Health Care Costs.

[Tracer]

I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised at the cost of health care, but I am -- every time I get a bill.

Since my present health problems began last August, I have racked up close to $100,000 in medical expenses and that doesn't even include my most recent hospitalization in December.

Sometimes, I think that there is a gnome in the billing offices who just picks a number out of the air, enters it on the bill, sticks a stamp on the letter and mails it out. There seems to be no relation between the cost and the services provided.

An example:

The other day, I got a bill from the ambulance company who took me from one hospital to a second in December. The distance was approximately 15 miles. Nothing medically was done to me in the ambulance -- I just lay there.

The price? $3,500.00

Some taxi ride.

(This same company also does helicopter transfers. I'd hate to think what the cost would have been if I had taken the trip in a helicopter.)

One day, this country will accept the fact that we need single-payer health care. I hope it happens in my lifetime.

[Imalittleteapot]

1. Please tell me

that you have insurance and don't have to pay that entire $100,000!

I had 8 chemo treatments at roughly $24,000 a pop...$192,000. The oncologist received an agreed amount (not nearly what he charged) from my insurance and I paid $40 for each treatment. I figure that the oncologist claims a loss to the IRS for every penny the insurance and I don't pay.

What worries me is all of the uninsured and the people that don't have good insurance coverage. Are they billed $24,000 per treatment? What do they do?

[Tracer]

2. $24,000 a pop?!?

What on earth kind of chemo were you taking?

I just totted up the charges for THREE chemo treatments in November (plus 3 or 4 doctor's visits) and it came to $6611.

And yes, I've got insurance, but until my supplemental insurance kicks in next month, I've been paying the 20% that Medicare doesn't cover --- and it has added up to thousands.

[Imalittleteapot]

3. Chemo

It was just your garden variety breast cancer protocol - A/C +T.

I'm telling you that the oncology clinic explodes the actual cost then accepts what the insurance company is willing to pay and then probably claims a loss to the IRS. This is a big numbers game and there are no standards. Docs charge what they think they can get away with.

I was offered a flu shot while in the hospital in Oct. I said no because I suspected the charge would be outrageous and I remembered that the oncology clinic gave the shots last year for $15. My girlfriend got one at the grocery store for $28 and my son's cost $20 at the drug store. So at my next oncology appt. I asked for a flu shot. This year they are charging $40!!!!! When I asked the nurse for the reason the cost jumped from $15 last year to $40 this year she told me it had something to do with Medicare. I asked if they had found yet another way to gouge the government.

[OzarkDem]

4. That is very high

All those drugs are now generics.

[noiretextatique]

5. 20 doses of radiation = $100,000.00 and change

$5,000.00 a zap, per my recent itemized statement from the hospital. thankfully i have insurance, but it's still outrageous.
i am with you...i hope we can get single-payer insurance soon.