Hospital charges 9,000 to fix cut finger

[jericho]

Wow, now that is insane. A person could get a new car for this.

Hospital charges $9,000 to bandage cut middle finger, report says | Fox News

Edited August 10, 2014 by mountain ref

[spindoc]

Something doesn't pass the smell test here. Maybe LRCW would like to comment.

[rockmom]

I suspect a miscoding.

[spindoc]

I suspect fraud.

[jericho]

I suspect a miscoding.

 

The hospital commented on the cost so I doubt a miscode

[Jumper_Dad]

I think our local hospital has a unit charge for length of time spent in ER that they bill in two hour increments. They always seem to need to keep you until next billing unit has started. Example: Your in ER and expecting to get released any minute, if you came in at 2pm it will be at least 4:05 before you are released. Then you get billed for two 2 hour ER units (4 hours) even though you were there only 2 hours and 5 minutes.

[Bluegrasscard]

My son had a $4,000 tummy ache at rack rate in ER. Not surprised here.

[Bluegrasscard]

I think our local hospital has a unit charge for length of time spent in ER that they bill in two hour increments. They always seem to need to keep you until next billing unit has started. Example: Your in ER and expecting to get released any minute, if you came in at 2pm it will be at least 4:05 before you are released. Then you get billed for two 2 hour ER units (4 hours) even though you were there only 2 hours and 5 minutes.

 

And if you get saline solution (for suspected dehydration) its amazing how they just barely go into the second unit that generates both another overpriced charge for salt water and nursing charge for the second unit. And they charge as if the nurse was standing there the whole time - not the 10 minutes or so in the hour or so. I figured if that is common hospitals charge out nurses at over $500,000 a year. But clearly that is not what make or their fully burdened FTE rate.

[Beechwoodfan]

Hospitals absolutely overcharge for services. There are too many people who come to the ER for minor medical needs and have no intenion or means of ever paying their bill. Emergency rooms cannot turn people away, by law, so those who have no insurance, come to the ER. The number of those people have escalated over the last few years. Not to mention those who come to the ER with serious illnesses and injuries that need treatment, and have no insurance. Right or wrong, hospitals inflate prices to help cover those who cannot pay.

 

I dont know who is getting OBAMA care, but the hospital I work at hasnt seen much of it.

[ColonelCrazy]

This thread (and an accompanying article from TIME) didn't garner much interest when it was initially posted, but is certainly worth a read:

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/kentucky-national-politics/bitter-pill-why-251006.html

[spindoc]

Hospitals absolutely overcharge for services. There are too many people who come to the ER for minor medical needs and have no intenion or means of ever paying their bill. Emergency rooms cannot turn people away, by law, so those who have no insurance, come to the ER. The number of those people have escalated over the last few years. Not to mention those who come to the ER with serious illnesses and injuries that need treatment, and have no insurance. Right or wrong, hospitals inflate prices to help cover those who cannot pay.

 

I dont know who is getting OBAMA care, but the hospital I work at hasnt seen much of it.

The notion that people would seek outreach care has been a bust, and I think you and I both argued to that same point in one of the list of AHCA threads. It's a shame.

[Bluegrasscard]

This thread (and an accompanying article from TIME) didn't garner much interest when it was initially posted, but is certainly worth a read:

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/kentucky-national-politics/bitter-pill-why-251006.html

 

Time article referenced is now 404....

[Bluegrasscard]

Time article referenced is now 404....

 

And I did comment on that one. Key thing:

 

Everything had an HCPCS code and you can find tables on those for medicare but nothing on what they 'should be' or how much they are discounted.

All charges when itemized have that HCPC code. They are very standardized. But finding pricing/discounting tables to go with them - other than what shows up on ones individual invoices was impossible when I tried to find it.

 

The codes remind me of autobody shop and mechanic estimates. Manufacturers publish codes for repairing certain things and that is what shops use. One shops labor rates may be higher but they all seem to estimate from the same set of codes - saw this recently after a car accident. Three shops - all within $300 or so on a $4,500 estimate. They all used same methodology. That is how HCPC codes are supposed to work. But what is 'list'?, what is discount? What is average discount? When it varies greatly (unlike auto work) you know the system is broken. ACA did not really fix that at all - except to try to coerce people into having insurance. The process is still the same (and bad).

[doomer]

This is what is frustrating to me: It is well know we have a health care cost problem that is a drain on our people and on our economy as it is a cost burden to many employers which incents them to not hire and/or not provide benefits. Little to nothing has been done to address the problem.

[spindoc]

Imagine how much LRCW's patient was charged when they entered with this sign: