit is dang cheap if you ask me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: skipperDawg and Predestined
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
was21 said:
Do you have insurance? Once the insurance is filed you probably won't owe that much. Most medical facilities and doctors' office often put inflated charges on bills. If they accept Medicare and whatever supplemental insurance you have, that's what they get paid.
Click to expand...
I do and i understand it won't be that much.

My point is why the 17 have we made it so complicated? It should be so much easier.

My answer? Hospitals, Insurance companies and the government have 17ed it all up. They are all responsible.

Simplify it and it will get better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PBRME
greenbean.sixpack

greenbean.sixpack

All-American
Oct 6, 2012
8,811
8,088
113
MagnoliaHunter said:
The real racket is an ambulance. I was carried exactly 12 miles. I climbed on the stretcher myself, they did absolutely nothing execpt strap me in, slide me and and slide me out. Bill was $3200.
Click to expand...
Folks call 911 way too much, unless you’re bleeding out, have a broken back or don’t have transportation, self transport to the ER.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

All-American
Dec 11, 2007
10,008
5,836
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
I'd assume a paying ER patient is subsidizing bad debts of a lot of uninsured people that clog up ERs for non-ER events and never pay.

But yes, we need transparency in medical billings.
 
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
ckDOG said:
I'd assume a paying ER patient is subsidizing bad debts of a lot of uninsured people that clog up ERs for non-ER events and never pay.

But yes, we need transparency in medical billings.
Click to expand...
We should theoretically be able to fix both of those things without spending tons of money.
 
J

johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
14,328
4,825
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
We have completely broken the finance part of our healthcare system with third party payment and wanting to pretend that there are no conseuences for choices or that how much people pay should be strongly driven by how much they utilize.

So insurers keep finding new ways to not pay costs, and providers keep finding new ways to charge, and we end up with a 17ing mess where what you get charged has almost nothing to do with the cost of providing you care.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Perd Hapley, MagnoliaHunter, PBRME and 2 others
J

johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
14,328
4,825
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
We should theoretically be able to fix both of those things without spending tons of money.
Click to expand...
The problem is not money, it's politics. We could fix a lot of it just by running charges through the patient first in non-emergency situations. Let emergency care be price regulated, and let everything else be market driven. But even if we did that, it wouldn't fix the issue that everything is going to be expensive because we've spent decades throttling supply, and we can't fix that in a year or even five.
 
GloryDawg

GloryDawg

Heisman
Mar 3, 2005
19,388
16,442
113
Give Amazon time. Jeff Bezos will figure out way to make it more affordable and faster. He will get richer doing it.***
 
T-TownDawgg

T-TownDawgg

All-Conference
Nov 4, 2015
4,596
4,382
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Well you know, knowing ahead of time what charges are gonna be allows one to plan. I don't have to look at a restaurant menu right this second to decide what i want to eat as i'm hungry.

When i get hungry, i already have an idea of where and I can afford to go or what i'd like to eat based on quality and service.
Click to expand...
The faulty reasoning of this “al a carte” medical treatment is highlighted within this very post.

Many people will walk into an ER and fatally refuse treatments they need but in their mind is either obscenely priced or unaffordable.

In seriousness, you could have been having a lethal incident, but decided not to go to the ER simply because of cost or principle.

On the other hand, one too may times of feeling like you’ve just been butttraped by medical billing has the same cumulative effect.
 
GloryDawg

GloryDawg

Heisman
Mar 3, 2005
19,388
16,442
113
Studies have shown if you want to live longer, have less illness and injuries as you get older, lift weights at the gym. It will keep you strong as you get older. Preventing falls from weak muscles and when you do fall you will have muscle mass to prevent broken bones. One study showed 90 minutes a week of weight training can slow you biological aging by four years.
 
Villagedawg

Villagedawg

All-Conference
Nov 16, 2005
1,990
1,952
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
We have the best healthcare in the world!***********************************************************************
 
maroonmadman

maroonmadman

Senior
Nov 7, 2010
2,530
853
113
MagnoliaHunter said:
The real racket is an ambulance. I was carried exactly 12 miles. I climbed on the stretcher myself, they did absolutely nothing execpt strap me in, slide me and and slide me out. Bill was $3200.
Click to expand...
Similar experience. 20 mile ride (used one barf bag), $3600. For that price I should've got a limo and a couple of strippers with a hot tub. .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dawgs87 and MagnoliaHunter
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
T-TownDawgg said:
The faulty reasoning of this “al a carte” medical treatment is highlighted within this very post.

Many people will walk into an ER and fatally refuse treatments they need but in their mind is either obscenely priced or unaffordable.

In seriousness, you could have been having a lethal incident, but decided not to go to the ER simply because of cost or principle.

On the other hand, one too may times of feeling like you’ve just been butttraped by medical billing has the same cumulative effect.
Click to expand...
We dont need to be protected from ourselves. If i don't wanna go to the hospital b/c i know the cost up front thats on me. No different with choosing to smoke, etc.
 
woozman

woozman

All-Conference
Nov 13, 2004
3,402
2,583
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
Your itemization doesn't include all the high dollar equipment that they hooked you up to, used to scan you, etc. That stuff isn't cheap and I doubt it was given to them. I would imagine that a typical ER probably costs $1 -$2 million to equip...
 
R

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
18,975
2,081
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...

ERs and hospitals have a huge amount of overhead. And your insurance company will only pay a fraction of what they billed you - maybe 10-20%.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

All-American
Dec 11, 2007
10,008
5,836
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
We should theoretically be able to fix both of those things without spending tons of money.
Click to expand...
One would think. Somebody is making money off the system being broken and they must be pretty good at making sure it stays that way.
 
BoDawg.sixpack

BoDawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2010
5,386
2,853
113
Google United Health stock price. And then read the news that comes with the plunge in said stock price. It's getting nasty out there. Good luck.
 
P

paindonthurt

All-Conference
Apr 7, 2025
3,811
2,756
113
RocketDawg said:
ERs and hospitals have a huge amount of overhead. And your insurance company will only pay a fraction of what they billed you - maybe 10-20%.
Click to expand...
Then lower the GD overhead!

take insurance out of this equation.

charge customers what it cost and what is required to make a reasonable profit. Hell make an unreasonable profit. I don’t care as long as it’s easy for people to see prices and for competition to enter the market.
 
M

MagnoliaHunter

All-Conference
Jan 23, 2007
1,506
1,223
113
greenbean.sixpack said:
Folks call 911 way too much, unless you’re bleeding out, have a broken back or don’t have transportation, self transport to the ER.
Click to expand...

I was almost unconscious with a concussion, a broke sternum and ribs. It was very hard to breathe. I would have called someone to come get me if I had been thinking clearly.
 
horshack.sixpack

horshack.sixpack

All-American
Oct 30, 2012
11,360
8,258
113
paindonthurtDCD2 said:
Ok i went to the ER in early March. I'm fine other than i'm a pu$$y sometimes.

I was there for 2 hrs max.

I received 2 bills.

1 bill from the hospital for electrocardiogram 12 lead and ER III
electrocardiogram - $235
ER III - $584
total - $819.00

1 bill from another company for the ER doctor
$687

so for 2 hours max, the hospital charged me $1,506 and they didn't use any consumables. No IVs, no bandages, etc. Everything they used on me can be used again except for some adhesive stickons for the electrocardiogram. Lets call it $75 max for things that are consumed and cant be used again.

Total time i looked at a doctor? 15 mins max. Lets say the doctor spend 45 mins seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 0.75 hrs
Total time i looked at a nurse? 25 mins max. Lets say the nurse spent 1 hr seeing me and reviewing my test and chart. 1 hr

Lets say you charg $500/hr for a doctor and $200/hr for a nurse. Neither are making nearly that much and thats plenty of room for profit with no consumables.

$500 x 0.75 doctor
$200 x 1 nurse
$75 x 2 hrs room
$75 in consumables
$800 total max

WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? Why can't there be a menu that people see ahead of time of charges? What charges are and how they will be charged? Why is it so complicated?
Click to expand...
Our system sucks in a many ways. Transparency is one of them. Dealing with insurance delays is another. No matter the charges, I wait until I'm about 60 days past due before I have any confidence that the provider and insurer have any agreement on what I might actually owe...
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: paindonthurtDCD2
You must log in or register to reply here.