Lets face it medical costs are way out of line. I had to go to emergency at the hospital for a injury to my right knee. Two Doctors were involved in my treatment. I was sent for X rays and a consult with physiotherapy.The nurses who treated me were very nice and understanding...BUT...They sent me a bill for............$ 20.00 (Canadian) Boy was I PO'ed.Lucky my employer picked up the tab or I would have been stuck for the tab.
Cost of my surgery
by littlerockguy 21 Replies latest watchtower medical
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the_classicist
Lets face it medical costs are way out of line. I had to go to emergency at the hospital for a injury to my right knee. Two Doctors were involved in my treatment. I was sent for X rays and a consult with physiotherapy.The nurses who treated me were very nice and understanding...BUT...They sent me a bill for............$ 20.00 (Canadian) Boy was I PO'ed.Lucky my employer picked up the tab or I would have been stuck for the tab.
20.00$ is probably for the physiotherapist. MSP usually doesn't cover that.
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cruzanheart
The cost of medical care is absolutely astounding. I had bunion surgery in July. I have insurance (not the greatest, but I guess it's better than nothing). The TOTAL bill came to over $10,000!!! My part of it was about $600.00 by the time I satisfied my deductible and the part that the insurance thought was too much so the doctors said I had to pay it. Incredible.
My son has been hospitalized with asthma and bronchitis about once a year for the past few years, and each time we've paid over $1000 WITH insurance -- scary to think what it would be if we didn't have it.
I'd be screaming "socialized medicine" if I hadn't heard horror stories from my friends in the UK.
Nina
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bisous
""I get so irritated when I see the people who are on welfare that I am supporting (via taxes) making more money than I do at a full time government job!!"" you must have the shitties government job on earth if welfare recipients make more money than you do.
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sammielee24
I'd be screaming "socialized medicine" if I hadn't heard horror stories from my friends in the UK.
I'd take Canada's healthcare over the US style any day! I know too many people who live their lives terrified of getting even a cold because they can't afford a doctor's visit. Forget about having to use the emergency room. Say what you will about socialized medicine but the number one cause (according to reports) of bankruptcy in the USA is medical....that's a crime..and now that the bankruptcy laws are changed, you apparently will be unable to dissolve those debts so easily. You may hear only horror stories from some people and often those will be people in the upper income brackets who can afford to pick and choose their care - but for the majority, it's a life saver.
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vitty
We do tend to take our "free" medical treatment for granted in the UK. Although my husband does pay a lot of NI contibutions it is nothing like the cost of your health insurance.
What would happen if you had an emergency and no insurance would you get treatment ???
or what if you needed something investigated eg if you found a lump in your breast, would you get treatment with no insurance ?????? How does it work.
Here you just walk into a Doctors office or hospital, they take your name and address (or not if you havent got one ) and thats it your treated, tests examinations, operations everything at no charge !
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Dansk
I agree with Vitty! Thank goodness for the UK's National Health Service (NHS), which is "free".
That said, I do know the US has some tremendous doctors and much of the research results they accomplish - such as with my own disease - are found there. I'm just so saddened that the US health service appears to be enequal whereas here in the UK everyone is entitled to the best. Of course, if one has money here one can acquire the very best by going private - but I cannot complain with the high standard of care and treatment I have received on the NHS - and even going private is no guarantee one will be cured or fair better than one who used the NHS.
It is my sincere hope that one day the USA will have a national health service. It is also my sincere hope that the UK's NHS is kept out of the hands of the private sector. People getting rich on the maladies of others doesn't sit very well with me!
Thank you for sharing your medical bill story. It is very intersting to read and makes me appreciate just what has been done for me for free.
Ian
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under74
I had insurance up until a couple months ago but even when I had it I still resorted to getting my medical check ups at Planned Parenthood. I did rip a muscle in my neck last year and put off seeing a doctor until the pain was too bad and had to go to the ER. Less than 10 minutes with a "medical assistant" who prescribed a narcotic, muscle relaxer and ice cost over $500. At the time I had insurance through my school but it didn't cover much and they never gave me any insurance information. I spent the next month trying to get all the insurance information from the school and filing the claim with the ins. company. By the time that was over the hospital had already billed me and billed me for things like medicine and a neck brace I never got. In the end though the hospital had a charity that ended up paying for it before the insurance company sent payment to them. They did get the insurance potion but they never tried to bill me after that...even though I wrote them about the wrong charges and that I could pay them each month until it was paid off (for the charges that were kosher). It was a relief because I really couldn't afford it but at the same time....they charged me for things I never got and I never even spoke to a real doctor.
You can request an itemized bill. They have to give it to you if you request it.
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DelTheFunkyHomosapien
Glad Oz still has free health care.
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sammielee24
Canada has a plan pretty well the same as NZ/Aust/UK - I think that the US is one of the last hold outs. I have family in Canada and when they get sick they go and get themselves checked out. My aunt spent 4 weeks in hospital last year for diabetes related illness and prior to that had a brain infection requiring a fairly long stay in ICU. She now has a brain tumor...had this happened in the US, she could not have afforded the medical care necessary. I've seen too many people I know here that don't have enough money to pay into the best health plans and who end up using credit cards to pay for their bills...then the credit card bills mount up because there isn't enough money to pay them off and so on and so on. According to the National Reform website for health care here, the cost of healthcare is higher per person in the USA than any other country. I know they have very good doctors and other health care professionals, but I think most countries do too - I'm not a proponent for private health care because it becomes mired down in money and often at the expense of the middle class and poor who can't afford the best they charge for that care. The site also gives a brief summary of medical bankruptcy - most of those hundreds of thousands who have declared medical bankruptcy are college educated, working middle class who do have health care.