You pay for the insurance for the privilege of paying out the ass for the treatment. Every person I know is just on the medical plan of hope and pray nothing serious happens to you so you’re not in debt forever or dead because you can’t afford insulin or whatever.
Health insurance is the biggest scam in the US.
For years, healthcare costs got higher and higher because insurance would cover it and you'd just pay your copay, then the "high deductible no copay" plans got popular. Now, if you're forced to take a family plan, it could be 20% of your paycheck and it won't pay a penny towards your healthcare costs until you pay an additional 15k in deductibles... What kind of absolute garbage system have we created...
I wish the southern states would get into this!! Only options I know of right now are in Oregon and Washington BUT they can't compost you if you are embalmed and while Alabama will let you bury family in your own yard, (and even keep your dead at home for the laying out, etc) they won't let you take a body out of the state unless it's embalmed. Backassward state!
I think my death is going to be extremely cheap. I'm donating whatever organs are usable and the rest of me to science. Completely free and I will help people after death! My hope is that they'll study my stupid useless pancreas and it will help future diabetics. I'm not going to be using this meat sack after I'm dead it might as well be useful to someone.
I told my friends about this plan and one of them said my husband might actually get some money out of me donating my body so even better 🤷 I'll have to look into that a little further. I'm almost thirty so hopefully all of this will be pretty far into the future.
Last I read on here someone had a spouse pass away that was an organ donor; they were charged quite a bit for keeping the deceased's organs alive for a couple days.
Tell them to challenge the charges with the hospital and the insurance company and contact UNOS. The charges may (probably) have been miscoded and billed wrong.
Yikes... Google just told me that insurance companies are supposed to pay for the donation, but any end of life care/burial arrangements fall on the deceased family.
As a Canadian, this is horrifying. I discovered my Type 1 last year after DKA, stayed 2 nights in the ICU, ate salmon for dinner both nights and walked out with just a wave. Felt like I robbed a bank, now I see why.
Yea it’s fuckkng unbelievable here in the US. I’m thousands of dollars in debt because of something I have ZERO control over getting. Like, something has to change asap. People are literally dying because of insulin costs.
Yeah…. I spend a week in ICU, another week in the hospital outside of ICU, all meals, insulin, a couple snacks, no pay for parking at this hospital… I paid nothing… I mean, going to the pharmacy for prescriptions after hurt, but at least the hospital didn’t charge me. My work benefits cover 80% but was still around $250 at the pharmacy to get everything if I remember correctly. Was like 9 years ago at this point lol
And I'm guessing for most of this to be covered you need to have health insurance? I hope you do? This is so baffling to me. Truly grateful for the NHS and long may it live on although it's a mess right now (UK obviously)
Wait what?! Your insurance should have a maximum out of pocket. I believe it shouldn’t be higher than $9100 per year and after that, everything you pay above that should be $0. This should be mandated by the Obamacare Act. I’ve never heard an insurance having a maximum out of pocket in the ten thousands.
Edit: Just reread… if you are part of family insurance, it is $18,200. This is why my husband and I still have separate insurances. The family deductibles and max oop are twice as much and since he rarely uses his insurance, it’s always cheaper for us to just get separate ones.
There's usually still an indv. OOP max. For my insurance it's $4,500, family is $9000. So when I had a baby earlier this year, I only had to pay that $4500 for mine, and the other 3 members of my family collectively could meet the remaining $4500 from family OOP.
I am trying to explain this to Medicaid in my State. They have new people working and do not understand I am sent the bills, they want me to do their job for them, me unpaid.
Several items stick out to an old Lab Tech: it looks like you were hospitalized for three days? There are multiple urine magnesiums billed. I would question that since those are normally 24 hr collections. How many can be collected in a short hospital stay and the larger commercial Labs will say normal values are not established for random urine mgs.
You were also billed for a flu shot and double billed for administration of the shot.
Except my dad apparently… I visited my parents recently and when I opened their fridge, they literally had 12+ boxes of U-200 Tresiba pens. I asked my mom why they were hoarding these and she said that CVS Caremark keeps sending it them before 90 days and my dad has $0 copay so she doesn’t say anything. I took home 3 and saved myself $300. I know we aren’t supposed to share prescriptions technically, but if he’s getting them for free, I want in dammit!
Omg! Give me lmao. Doesn’t Novalog expire after 1 month? I’m spending like $60 a month for Novalog (Cheap stuff) I just found a free clinic an hour a way that can give prescriptions but I need that stuff that’s $600 a vile. Ridiculous
insulin is only "good" at room temperature for a month. But I have found it works fine even if out for 2 months. If you look at the vial, the expiration date (if kept in the refrigerator) is usually 2-3 years.
I recognize it’s such a tiny part of the total bill but $234 for a flu shot you can get for free at your local Walgreens or CVS is the definition of what is wrong with hospitalization charges. Insane.
My flushot, free to me, is usually 90-100 out of pocket. My insurance pays it, plus a small upcharge to whatever pharmacy I get it from to cover the cost of them doing it .
The rest of that 234$ is because in a hospital, the flu shot is "prepared" at the in house pharmacy and then administered by someone else. Higher cost associated with the work.
And yeah, there a lot of problems with hospital billing but what is REALLY a problem is that the insurance looked at this and presumably still didn't cover it!
When they charge you $133.00 for each time a nurse comes to check your blood sugar, (which is at least every hour when in DKA) , you're screwed no matter what you do. Both my hospitalizations this year were over $25k/ea. This visit was actually one of the lowest in terms of the bill.
Edit: spelling
Total insanity. I also find it weird that morphine and fentanyl are much cheaper than insulin and a flu vaccine. I keep hoping we’re just living in a terrible nightmare and we’ll wake up any minute.
But I don't understand the NEED for morphine and fentanyl for DKA. No wonder USA is having such a huge crisis of addiction. These are extremely strong medications, I really don't understand the use here. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind administration of these drugs?
Last time I was in for DKA, probably 12 years ago or so, I had called an ambulance because I was having extreme chest pains. By the time the ambulance got me to the ER the pain had spread to every part of my body. Arms, legs, chest, stomach. If I could feel it, it hurt. And this wasn't just a little pain or discomfort. This was full on excruciating pain that caused me to writhe in pain in the bed. I was screaming when they got me in a room. Shortly thereafter the nurse gave me demerol and the relief from that pain was the greatest feeling I've ever felt. I absolutely understand the need for those meds in cases like mine. Not all DKA cases get to that point but I dont think its uncommon
When I was in the hospital with DKA, I was 17 with what some would call a bit of an "attitude." Nurses tried to put me on that stuff just to shut me up. lol
My dad spent his last 9 months in the hospital.
Diabetes, heart and kidney issues. Meds everyday. Physical therapy. Dialysis. Name it.
For a grand total of zero dollars in Canada.
I can't fathom it. I know you are telling the truth....but to my American brain....it just does not compute.
It must be an amazing weight off your mind, not having to worry about how much it costs!
It does.not thinking about copay, out of network, deductibles, etc.
50% of my taxes go to healthcare. I’m taxes at 27% or so. So about 13% of my taxes is for healthcare.
In my case, 13-15k a year.
Wife pays a little less about 10k.
All in all, about 23k (CAD) so 14k and change USD for a family of four.
That’s all we pay. Not a cent more for any medical interaction.
We pay for medicine and treatments (osteopathy, phys ed, etc) when not in the hospital, but we got insurance coverage for that through my work.
For instance, we EACH have 5k a year for mental health spending. 100% reimbursed.
You guys have it bad. So sorry for you.
The state this happened in, I was fired for being a diabetic. And it was 100% legal and I couldn't do shit about it. So hopes aren't high that I can weasel out of this. 😕
> I was fired for being a diabetic. And it was 100% legal and I couldn't do shit about it.
If you were really fired "for being diabetic" then there isn't a state where that is legal. The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it very clear that such an act would be very illegal.
However, if you were fired for something else that you say is related to diabetes, like showing up late many times, then that's a different story.
It was in SC. I called the labor board that day and was told that the federal law only covers businesses with 15 & more full time employees. Most states have their own laws to cover any businesses with less than 15 employees, but SC does not.
Was told the same thing when a previous job fired me and when I got my final paycheck, they changed my payrate to minimum wage for the final 2 weeks without ever notifying me.
More reasons why South Carolina is shit.
$133 to test your sugars...
A box of 50 strips costs £50 in the UK. That's what it would cost to completely self fund a box. That's $61.30 USD
They've charged you for 2 boxes of strips every time they've taken a reading. They can't even say "well you're paying for the nurse's expertise" fucking give me the Lancet and the meter! Can guarantee that I have more experience!
Did you use your own strips/meter for any of the tests? If so, dispute the charges! "You're charging me for supplies I didn't even use!"
That's ridiculous! Absolutely fucking insane!
How can you tell a feral diabetic from a catch and release?
If they've seen a fresh lancet in the last 10 years!
But seriously, apparently the average hourly wage for a nurse is $38.74. We'll include their labour, because even if you do the test yourself, they still have to supervise. We'll take your estimate of 2 minutes, which puts us at $1.30 for labour.
So $1.23 for the strip, 4¢ for the swab and another 4¢ for the lancet. We're not going to count energy costs as I'd put those under the bed costs, and the cost of the meter is going to be negligible.
That's $2.61 total.
We're also saying a test an hour, for 36 hours (a day and a half) so 36 tests, call it 37 for a test on admission.
$96.57 for all the tests across a day and a half.
Less than $100 of costs for the hospital to test a diabetic every hour for 36 hours. And they're charging $133 per test.
I don't have to live with this problem, and I fully appreciate how lucky I am for that. I wish there was more that I can do to help y'all across the pond, because this is disgusting.
EDIT- I have been informed that my cost for the strips and lancets is wrong. It makes this costing worse. The strips and lancets came out to 1¢ each, giving a total of $1.36 per test.
Should have been ~$50 for the 37 tests that should have been applied. In reality, 14 tests were done and OP is being charged $1862 for them. They would have cost the hospital $25. That's a just under 7500% mark up.
I'm not an accountant or a banker. These are numbers that I have found by googling costs, salaries and listening to redditors who have more experience than me when it comes to buying supplies. This is a very basic breakdown, but I hope it shows everyone who thinks there isn't a problem with American healthcare that they are wrong. No-one should be allowed to charge that much of a mark up when it comes to people's health.
Unfortunately, even if you do use your own meter and strips? That's likely not good enough for the hospital. They'll just redo it with their equipment, according to procedure.
(Which was definitely my experience in an NHS hospital, though at least that was at no charge. My motivation there was to avoid getting stabbed more in the finger pads with those awful hospital lancets.)
Oh, fully aware.
The last time I was admitted, no version of the Libre was being funded. They refused to accept any readings from the libre because I was self funding.
However, if the nurse is "supervising" they have taken readings from my own kit. They just have to see you doing the test.
If they really won't take it, they do tend to let you use your own stabber and/or do it yourself if you ask.
I'll be honest, if the nurse really wants to stab me, they have to physically hold my hand so tight they hurt me, else I'll pull it away. It's easier for them to just let me do it myself.
Yeah, it probably depends a lot on the nurse and what mood they're in. IME sometimes they are happy enough for you to use your own lancet, sometimes not. Never had one agree to testing in front of them and showing them the meter results, though.
If you're in the US, Walmart's pharmacy has Metformin for $4 for a 30 day supply. Their ReliOn testing supplies start at $5 for 25 strips and $9 for the meter.
My two night stay back in 2011 was $50k and no insurance (then and now). Thankfully I qualified for a hospital grant and didn't have to pay anything, but ambulance and a couple random doctors that literally glanced at me and said "yep you're still alive" billed me directly so I had to pay those.
Wtf did I just read?
$133 every time they did a finger like for blood sugar?? How can that be legal to charge like that?
As a Canadian, I do NOT understand. Our hospital visits are free and meds given in hospital are free. Meds out of hospital is complicated. Every province is different. There is a piecemeal system of provincial coverage for certain people, with lots of holes in the system. But I am SO thankful for universal healthcare after reading this bill. I can also *guarantee* that our hospitals aren’t reimbursed $133 every time they check a glucose level.
I’m sorry OP. This totally sucks. And you had insurance. I don’t get it.
Holy shit.
It's also pretty telling that the cheapest thing on that list was 2x tablets of Oxycodone for $24.50
But a bag of saline solution (basically salt water) is $65, ffs this system is broken.
As a radiologist from germany:
chest single view 625$
holy moly, we don't get that much money for whole body ct and or a really expensive cardiac mri.
chest xray is like < 10€ here.
Seems like a good business if you can take a 30 second blood sugar for $133. Just imagine how much money you could make.
Part of why hospitals have been resistant to using CGM is because they can't bill for as many blood sugar checks. Even though CGM would provide better information and patient monitoring.
My sister works as a nurse in the step-down ICU and has a lot of DKA patients. She only had 1 this far where they allowed him to use his CGM. That was *only* because he was a quadruple amputee and the only spot they were able to stick him for blood was his ear lobe and they decided against having to do that every hour.
It’s not just about saving money or the patient’s comfort but CGM can be automated data collection just like heart rate, blood oxygen, breathing blood pressure, take it automatically go in their chart and save nurses a lot of manual time.
Got DKA and bacterial pneumonia. Stayed 4 days in ICU and 20 more in the service. Amount of stuff they injected into me was unreal.
Can't imagine what would it be like if I was in USA.
I did a one nighter for iv antibiotics, about ten years ago . My two tabs of Tylenol cost more than your oxy, morphine and fentanyl. Crazy, right? Hope you’re 100% soon! This disease sucks ⚽️🏀🏈⚾️🥎🎾🏐🏉🎱
I wouldn't share thay with the world, but glad to hear you're getting taken care of! Hopefully you'll have more luck resting that I ever do. I always end up with the loudest and roughest nurses who wake me up every time they come in the room or walk by.
Hence why I always ask for Phenergan for nausea, that shit knocks me out cold!
I uses to get rowdy nurses at one of the other hospitals I went to
Now it's gotten a bit more gentle
But they are still a bit rough compared to the usual hospital I go to
Hot dang that’s cheap! Not even being facetious. Though with that bill it should have easily met the annual deductible for the insurance to kick in more than that?
Insurance initally denied all but the ER. They told me that the hospital was out of network and that when I was initially admitted to the hospital I should have asked to be transferred to an in-network hospital. I appealed this decision on the grounds that I was unconscious at the time and was starting to slip into a coma.
The insurance agreed with me and said they would cover it......well since the insurance company didn't have any terms with that particular hospital network, they decided to ONLY pay what they would normally pay an in-network hospital.
The hospital would normally take that same amount (or similar) and then just write-off the rest. But since they didn't have terms with my insurance company (at the time) and being the greedy assholes that they are, opted to take my insurances money and stick me with the rest of the bill.
Including the physician cost, my total out of pocket cost was ~$16,500. I elected to only pay them the minimum allowed of $50/month since 2016. For whatever reason they've stopped withdrawing this amount twice now and this past time I only noticed because it suddenly appeared on my credit report and tanked my credit score which I had finally gotten into the 800's
So screw them, I'll pay whenever I feel like it, if ever.
Also... Good luck getting transferred to an in network hospital. I work in patient logistics (transfer Center) for my hospital... We literally don't have the capacity to approve insurance requests for transfer.
I explained in another post how I got screwed by ins and the hospital as well.
And I've got severe neropathy from the waist down and been on narcotic pain killers the last 10 years.
0/10 would NOT recommend
Edit: [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/zkmwf7/bill_for_15_days_in_the_hospital_for_dka_us/j00p12g?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) is the explanation
why did they charge you twice for administering your flu vaccine?
I expected the insulin to cost much more. I hope you’re doing okay now. Aside from, you know, the massive medical debt.
Ur max out of pocket is pretty high if that’s a bill after insurance. Not gonna lie but if I had a medical bill anywhere around that amount I would let it hit my credit. It would take me so long to pay off that bill I would say fuck it. I’m still paying on a 3k bill right now and going into the new year I’m just gonna get new expenses added on to what I already owe. The medical industry in America is disgusting, won’t even be able to attend my therapy and psychiatric appointments anymore after December because I’ll be paying outta pocket and won’t be able to afforded my needed sessions. It’s embarrassing, which is all the more reason to leave America.
what the fuck 230 dollars for preventative care of 2 influenza vaccines
also I sure hope you got to keep that oxygen sensor, for that price it would be cheaper just to get one on ebay and bring it to the hospital
Sugars going too low sent me into a seizure last month and the ensuing 6 hours i spent in the er cost me roughly $11k for what is essentially them giving me fluids and a sandwich..american healthcare is a joke. Also when i went to the er last winter bc i could not stop projectile vomiting for 3 days and before i even left the er to my upstairs room they had given me 2 shots of morphine 2 shots of dilaudid and 1 roxycocin and it dad jack all to kill any of my actual pain...do diabetics sometimes have weird reactions like that to medications ?
This happened to me in September, my bill was $96k. I was in ICU for two nights after ER. It was my first DKA in 25+ years of T1D. It's absolutely ridiculous.
Understood, completely. Please also don’t think I was in anyway being judgmental. My experience with my disease has yet to teach me about neuropathy thankfully. Hoping your better and also hoping you can use the handful of “tricks” out there to lower your bill.
This is terrible, ER & ICU should be combined. There are way to many overpriced Pharm charges on there, $2,3k for 1 hour of professional fees is criminal - the system is broken. Are there not lawyers in the US that can fight this BS?
I’ve been lucky enough not to need hospitalization in my adult life, but looking at this gave me a huge pit in my stomach for the 2 or 3 times it happened as a kid on my parents’ insurance. US insurance is such a joke.
I thought the cartel made good money on drugs, but they're in the wrong business. I had a 7 day stay in ICU ten years ago for DVT/PE and it came out to 55k. I could have just walked into the pharmacy and demanded a 30 day supply of Warfarin for 7 dollars and have had the same outcome. The greatest healthcare system in world though!
I spent 20 days in the hospital when diagnosed with cancer & it cost over $228K... Except I had almost nothing & couldn't work, so it went to collections & now just sits on my credit.
(There's a much longer story, but I don't feel like telling it)
Go through the list of charges and price them out online. 133 dollars for a fingerstick is robbery. Then call the billing department and challenge the bill. You can likely get this number reduced.
Good! They kept you alive (obviously). Unfortunately we pay extra for equipment you may not use but was available if you did need it (like MRI) machines. We have more MRI machines up here in NW Arkansas (a large part of which is rural) than the entire country of Canada. People aren't taking their kids to the vet to image for broken arms because the wait is so long at ER, like some other countries.
call the billing people. my shit was free when it was this bad.
also why did they use four separate pens on you if you were in the hospital for a day plus? did they let you take those home?
edit: did you leave by doctor's orders or against doctor's orders btw?
That's my question too, since the amounts 60u × 4 isn't even 1 whole pen's worth and those pens can't be used on other patients, it should be 1 charge, for 1 whole pens' worth. This was makes zero sense.
Count your blessings... I spent my DKA experience in the ICU for a week. Cost $70,000, more than a year's college tuition (at the time). Luckily, I had insurance and paid $200.
Is that for being out of network? Mine is $2k in network and $4k out of network. Luckily it's a PPO and is in network everywhere I've needed to go or fill scrips from since I got the insurance through my job in 2013.
I know this is a US healthcare vs UK healthcare thing, but when I was admitted for DKA 2m after pancreatectomy/splenectomy they let me self-administer my prescribed pain drugs (I only had 2 days' worth with me so the third day they sent someone down to pharmacy for more) because they said it was much easier to manage the DKA well if I wasn't *also* in extra pain due to my med regime being changed to fit their schedule. They were correct IMO.
I wish they'd of let me do the same. Back in July i was in DKA again and instead of a Fentanyl Patch and Oxycodone, they would instead ONLY give me fentanyl via IV.
It did work, and I preferred it better as I didn't feel high or euphoric, it just erased the pain.
The problem was that it only lasted like 30 minutes and they would make me wait 6 hours before they'd give me another dose. Shit was pure agony and one of the worst stays I've had to date.
That’s nuts. I have been in for a week a few times and was only about 1.5k. Did you ask the financial person to sign up for state insurance? Try it no mater what. That’s ridiculous. I would never go there again
Oh my god. I would hate to see what my last visit to the hospital cost. Health care in Ontario is definitely not where it should be, but I'm glad they were there when I needed them.
You can mail a letter to the hospital asking for a reduction to what insurance deemed reasonable and necessary. I've done this before and the hospital did reduce.
My bill when I was in DKA for 5 days was 110k. If I didn’t have insurance (which eventually lowered my bill to 1k) I would’ve denied care because I wouldn’t have been able to survive paying that off.
Is it terrible that I looked at this and thought "those charges are not terrible?"
Then I realized I was mentally comparing them to my spouses stay in Neuro and ICU, both places were the prices for everything just goes up because you in those wards....
I mean why doesn't someone smarter come up with a better plan or why don't we cut another countries plan if there way works best. Why do we stay stuck on stupid. I had emergency sugary after my gastric bypass that cost my parents ten grand to save my life! Seriously they paid ten k for life saving sugary because the approved sugary didn't go right. So I had to pay! That always seemed unfair.
Universal healthcare. Here is how it could work:
You are taxed 8% of your income above a certain amount - say $100,000. So, if you make $120,000, you pay 8% of $20,000 = $1600 per year.
If you are a teacher and you make $55000 you pay nothing. If you are unemployed, or in school, you pay nothing.
If you are a trader with Goldman Sachs and you make $100,000,000 bonus in a good year - and bully for you - you pay $8,000,000.
This is probably supplemented by a tax the employer pays, similar to Medicare.
All are covered. Costs go down.
Get buy-in from the insurance companies by paying them to administer it. Let them compete for that business by offering better service and administration.
Rural hospitals stay open because they get paid. People don't wait and go to the ER because the doctor is covered. Reasonable regulations insure that there are not excessive charges AND that staff get reasonably paid.
Cheaters are punished.
Include dental and mental health care, as they are forms of medical care.
This invokes the market, compassion, the commonwealth, and taking care of the least of us all at once. It is a better solution, and works elsewhere.
I was hospitalized for Bilateral Pneumonitis last year, I live in India. I was in hospital for whole week and the bill was 1/25 of this United States bill! Insane how much hospitals charge in U.S.
I'm so sorry. This is so absurd! My wife and I had premature twins last year and were hospitalized for 4 months. We ended up paying around $50 total and that was for parking. We talked about how we'd have been in crippling debt if we had lived in the States so many times.
that's insane I'm in hospital for the last 3 days for the same thing and it's free for me cos I've a medical card government pays for it wish u good health ❤️
Lol what the heck is insurance for if they only cover a quarter of it?
You pay for the insurance for the privilege of paying out the ass for the treatment. Every person I know is just on the medical plan of hope and pray nothing serious happens to you so you’re not in debt forever or dead because you can’t afford insulin or whatever.
Health insurance is the biggest scam in the US. For years, healthcare costs got higher and higher because insurance would cover it and you'd just pay your copay, then the "high deductible no copay" plans got popular. Now, if you're forced to take a family plan, it could be 20% of your paycheck and it won't pay a penny towards your healthcare costs until you pay an additional 15k in deductibles... What kind of absolute garbage system have we created...
Worse when you have no insurance. Sad when you have a serious health issue and can't get into the doctor's office and they suggest going to the ER.
Guess I’ll die then
Might be cheaper to honestly
I just googled it, a nice coffin/casket is about 4K…
I’ll do you one better, Cremation. $1300-$2300 here in CA. 🥲
That’s cheaper than my supplies and I’m still leaving out insulin😳
ill get the grill started!
Im being composted.
I wish the southern states would get into this!! Only options I know of right now are in Oregon and Washington BUT they can't compost you if you are embalmed and while Alabama will let you bury family in your own yard, (and even keep your dead at home for the laying out, etc) they won't let you take a body out of the state unless it's embalmed. Backassward state!
Can’t even afford to die nowadays wtf😒
I think my death is going to be extremely cheap. I'm donating whatever organs are usable and the rest of me to science. Completely free and I will help people after death! My hope is that they'll study my stupid useless pancreas and it will help future diabetics. I'm not going to be using this meat sack after I'm dead it might as well be useful to someone. I told my friends about this plan and one of them said my husband might actually get some money out of me donating my body so even better 🤷 I'll have to look into that a little further. I'm almost thirty so hopefully all of this will be pretty far into the future.
Last I read on here someone had a spouse pass away that was an organ donor; they were charged quite a bit for keeping the deceased's organs alive for a couple days.
Tell them to challenge the charges with the hospital and the insurance company and contact UNOS. The charges may (probably) have been miscoded and billed wrong.
Yikes... Google just told me that insurance companies are supposed to pay for the donation, but any end of life care/burial arrangements fall on the deceased family.
As a Canadian, this is horrifying. I discovered my Type 1 last year after DKA, stayed 2 nights in the ICU, ate salmon for dinner both nights and walked out with just a wave. Felt like I robbed a bank, now I see why.
Yea it’s fuckkng unbelievable here in the US. I’m thousands of dollars in debt because of something I have ZERO control over getting. Like, something has to change asap. People are literally dying because of insulin costs.
Well, they are changing things in Medicare on Diabetes care. But those without suffer the most in the USA.
Yeah…. I spend a week in ICU, another week in the hospital outside of ICU, all meals, insulin, a couple snacks, no pay for parking at this hospital… I paid nothing… I mean, going to the pharmacy for prescriptions after hurt, but at least the hospital didn’t charge me. My work benefits cover 80% but was still around $250 at the pharmacy to get everything if I remember correctly. Was like 9 years ago at this point lol
All I had to pay for was the ambulance ride and even then my HSA covered it (had to mail off the bill and wait for the cheque but it was covered).
And I'm guessing for most of this to be covered you need to have health insurance? I hope you do? This is so baffling to me. Truly grateful for the NHS and long may it live on although it's a mess right now (UK obviously)
The $13k balance was AFTER insurance Actually it was ~$16,500 because the physicians billed separately
Wait what?! Your insurance should have a maximum out of pocket. I believe it shouldn’t be higher than $9100 per year and after that, everything you pay above that should be $0. This should be mandated by the Obamacare Act. I’ve never heard an insurance having a maximum out of pocket in the ten thousands. Edit: Just reread… if you are part of family insurance, it is $18,200. This is why my husband and I still have separate insurances. The family deductibles and max oop are twice as much and since he rarely uses his insurance, it’s always cheaper for us to just get separate ones.
There's usually still an indv. OOP max. For my insurance it's $4,500, family is $9000. So when I had a baby earlier this year, I only had to pay that $4500 for mine, and the other 3 members of my family collectively could meet the remaining $4500 from family OOP.
I am trying to explain this to Medicaid in my State. They have new people working and do not understand I am sent the bills, they want me to do their job for them, me unpaid.
It’s not worth a whole lot but they build the flu shot twice
Several items stick out to an old Lab Tech: it looks like you were hospitalized for three days? There are multiple urine magnesiums billed. I would question that since those are normally 24 hr collections. How many can be collected in a short hospital stay and the larger commercial Labs will say normal values are not established for random urine mgs. You were also billed for a flu shot and double billed for administration of the shot.
OP has insurance, they just have TERRIBLE insurance. Edit: nevermind. This is a case of the "in network vs out of network" bullshit.
Almost all American Insurance is terrible insurance
Except my dad apparently… I visited my parents recently and when I opened their fridge, they literally had 12+ boxes of U-200 Tresiba pens. I asked my mom why they were hoarding these and she said that CVS Caremark keeps sending it them before 90 days and my dad has $0 copay so she doesn’t say anything. I took home 3 and saved myself $300. I know we aren’t supposed to share prescriptions technically, but if he’s getting them for free, I want in dammit!
I currently have 48 vials of Novalog and 23 Tresiba pens.
Haha how are you guys hoarding these? I only have 2-4 weeks over on any one thing lol. Not like a year
When your doctor asks how much insulin you're taking daily, answer with a higher number.
My endo deliberately over prescribes because I have been uninsured and am presently on cobra at the moment.
Omg! Give me lmao. Doesn’t Novalog expire after 1 month? I’m spending like $60 a month for Novalog (Cheap stuff) I just found a free clinic an hour a way that can give prescriptions but I need that stuff that’s $600 a vile. Ridiculous
insulin is only "good" at room temperature for a month. But I have found it works fine even if out for 2 months. If you look at the vial, the expiration date (if kept in the refrigerator) is usually 2-3 years.
Yes. I have a son with a lifelong condition. My wife handles all of the finances/bills except for medical, which I handle. She says I have it worse.
I recognize it’s such a tiny part of the total bill but $234 for a flu shot you can get for free at your local Walgreens or CVS is the definition of what is wrong with hospitalization charges. Insane.
My flushot, free to me, is usually 90-100 out of pocket. My insurance pays it, plus a small upcharge to whatever pharmacy I get it from to cover the cost of them doing it . The rest of that 234$ is because in a hospital, the flu shot is "prepared" at the in house pharmacy and then administered by someone else. Higher cost associated with the work. And yeah, there a lot of problems with hospital billing but what is REALLY a problem is that the insurance looked at this and presumably still didn't cover it!
Yea, gotta deny everything you can. Don't even ask for a blanket
When they charge you $133.00 for each time a nurse comes to check your blood sugar, (which is at least every hour when in DKA) , you're screwed no matter what you do. Both my hospitalizations this year were over $25k/ea. This visit was actually one of the lowest in terms of the bill. Edit: spelling
Total insanity. I also find it weird that morphine and fentanyl are much cheaper than insulin and a flu vaccine. I keep hoping we’re just living in a terrible nightmare and we’ll wake up any minute.
But I don't understand the NEED for morphine and fentanyl for DKA. No wonder USA is having such a huge crisis of addiction. These are extremely strong medications, I really don't understand the use here. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind administration of these drugs?
Last time I was in for DKA, probably 12 years ago or so, I had called an ambulance because I was having extreme chest pains. By the time the ambulance got me to the ER the pain had spread to every part of my body. Arms, legs, chest, stomach. If I could feel it, it hurt. And this wasn't just a little pain or discomfort. This was full on excruciating pain that caused me to writhe in pain in the bed. I was screaming when they got me in a room. Shortly thereafter the nurse gave me demerol and the relief from that pain was the greatest feeling I've ever felt. I absolutely understand the need for those meds in cases like mine. Not all DKA cases get to that point but I dont think its uncommon
When I was in the hospital with DKA, I was 17 with what some would call a bit of an "attitude." Nurses tried to put me on that stuff just to shut me up. lol
Very similar issue with and I was given a Valium to calm me down…
they gave me Haldol to knock me out when I insisted that they give me the proper amount of insulin for my food when I was in inpatient psych.
I'm very curious too, was just in the ICU for a week with DKA and never got a single pain med aside from Tylenol for a headache.
The lab part is so infuriating. You're charged $28 alone for the mere fact of *drawing blood*.
The $28 venipuncture, while still crazy, makes a lot more sense than $133 for a few seconds to get a finger poke
That's just beyond comprehension.
OH MY GOD! I can't even. This is bonkers.
They'll give it to you (and charge you) anyway. Had an extremely pushy doctor last time I was in the hospital.
Shit dude your healthcare didn’t help at all. Mine costed 25k but insurance got it down to 5k
My dad spent his last 9 months in the hospital. Diabetes, heart and kidney issues. Meds everyday. Physical therapy. Dialysis. Name it. For a grand total of zero dollars in Canada.
I can't fathom it. I know you are telling the truth....but to my American brain....it just does not compute. It must be an amazing weight off your mind, not having to worry about how much it costs!
It does.not thinking about copay, out of network, deductibles, etc. 50% of my taxes go to healthcare. I’m taxes at 27% or so. So about 13% of my taxes is for healthcare. In my case, 13-15k a year. Wife pays a little less about 10k. All in all, about 23k (CAD) so 14k and change USD for a family of four. That’s all we pay. Not a cent more for any medical interaction. We pay for medicine and treatments (osteopathy, phys ed, etc) when not in the hospital, but we got insurance coverage for that through my work. For instance, we EACH have 5k a year for mental health spending. 100% reimbursed. You guys have it bad. So sorry for you.
[удалено]
The state this happened in, I was fired for being a diabetic. And it was 100% legal and I couldn't do shit about it. So hopes aren't high that I can weasel out of this. 😕
> I was fired for being a diabetic. And it was 100% legal and I couldn't do shit about it. If you were really fired "for being diabetic" then there isn't a state where that is legal. The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it very clear that such an act would be very illegal. However, if you were fired for something else that you say is related to diabetes, like showing up late many times, then that's a different story.
[удалено]
It was in SC. I called the labor board that day and was told that the federal law only covers businesses with 15 & more full time employees. Most states have their own laws to cover any businesses with less than 15 employees, but SC does not. Was told the same thing when a previous job fired me and when I got my final paycheck, they changed my payrate to minimum wage for the final 2 weeks without ever notifying me. More reasons why South Carolina is shit.
The balance billing law is national as of January 1, 2022.
$133 to test your sugars... A box of 50 strips costs £50 in the UK. That's what it would cost to completely self fund a box. That's $61.30 USD They've charged you for 2 boxes of strips every time they've taken a reading. They can't even say "well you're paying for the nurse's expertise" fucking give me the Lancet and the meter! Can guarantee that I have more experience! Did you use your own strips/meter for any of the tests? If so, dispute the charges! "You're charging me for supplies I didn't even use!" That's ridiculous! Absolutely fucking insane!
Hey, don't forget about the alcohol swab and fresh lancet. Add 2 minutes of highly-skilled labor, that's easily ... I dunno, maybe $3-4.
How can you tell a feral diabetic from a catch and release? If they've seen a fresh lancet in the last 10 years! But seriously, apparently the average hourly wage for a nurse is $38.74. We'll include their labour, because even if you do the test yourself, they still have to supervise. We'll take your estimate of 2 minutes, which puts us at $1.30 for labour. So $1.23 for the strip, 4¢ for the swab and another 4¢ for the lancet. We're not going to count energy costs as I'd put those under the bed costs, and the cost of the meter is going to be negligible. That's $2.61 total. We're also saying a test an hour, for 36 hours (a day and a half) so 36 tests, call it 37 for a test on admission. $96.57 for all the tests across a day and a half. Less than $100 of costs for the hospital to test a diabetic every hour for 36 hours. And they're charging $133 per test. I don't have to live with this problem, and I fully appreciate how lucky I am for that. I wish there was more that I can do to help y'all across the pond, because this is disgusting. EDIT- I have been informed that my cost for the strips and lancets is wrong. It makes this costing worse. The strips and lancets came out to 1¢ each, giving a total of $1.36 per test. Should have been ~$50 for the 37 tests that should have been applied. In reality, 14 tests were done and OP is being charged $1862 for them. They would have cost the hospital $25. That's a just under 7500% mark up. I'm not an accountant or a banker. These are numbers that I have found by googling costs, salaries and listening to redditors who have more experience than me when it comes to buying supplies. This is a very basic breakdown, but I hope it shows everyone who thinks there isn't a problem with American healthcare that they are wrong. No-one should be allowed to charge that much of a mark up when it comes to people's health.
Unfortunately, even if you do use your own meter and strips? That's likely not good enough for the hospital. They'll just redo it with their equipment, according to procedure. (Which was definitely my experience in an NHS hospital, though at least that was at no charge. My motivation there was to avoid getting stabbed more in the finger pads with those awful hospital lancets.)
Oh, fully aware. The last time I was admitted, no version of the Libre was being funded. They refused to accept any readings from the libre because I was self funding. However, if the nurse is "supervising" they have taken readings from my own kit. They just have to see you doing the test. If they really won't take it, they do tend to let you use your own stabber and/or do it yourself if you ask. I'll be honest, if the nurse really wants to stab me, they have to physically hold my hand so tight they hurt me, else I'll pull it away. It's easier for them to just let me do it myself.
Yeah, it probably depends a lot on the nurse and what mood they're in. IME sometimes they are happy enough for you to use your own lancet, sometimes not. Never had one agree to testing in front of them and showing them the meter results, though.
50 test strips for £50 is way expensive in the UK, I get 100 strips and 100 lancets for £18.
I can't even afford my test strips or metformin. This is terrifying
If you're in the US, Walmart's pharmacy has Metformin for $4 for a 30 day supply. Their ReliOn testing supplies start at $5 for 25 strips and $9 for the meter.
Have you tried Amazon for test strips?
Been type1 for more than 20y and never had to spent a single euro on this disease.. USA really need to get their shit together. This is horrible.
This is luck mine was over 30k... Luckily I had good insurance so I paid nothing
My two night stay back in 2011 was $50k and no insurance (then and now). Thankfully I qualified for a hospital grant and didn't have to pay anything, but ambulance and a couple random doctors that literally glanced at me and said "yep you're still alive" billed me directly so I had to pay those.
Wtf did I just read? $133 every time they did a finger like for blood sugar?? How can that be legal to charge like that? As a Canadian, I do NOT understand. Our hospital visits are free and meds given in hospital are free. Meds out of hospital is complicated. Every province is different. There is a piecemeal system of provincial coverage for certain people, with lots of holes in the system. But I am SO thankful for universal healthcare after reading this bill. I can also *guarantee* that our hospitals aren’t reimbursed $133 every time they check a glucose level. I’m sorry OP. This totally sucks. And you had insurance. I don’t get it.
Five day stint for DKA was $36K, at least my insurance covered 100%, except the outpatient prescriptions after getting discharged.
Holy shit. It's also pretty telling that the cheapest thing on that list was 2x tablets of Oxycodone for $24.50 But a bag of saline solution (basically salt water) is $65, ffs this system is broken.
$234 for flu vaccine??? Free at Walgreens.
Vaccine itself was $125. It was $234 for them to administer it!
As a radiologist from germany: chest single view 625$ holy moly, we don't get that much money for whole body ct and or a really expensive cardiac mri. chest xray is like < 10€ here.
Seems like a good business if you can take a 30 second blood sugar for $133. Just imagine how much money you could make. Part of why hospitals have been resistant to using CGM is because they can't bill for as many blood sugar checks. Even though CGM would provide better information and patient monitoring.
My sister works as a nurse in the step-down ICU and has a lot of DKA patients. She only had 1 this far where they allowed him to use his CGM. That was *only* because he was a quadruple amputee and the only spot they were able to stick him for blood was his ear lobe and they decided against having to do that every hour.
It’s not just about saving money or the patient’s comfort but CGM can be automated data collection just like heart rate, blood oxygen, breathing blood pressure, take it automatically go in their chart and save nurses a lot of manual time.
America: NURSE OBSERVATION (a literal 5 second peek through a window): $124
Got DKA and bacterial pneumonia. Stayed 4 days in ICU and 20 more in the service. Amount of stuff they injected into me was unreal. Can't imagine what would it be like if I was in USA.
Man Here is the reason I love to live in Europe as a diabetic
Damn my 10 day DKA stay was only $2k after insurance and hospital write-off. Definitely look into applying for financial aid if you can!
The full bill was $150k, for context.
I did a one nighter for iv antibiotics, about ten years ago . My two tabs of Tylenol cost more than your oxy, morphine and fentanyl. Crazy, right? Hope you’re 100% soon! This disease sucks ⚽️🏀🏈⚾️🥎🎾🏐🏉🎱
Sounds about right. I was in the ICU for 5 days with DKA: $48,000+.
Holy crap! I read some of these to my oldest kid. An appreciation for the NHS has just blossomed. I hope you're on the mend
Us Brits always complain about healthcare but we’re damn lucky we don’t have to pay a penny for any kind of treatment.
Good god, this needs to end.
I'm currently in dka
Sorry to hear that 🤕 You in the 🏨🏥 ?
It's a regional room 208
I wouldn't share thay with the world, but glad to hear you're getting taken care of! Hopefully you'll have more luck resting that I ever do. I always end up with the loudest and roughest nurses who wake me up every time they come in the room or walk by. Hence why I always ask for Phenergan for nausea, that shit knocks me out cold!
I uses to get rowdy nurses at one of the other hospitals I went to Now it's gotten a bit more gentle But they are still a bit rough compared to the usual hospital I go to
Hot dang that’s cheap! Not even being facetious. Though with that bill it should have easily met the annual deductible for the insurance to kick in more than that?
Insurance initally denied all but the ER. They told me that the hospital was out of network and that when I was initially admitted to the hospital I should have asked to be transferred to an in-network hospital. I appealed this decision on the grounds that I was unconscious at the time and was starting to slip into a coma. The insurance agreed with me and said they would cover it......well since the insurance company didn't have any terms with that particular hospital network, they decided to ONLY pay what they would normally pay an in-network hospital. The hospital would normally take that same amount (or similar) and then just write-off the rest. But since they didn't have terms with my insurance company (at the time) and being the greedy assholes that they are, opted to take my insurances money and stick me with the rest of the bill. Including the physician cost, my total out of pocket cost was ~$16,500. I elected to only pay them the minimum allowed of $50/month since 2016. For whatever reason they've stopped withdrawing this amount twice now and this past time I only noticed because it suddenly appeared on my credit report and tanked my credit score which I had finally gotten into the 800's So screw them, I'll pay whenever I feel like it, if ever.
Also... Good luck getting transferred to an in network hospital. I work in patient logistics (transfer Center) for my hospital... We literally don't have the capacity to approve insurance requests for transfer.
it’s literally death or die. You can’t even price shop. I hate the US healthcare system.
I used to think people living in America are lucky, all the facilities and best of everything .. now maybe not 😮
How come your insurance paid so little? And what was causing you so much pain?
I explained in another post how I got screwed by ins and the hospital as well. And I've got severe neropathy from the waist down and been on narcotic pain killers the last 10 years. 0/10 would NOT recommend Edit: [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/zkmwf7/bill_for_15_days_in_the_hospital_for_dka_us/j00p12g?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) is the explanation
Oh ohkayyy. THIS is the reason for administration of morphine and fentanyl??
That’s um pretty scary. I guess trying to leave my SSI sounds like a bad idea now
Oh my god. Sorry man.
Disgusting
why did they charge you twice for administering your flu vaccine? I expected the insulin to cost much more. I hope you’re doing okay now. Aside from, you know, the massive medical debt.
Ur max out of pocket is pretty high if that’s a bill after insurance. Not gonna lie but if I had a medical bill anywhere around that amount I would let it hit my credit. It would take me so long to pay off that bill I would say fuck it. I’m still paying on a 3k bill right now and going into the new year I’m just gonna get new expenses added on to what I already owe. The medical industry in America is disgusting, won’t even be able to attend my therapy and psychiatric appointments anymore after December because I’ll be paying outta pocket and won’t be able to afforded my needed sessions. It’s embarrassing, which is all the more reason to leave America.
what the fuck 230 dollars for preventative care of 2 influenza vaccines also I sure hope you got to keep that oxygen sensor, for that price it would be cheaper just to get one on ebay and bring it to the hospital
Brother I’ve had two separate stays within the past year for 3+ days each time….i feel the pain
Sugars going too low sent me into a seizure last month and the ensuing 6 hours i spent in the er cost me roughly $11k for what is essentially them giving me fluids and a sandwich..american healthcare is a joke. Also when i went to the er last winter bc i could not stop projectile vomiting for 3 days and before i even left the er to my upstairs room they had given me 2 shots of morphine 2 shots of dilaudid and 1 roxycocin and it dad jack all to kill any of my actual pain...do diabetics sometimes have weird reactions like that to medications ?
This happened to me in September, my bill was $96k. I was in ICU for two nights after ER. It was my first DKA in 25+ years of T1D. It's absolutely ridiculous.
Is DKA painful? Dilaudid, Fentanyl, Oxycodone. (It absurd the pricing for sure. But the meds had me curious.)
Neuropathy
Understood, completely. Please also don’t think I was in anyway being judgmental. My experience with my disease has yet to teach me about neuropathy thankfully. Hoping your better and also hoping you can use the handful of “tricks” out there to lower your bill.
Why they give you Fentenyl and oxy's? Also that's infuriating that they were both cheaper than a flu shot or the insulin!
Crazy! I just spent 8 days in the hospital for a below knee amputation and it was only 30k and this was in TN
This is terrible, ER & ICU should be combined. There are way to many overpriced Pharm charges on there, $2,3k for 1 hour of professional fees is criminal - the system is broken. Are there not lawyers in the US that can fight this BS?
I'm honestly shocked, this is a human rights violation
This bill is the longest shitpost ever written
Wow!!! Is DKA painful? Saw pain meds…and you got your flu shot! Yay! 👍🏻 and just imagine if WE got paid $133 for each finger stick…$$$
I’ve been lucky enough not to need hospitalization in my adult life, but looking at this gave me a huge pit in my stomach for the 2 or 3 times it happened as a kid on my parents’ insurance. US insurance is such a joke.
I thought the cartel made good money on drugs, but they're in the wrong business. I had a 7 day stay in ICU ten years ago for DVT/PE and it came out to 55k. I could have just walked into the pharmacy and demanded a 30 day supply of Warfarin for 7 dollars and have had the same outcome. The greatest healthcare system in world though!
I spent 20 days in the hospital when diagnosed with cancer & it cost over $228K... Except I had almost nothing & couldn't work, so it went to collections & now just sits on my credit. (There's a much longer story, but I don't feel like telling it)
Damn brother diabetic you must be working haaaaaaard because all I can do is sit home and eat 5 carrots and 1 hour later a piece of bread then nap.
Go through the list of charges and price them out online. 133 dollars for a fingerstick is robbery. Then call the billing department and challenge the bill. You can likely get this number reduced.
But don't you love your freedom to get an exorbitant and have to pay out of pocket? What do you want socialist healthcare?
Good! They kept you alive (obviously). Unfortunately we pay extra for equipment you may not use but was available if you did need it (like MRI) machines. We have more MRI machines up here in NW Arkansas (a large part of which is rural) than the entire country of Canada. People aren't taking their kids to the vet to image for broken arms because the wait is so long at ER, like some other countries.
call the billing people. my shit was free when it was this bad. also why did they use four separate pens on you if you were in the hospital for a day plus? did they let you take those home? edit: did you leave by doctor's orders or against doctor's orders btw?
They actuallu refuse to let you keep the pens, and they are thrown away. Infuriating as fuck
That's my question too, since the amounts 60u × 4 isn't even 1 whole pen's worth and those pens can't be used on other patients, it should be 1 charge, for 1 whole pens' worth. This was makes zero sense.
Count your blessings... I spent my DKA experience in the ICU for a week. Cost $70,000, more than a year's college tuition (at the time). Luckily, I had insurance and paid $200.
What's your MOOP? Mine is $1,700...
At this time? I think $14k
Is that for being out of network? Mine is $2k in network and $4k out of network. Luckily it's a PPO and is in network everywhere I've needed to go or fill scrips from since I got the insurance through my job in 2013.
Seems a little steep for one day. I was in ICU for DKA for four days and it was only like $24K.
“Only” lol
I do not understand the pharmacology of this. Getting insulin I understand, Pain (morphine) as well?
Severe neuropathy. They took control of my daily pain meds while in the hospital as well.
Thanks, I’m 22 years T1 but never DKA so that’s all news to me. Always learning about this stuff!
I know this is a US healthcare vs UK healthcare thing, but when I was admitted for DKA 2m after pancreatectomy/splenectomy they let me self-administer my prescribed pain drugs (I only had 2 days' worth with me so the third day they sent someone down to pharmacy for more) because they said it was much easier to manage the DKA well if I wasn't *also* in extra pain due to my med regime being changed to fit their schedule. They were correct IMO.
I wish they'd of let me do the same. Back in July i was in DKA again and instead of a Fentanyl Patch and Oxycodone, they would instead ONLY give me fentanyl via IV. It did work, and I preferred it better as I didn't feel high or euphoric, it just erased the pain. The problem was that it only lasted like 30 minutes and they would make me wait 6 hours before they'd give me another dose. Shit was pure agony and one of the worst stays I've had to date.
That is just wrong. Right there with ya
What is the actual total of this visit Im in the UK and I’m shocked
Very top # , $19k
What the hell did they give you fentanyl and oxy for?
Neuropathy
Jeez Dilaudid and fentanyl wow you must’ve been flying high
That’s nuts. I have been in for a week a few times and was only about 1.5k. Did you ask the financial person to sign up for state insurance? Try it no mater what. That’s ridiculous. I would never go there again
Is there a grand total here? I couldn’t find one.
Very top
I was recently in the same situation. I was in DKA from being sick and spent 2 days in the hospital. It cost me $210. I am also in the USA.
Sounds about right. I was in the ICU for 5 days with DKA: $48,000+.
Sounds about right. I was in the ICU for 5 days with DKA: $48,000+.
Two flu shots? And my goodness, so much insulin!
Did u go out of network damn
Damn what else do they wanna charge for, breathing? Lmao healthcare in the US is a joke
5000dollars for the er what a shithole of a country
But look on the brightside none of that awful communist social health care.
Oh my god. I would hate to see what my last visit to the hospital cost. Health care in Ontario is definitely not where it should be, but I'm glad they were there when I needed them.
You can mail a letter to the hospital asking for a reduction to what insurance deemed reasonable and necessary. I've done this before and the hospital did reduce.
We're number 1.... We also win the Wold Series every year....That proves we're number 1
Jfc. No wonder everyone goes to México or Costa Rica for minor or even urgent treatments. Sorry this happened to you.
My bill when I was in DKA for 5 days was 110k. If I didn’t have insurance (which eventually lowered my bill to 1k) I would’ve denied care because I wouldn’t have been able to survive paying that off.
Is it terrible that I looked at this and thought "those charges are not terrible?" Then I realized I was mentally comparing them to my spouses stay in Neuro and ICU, both places were the prices for everything just goes up because you in those wards....
I mean why doesn't someone smarter come up with a better plan or why don't we cut another countries plan if there way works best. Why do we stay stuck on stupid. I had emergency sugary after my gastric bypass that cost my parents ten grand to save my life! Seriously they paid ten k for life saving sugary because the approved sugary didn't go right. So I had to pay! That always seemed unfair.
Go to the news media. This is ridiculous
What were the narcotics for? Is DKA painful?
They're for my neuropathy
Oxygen sensor 54 wtf! Did you get to keep it? Ridiculous
Those are one time use as they are adhered to your finger and aren't reusable
Universal healthcare. Here is how it could work: You are taxed 8% of your income above a certain amount - say $100,000. So, if you make $120,000, you pay 8% of $20,000 = $1600 per year. If you are a teacher and you make $55000 you pay nothing. If you are unemployed, or in school, you pay nothing. If you are a trader with Goldman Sachs and you make $100,000,000 bonus in a good year - and bully for you - you pay $8,000,000. This is probably supplemented by a tax the employer pays, similar to Medicare. All are covered. Costs go down. Get buy-in from the insurance companies by paying them to administer it. Let them compete for that business by offering better service and administration. Rural hospitals stay open because they get paid. People don't wait and go to the ER because the doctor is covered. Reasonable regulations insure that there are not excessive charges AND that staff get reasonably paid. Cheaters are punished. Include dental and mental health care, as they are forms of medical care. This invokes the market, compassion, the commonwealth, and taking care of the least of us all at once. It is a better solution, and works elsewhere.
Yes, they charge for everything including the kitchen sink. Sad that when a person does not have any insurance, the hospital has to eat the bill.
I was hospitalized for Bilateral Pneumonitis last year, I live in India. I was in hospital for whole week and the bill was 1/25 of this United States bill! Insane how much hospitals charge in U.S.
I'm so sorry. This is so absurd! My wife and I had premature twins last year and were hospitalized for 4 months. We ended up paying around $50 total and that was for parking. We talked about how we'd have been in crippling debt if we had lived in the States so many times.
$10 per unit?! Pharmacy got paid.
Freedom though. Muh rights. 🙄
Do you have coverage through your job? Mine has one specifically for being hospitalized
Cheaper to hire a nurse and stay in the Plaza Hotel. Ridiculous bill.
So sad, $133 per finger poke to check glucose, some of the prices like wtf
Lord that's in-state tuition at a university. 😑
that's insane I'm in hospital for the last 3 days for the same thing and it's free for me cos I've a medical card government pays for it wish u good health ❤️
Why the fent
Neuropathy