Excessive Emergency Room Doctor Fees

[Proserpina]

Doxycycline is used to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections; Lyme disease; acne; infections of skin, genital, and urinary systems; and anthrax (after inhalational exposure). It is also used to prevent malaria. Doxycycline is in a class of medications called tetracycline antibiotics. It works by preventing the growth and spread of bacteria. Antibiotics will not work for colds, flu, or other viral infections.
(source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682063.html)

So....

Most medical professionals/providers who are able to prescribe meds, have their own personal preferences as to what antibiotics they prescribe (there's very few hard and fast rules, you know, regarding which antibiotics are useful).

Basically? You have no basis, based on what you have posted, for a malpractice suit. Further, of course the ER is more expensive! I wish to the Lord Almighty, people would realize that, and not whine because they have to pay for an ER visit.

I completely agree with everything you said here, Ladyback.

I think I'm going to spell it out though; it seems to be needed..

This is not a med-mal case. This is nothing more than a patient being unhappy about the costs and not understanding how pricing works. It really IS that simple.

 

[Neelix]

You can afford a "nice rental home" but cant afford to pay the hospital bill? Whats wrong with this picture?

And people are saying I'm the one disconnected with reality. Lets break it down then, I earn 11.75 an hour, my takehome pay is approximately $350 a week after taxes. My rent for my 1100 sq ft apartment is $650 a month- (rather cheap yes, the apartment is a historic brick building with 8 units above a storefront, 3 of the other units occupied by co-workers, so we are a community), electric- $50-60 during non-heating months, almost $200 during heating months due to baseboard heaters (overtime typically covers this increased cost- overtime which is fortunately seasonal, as I work at an online orders retail distribution center), $40 a month for water, $60 a month for car insurance, a Stafford Student loan that is $250 a month, $40 for cable internet (no cable TV), cell phone I'm on a family plan I bought the "smart phone" the monthly bill is a gift from my family, but its low as I have a 2GB data plan and rarely utilize half of it even, no landline. The rest goes into groceries, gas, kitty litter, and cat food for my 2 cats, I admit I spoil them, I buy a rather expensive brand for health reasons (appx 35 dollars for 3 weeks worth), for my groceries, I don't eat out very often, I purchase good, healthy meals that I prepare, but do buy quick things like frozen pizzas and TV dinners for work nights as I work my 40 hours in 3 whole days. I have a 550 dollar limit credit card that is about 50% utilized at any given time.

The offered health insurance plan from my employer that would be anywhere near worthwhile costs about $50 a paycheck (a WEEKLY paycheck) if I'm not mistaken (it was a few months since I looked at the documentation). Where are the gold toilets disney "kid"? And I believe the plan requires 1800 in out of pocket costs a year before the co-pay kicks in. Hardly a worthwhile insurance plan.

The fact is YOU went to the ER. You could have gone to a GP. Had you, the bill may have been around $150.00. But you did not CHOOSE to do that. That is on you.

The cost of an ER visit is much higher than a PCP.

And the cost of the advice on this forum is much less that an attorney in your area. Again...You are making a choice. Deal.

Yes, I chose to go to the ER at 330AM rather than chance waiting until 8AM and hope I was still alert enough!. Foolish of me!

Doxycycline is used to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections; Lyme disease; acne; infections of skin, genital, and urinary systems; and anthrax (after inhalational exposure). It is also used to prevent malaria. Doxycycline is in a class of medications called tetracycline antibiotics. It works by preventing the growth and spread of bacteria. Antibiotics will not work for colds, flu, or other viral infections.
(source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682063.html)

So....

Most medical professionals/providers who are able to prescribe meds, have their own personal preferences as to what antibiotics they prescribe (there's very few hard and fast rules, you know, regarding which antibiotics are useful).

Basically? You have no basis, based on what you have posted, for a malpractice suit. Further, of course the ER is more expensive! I wish to the Lord Almighty, people would realize that, and not whine because they have to pay for an ER visit.

Probably the only meaningful response in that mess. Thank you for the insight. I still intend to challenge the billing under the Fair Debt Collection Act (or whatever applicable laws may be in place), as I believe the care was of inferior quality. If we were discussing a used car, my opinion is I was "sold" a lemon, considering my illness never fully subsided and re-emerged with similar severity. And no, I'm not looking to cash in with a malpractice lawsuit, its merely I do not believe this amount is justified for the services provided. Hospitals are a business after all. businesses provide services to consumers, sub-par services do not deserve full price payments. Again my "opinion", as established I have many of.

 

[cbg]

The fact that you cannot afford the medical charges does not make them excessive and does not in any way, shape or form make them illegal. The fact of the matter is, the ER is expensive. The charges you've reported are in some cases so low, in comparison to what the same charges would be in my area, that I'm having trouble believing that they aren't already giving you deep discounts due to your uninsured status. Argue the point with anyone you want but any reduction in fees you see will be because the provider chooses to give them and not because they've done anything illegal or because the law forces them to.

 

[ajkroy]

And what would you do if it had been pneumonia and required a hospital stay? A tumor that necessitated treatment? My son had two bone marrow transplants before he was a teenager, so don't think your age "protects" you.

$50 per week for health insurance with a $1300 deductible is a good benefit. Why not take up a second job and pay for the health insurance and peace of mind? You're going to start getting spanked with uninsured fees by ACA, anyway. ::shrug::

 

[Proserpina]

Let's talk about drugs.

OP, I really want you to read this.

How much do you think it costs to get it a drug approved for the public? Thousands? Millions? Try a couple of hundred millions by the time it gets FDA approval. We're looking at roughly 8 years, and $300m. And if the FDA won't approve, congratulations - that $300m is gone. Shareholders are angry.
That cost has to be absorbed somehow. Advicitrol (that's all I can come up with) is only approved for people who have a Very Rare Disease, so that drug is going to cost far more than acetaminophen you buy over the counter. And speaking of acetaminophen - do you know what happens when a drug actually goes generic? Every man and his dog want it. But because the patent has expired, the drug sales go through the roof. The original manufacturer starts to lose money, and the other sellers start making the generic one of their high earners.

Are you understanding this?

I can continue..

 

[Proserpina]

And people are saying I'm the one disconnected with reality. Lets break it down then, I earn 11.75 an hour, my takehome pay is approximately $350 a week after taxes. My rent for my 1100 sq ft apartment is $650 a month- (rather cheap yes, the apartment is a historic brick building with 8 units above a storefront, 3 of the other units occupied by co-workers, so we are a community), electric- $50-60 during non-heating months, almost $200 during heating months due to baseboard heaters (overtime typically covers this increased cost- overtime which is fortunately seasonal, as I work at an online orders retail distribution center), $40 a month for water, $60 a month for car insurance, a Stafford Student loan that is $250 a month, $40 for cable internet (no cable TV), cell phone I'm on a family plan I bought the "smart phone" the monthly bill is a gift from my family, but its low as I have a 2GB data plan and rarely utilize half of it even, no landline. The rest goes into groceries, gas, kitty litter, and cat food for my 2 cats, I admit I spoil them, I buy a rather expensive brand for health reasons (appx 35 dollars for 3 weeks worth), for my groceries, I don't eat out very often, I purchase good, healthy meals that I prepare, but do buy quick things like frozen pizzas and TV dinners for work nights as I work my 40 hours in 3 whole days. I have a 550 dollar limit credit card that is about 50% utilized at any given time.

The offered health insurance plan from my employer that would be anywhere near worthwhile costs about $50 a paycheck (a WEEKLY paycheck) if I'm not mistaken (it was a few months since I looked at the documentation). Where are the gold toilets disney "kid"? And I believe the plan requires 1800 in out of pocket costs a year before the co-pay kicks in. Hardly a worthwhile insurance plan.


Yes, I chose to go to the ER at 330AM rather than chance waiting until 8AM and hope I was still alert enough!. Foolish of me!




Probably the only meaningful response in that mess. Thank you for the insight. I still intend to challenge the billing under the Fair Debt Collection Act (or whatever applicable laws may be in place), as I believe the care was of inferior quality. If we were discussing a used car, my opinion is I was "sold" a lemon, considering my illness never fully subsided and re-emerged with similar severity. And no, I'm not looking to cash in with a malpractice lawsuit, its merely I do not believe this amount is justified for the services provided. Hospitals are a business after all. businesses provide services to consumers, sub-par services do not deserve full price payments. Again my "opinion", as established I have many of.

Are you for real? This is the biggest pile of manure I've read in ages. And I've even taken the time to try and get you to understand.

I expect you'll ignore or just plainly won't get it.

You're delusional. Absolutely delusional.

 

[Neelix]

Let's talk about drugs.

OP, I really want you to read this.

How much do you think it costs to get it a drug approved for the public? Thousands? Millions? Try a couple of hundred millions by the time it gets FDA approval. We're looking at roughly 8 years, and $300m. And if the FDA won't approve, congratulations - that $300m is gone. Shareholders are angry.
That cost has to be absorbed somehow. Advicitrol (that's all I can come up with) is only approved for people who have a Very Rare Disease, so that drug is going to cost far more than acetaminophen you buy over the counter. And speaking of acetaminophen - do you know what happens when a drug actually goes generic? Every man and his dog want it. But because the patent has expired, the drug sales go through the roof. The original manufacturer starts to lose money, and the other sellers start making the generic one of their high earners.

Are you understanding this?

I can continue..

You my continue if you wish, but you had a much higher success rate educating me about the doctor's fees, not the drug companies, I thought we were focusing on doctor's costs anyway?. I have little to no sympathy for drug companies crying that they're "losing money", not in the wake of medications like Vioxx, and their lobbying the government to ban CFC based albuterol inhalers (since we're on the topic of breathing difficulty) so they could patent a non-CFC based propellant to do an end-run around the expired patent and again charge excessive prices for them, I'm just naming a couple for the sake of avoiding rambling. Honest to god, I have been taking information I deem valuable away from this discussion and taking them into consideration, perhaps not as much as you believe I should, but you really will be shouting to deaf ears on the drug company's incurred costs.

Are you for real? This is the biggest pile of manure I've read in ages. And I've even taken the time to try and get you to understand.

I expect you'll ignore or just plainly won't get it.

You're delusional. Absolutely delusional.

I say you're out of touch with reality, you say I am. You and others accept something as a matter of course that I do not. You aren't presenting yourself as a psychologist now too are you? I guess you can pretend to be a lawyer on the internet if you wish, and a psychologist anything else I should add to your portfolio? This forum based on other threads I've viewed seems to have a rather cliquish mentality with a handful of people, at least with my time glancing at some other threads, while some of the input has been appreciated, I take a lot of it with a grain of salt. Citing again being a "Free forum" afterall.

And what would you do if it had been pneumonia and required a hospital stay? A tumor that necessitated treatment? My son had two bone marrow transplants before he was a teenager, so don't think your age "protects" you.

$50 per week for health insurance with a $1300 deductible is a good benefit. Why not take up a second job and pay for the health insurance and peace of mind? You're going to start getting spanked with uninsured fees by ACA, anyway. ::shrug::

I've considered a 2nd job, right now with my employer being in it's "peak" and overtime often offered at the last possible minute, this time a year, I prefer to keep myself available to take said overtime, the wages at my employer are actually rather above average for the area. I do hope to take a more senior position with the company in the near future which I have good prospects of, its quite a bit more money too. I'm planning on seeing where I'm at after the new year. But yes, I do realize I am getting older and health insurance will become more of a necessity as time goes by.

 

[ecmst12]

I strongly suggest you READ the fair debt collections practice act before you attempt to invoke it, unless you want to sound like a total idiot.

 

[Proserpina]

You my continue if you wish, but you had a much higher success rate educating me about the doctor's fees, not the drug companies, I thought we were focusing on doctor's costs anyway?. I have little to no sympathy for drug companies crying that they're "losing money", not in the wake of medications like Vioxx, and their lobbying the government to ban CFC based albuterol inhalers (since we're on the topic of breathing difficulty) so they could patent a non-CFC based propellant to do an end-run around the expired patent and again charge excessive prices for them, I'm just naming a couple for the sake of avoiding rambling. Honest to god, I have been taking information I deem valuable away from this discussion and taking them into consideration, perhaps not as much as you believe I should, but you really will be shouting to deaf ears on the drug company's incurred costs.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, do you?

I say you're out of touch with reality, you say I am. You and others accept something as a matter of course that I do not. You aren't presenting yourself as a psychologist now too are you? I guess you can pretend to be a lawyer on the internet if you wish, and a psychologist anything else I should add to your portfolio? This forum based on other threads I've viewed seems to have a rather cliquish mentality with a handful of people, at least with my time glancing at some other threads, while some of the input has been appreciated, I take a lot of it with a grain of salt. Citing again being a "Free forum" afterall.

Nobody is forcing you to stay. Would you like some help in leaving?

 

[Proserpina]

I strongly suggest you READ the fair debt collections practice act before you attempt to invoke it, unless you want to sound like a total idiot.

Alas, it's too late to avoid that.

 

[FamilyGirl]

OP...
My ex has COPD. $700 is CHEAP for the services they provided at the ER. When he was uninsured, a standard treatment like that was around $1,500 for us. It took us years to pay off these numerous visits (we made payment plans) and now they have a convenience care clinic at the local hospital where you can be seen for $150.00 per visit. That's what we use now, I only carry insurance through my employer for my children. It's $129 a week for the kids and there are still plenty of co-pays etc. Medical insurance right now is what it is. You can either bite the bullet and carry it or suffer the consequences of not having it. I'm not insured but my kids are. I steer clear of the ER and pay my primary cash. It's a $100 a visit. If I need emergency care outside their hours I go to convenience care. I don't go to the Doctor a lot.

Even if he discovered you had pneumonia from the start, although I'm not a Doctor, after watching these kinds of incidents for about eight years, I think his original course of treatment would have still been the same. Another thing to consider is he did not originally prescribe you the doxycycline. He prescribed you Zythromax and you called back and asked them to change it. They obliged. Had you taken the Zythromax, it probably would have wiped it out. I'm not a Doctor, but again I lived with someone for a long time with chronic lung disease. Also, follow up treatment is not abnormal. Usually they tell you in the ER, in one way or another (sometimes in their billing agreement) that it is impossible for them to get a complete and accurate picture of your medical situation in one short visit. They do the best they can, and usually tell you in your discharge paperwork what to do if your not feeling better. Doctor's aren't magicians. What he did is definitely not malpractice. I really think if you had taken the Zithromax you would not have needed follow up services either. Just something to ponder on. It's possible that you did not have pneumonia when you went to the ER, but developed it after the visit as well.

Unfortunately your financial situation is irrelevant. Today's health care costs are what they are. These are things you need to consider BEFORE they happen, health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance etc. It sucks to pay for them but it can be a disaster without them. $50 a week is nothing if God forbid something should happen to you and you need $100,000 surgery. So think about it.

We paid off years of hospital bills from him being uninsured in monthly payments. The first person you talk to might insist you pay the bill in full. That's their job. Tell them you really need to make a payment plan or like another poster suggested, ask to speak to a superior. Steer clear of the ER. If you start feeling like that again don't wait until a primary care clinic is closed. Get in right away.

Pay the bill off and don't be hard headed about it. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.

And I want to add one more thing as well. We were told that we couldn't make payments on some of the bills either. I would take their original bill they mailed me, hung it up on the wall and once a month I made a photocopy of it and sent it in with a check. I kept copies of all the checks and proofs they were cashed and sent the same amount each month. They never really "agreed" to it but they kept it in "in house" collections, kept it out of our credit reports and always applied the amount to the bill. When it was paid I would call them and ask them for proof it was paid and they'd sent me out an invoice. They don't really have to accept your payment offer per se, but if you do send them regular, reasonable payments then generally they won't send it to collections or harass you about it. So try that, but be diligent about your record keeping and make sure you get proof that it's $0.00 and keep all these records for at least 10 years. I did have a few end up going to collections and I had to prove to them that the debts were paid. We did this with around $9,000 worth of hospital bills

 

[TigerD]

And people are saying I'm the one disconnected with reality. Lets break it down then, I earn 11.75 an hour, my takehome pay is approximately $350 a week after taxes. My rent for my 1100 sq ft apartment is $650 a month- (rather cheap yes, the apartment is a historic brick building with 8 units above a storefront, 3 of the other units occupied by co-workers, so we are a community), electric- $50-60 during non-heating months, almost $200 during heating months due to baseboard heaters (overtime typically covers this increased cost- overtime which is fortunately seasonal, as I work at an online orders retail distribution center), $40 a month for water, $60 a month for car insurance, a Stafford Student loan that is $250 a month, $40 for cable internet (no cable TV), cell phone I'm on a family plan I bought the "smart phone" the monthly bill is a gift from my family, but its low as I have a 2GB data plan and rarely utilize half of it even, no landline. The rest goes into groceries, gas, kitty litter, and cat food for my 2 cats, I admit I spoil them, I buy a rather expensive brand for health reasons (appx 35 dollars for 3 weeks worth), for my groceries, I don't eat out very often, I purchase good, healthy meals that I prepare, but do buy quick things like frozen pizzas and TV dinners for work nights as I work my 40 hours in 3 whole days. I have a 550 dollar limit credit card that is about 50% utilized at any given time.

Oh goody.
Numbers.
I love numbers. They prove so much.
First heating and cooling: $1,560 per year or average of $130 a month.
Cat food: $35 per three weeks or $12 per week. 4.3 weeks per month = 51.6 per month=52

Rent	$650
H/C	$130
Water	$40
Car Ins.	$60
Student Loan	$250
Internet	$40
Cat Fd	$52
Non-food expenses	$1222
Monthly Income(post Tax)	$1,505
Balance Remaining	$283

You insurance plan is $215 per month. Which leaves $68.
Simply put you are living beyond your means. You need to increase your income or decrease your expenses.
Your best avenue to decreases expenses is to cancel the cable internet and either put the cats on less expensive food or find them someone who can afford to baby them - or move to a less expensive living environment.

You are the only person responsible for your financial position.

The offered health insurance plan from my employer that would be anywhere near worthwhile costs about $50 a paycheck (a WEEKLY paycheck) if I'm not mistaken (it was a few months since I looked at the documentation). And I believe the plan requires 1800 in out of pocket costs a year before the co-pay kicks in. Hardly a worthwhile insurance plan.

That isn't a bad plan. Insurance is expensive.

Yes, I chose to go to the ER at 330AM rather than chance waiting until 8AM and hope I was still alert enough!. Foolish of me!

Yes, it was, but admitting it is the first step. You could have saved yourself a ton of money by either going to urgent care earlier or waiting until they opened.

I still intend to challenge the billing under the Fair Debt Collection Act (or whatever applicable laws may be in place), as I believe the care was of inferior quality. If we were discussing a used car, my opinion is I was "sold" a lemon, considering my illness never fully subsided and re-emerged with similar severity. And no, I'm not looking to cash in with a malpractice lawsuit, its merely I do not believe this amount is justified for the services provided. Hospitals are a business after all. businesses provide services to consumers, sub-par services do not deserve full price payments. Again my "opinion", as established I have many of.

You have no clue.

 

[Neelix]

Oh goody.

Simply put you are living beyond your means. You need to increase your income or decrease your expenses.
Your best avenue to decreases expenses is to cancel the cable internet and either put the cats on less expensive food or find them someone who can afford to baby them - or move to a less expensive living environment.

You are the only person responsible for your financial position.

Like I said earlier, typical debt collector mentality. 650 a month rent, it really does not get any cheaper than that for this area, I guess I could go find a cardboard box to live in. You are the one out of touch with reality sir, to me you have been working some kind of job for far too long that pays you far too high of an income for not producing anything tangible or useful to society, and therefore have completely lost any handle on what the true working class people are faced with in this country. I suspect that about most of you actually.

And yes, the lady was right, nobody is forcing me to stay here, I think I've heard enough. I won't be back this time.