What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills

Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by vkou on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @05:22PM (#18720399)

Where is all the money going? Does the ambulance have a solid-gold steering wheel?

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by eli on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @06:00PM (#18720757)

Most people don't/can't pay their hospital bills.

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by mcv on Thursday December 20, 2018 @04:01AM (#18723433)

So prices are excessive because too many people don't pay their bills, leading more people to be unable to pay their bills, leading to even higher prices.

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by LeftTurnSignal on Thursday December 20, 2018 @09:26AM (#18725097)

That is what we continue to be told, yes.

So my 15 minutes $600 allergy appointment that insurance refused to cover (after covering the same damn appointments for 12 years) is that high because of others, or so I keep hearing...

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by vkou on Thursday December 20, 2018 @01:31AM (#18722916)

Most? Like, over 50%?

If this is true, the system is completely broken.

If it's not true, then the system is completely broken, but in a different way.

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by null000 on Thursday December 20, 2018 @01:55AM (#18722998)

But yeah, I assume it's a combination of: * Most people pay through their insurance, so they don't have to pay the sticker price or anything resembling it * Some people going on payment plans and getting stuck in debt basically forever * Some people bargaining their bill down, paying pennies on the dollar * Some people going into collection, paying pennies on the dollar

Of course, it's absurd that all 3 out of 4 paths require you to take extra, often really painful steps (collection + bankruptcy, maintaining insurance, or long drawn-out negotiation) just to pay a reasonable price for something that is 100% non-optional and most countries provide for much-closer-to-free. But that's kinda what happens when the system is broken

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by eli on Thursday December 20, 2018 @09:29AM (#18725113)

Depends how you measure, but I feel pretty confident saying that most US hospital bills have never been fully paid off.

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by JshWright on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @07:27PM (#18721396)

Hahaha... No, the ambulance is a 10 year old Chevy 2500 w/ 150k miles...

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by sneakernets on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @05:33PM (#18720504)

Profit?

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Re:What I learned from reading a thousand emergency room bills by eftychis on Thursday December 20, 2018 @08:45AM (#18724787)

You pay for the people that are not insured, can or do not pay, and also for the profit margin.

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