We know that the average American spends $9,523 a year on medical expenses.
That comes out to nearly 18% of our GDP.
This ruins families and weakens the country.
Despite knowing this, we do nothing.
Politicians talk about the problem, but nothing ever happens.
On September 17 there was a report on MTN News about Lalovich and Bullock’s plan to list prices for medical procedures.
Why aren’t we doing that already?
Oh, yeah…because that way it’d be harder for the medical industry to screw-over regular people.
I know all about this from my recent accident in Oregon.
That comes out to nearly 18% of our GDP.
This ruins families and weakens the country.
Despite knowing this, we do nothing.
Politicians talk about the problem, but nothing ever happens.
On September 17 there was a report on MTN News about Lalovich and Bullock’s plan to list prices for medical procedures.
Why aren’t we doing that already?
Oh, yeah…because that way it’d be harder for the medical industry to screw-over regular people.
I know all about this from my recent accident in Oregon.
I dislocated my ankle at night and had to go to the emergency room to get it fixed.
For the past month I’ve been wondering each day, ‘how much will that cost?’
I had no idea of the prices they charged, and really, what options did I have?
This hospital or that one…they’ll all charge you an arm and a leg.
It’s been about a month and I’m walking again, which I’m quite thankful for. There’s still no bill in the mail, however, but I see that Pacific Source insurance has figured a price for me.
$3,003.99
Wow.
I was expecting around $1,500.
Boy was I dumb, huh?
And good luck trying to figure out what they’re charging you for – I have three separate bills that don’t shed a lot of light on that.
The first is the main hospital bill, which is charging me $2,139.76…and giving me $149.78 in discounts…before getting to the final charge of $1,938.98.
I have no idea why I was given discounts or why they were for that amount.
I have no idea why things cost so much.
I do like this bill as it at least gives you an idea of what they’re charging you for.
There’s $13 for some painkillers, $202 for two X-rays, another $232 for three more, then $322 for a “closed treatment” for my ankle dislocation.
On top of that, however, I get an emergency room department visit charge of $1,292.
So that’s the big one.
After that I get two doctor bills from the doctor that was in the emergency room.
Why they do this is beyond me.
Here we have a bill for $454 and another for $1,414 and I’m given more than $800 in discounts for those…again, I have no idea why.
All told, I get that charge of about $3,000.
So that’s pretty devastating to my financial situation and my current way of life.
It really changes everything.
I called the hospital and they have no record of insurance sending that, but they will get it this week they said.
After I get the bill I can do a payment plan of 90 days, a 24-month payment plan, or if I qualify for financial assistance, maybe 100% could be paid for by them.
So they sent me an application for financial assistance. I’ll fill it out and we’ll see what happens.
I have to admit that I’m pessimistic. Maybe a couple hundred dollars will be knocked off but I expect I’ll still be paying in the $2,000 range for this, if not more.
That’s our medical system today, and with my crappy Obamacare plan, there’s little I can do about it.
So be safe out there.
Don’t get sick and don’t get hurt.
I did, and it’s quite ruinous.
