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#1
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CRAZY medical costs in USA
You can share some of your stories here .. here's one from me.
2 hours in the cardiology center of a major hospital .. USD 4K bill .. Finally the patient paid only $50 after insurance covered the rest. How come an ultrasound, an ECG, and doctor listening to heart via stethoscope cost $4000? All this to rule out a heart murmur reported by physician during strep check. |
#2
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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#3
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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__________________
This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang |
#4
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
They never give break up .. so I'm guessing 2000 for ultrasound, 1000 for ECG and 5 minutes of cardiologist's stethoscope hearing makes for the rest of 1000 bucks. (given cardiologist is a senior guy with over 100 papers on heart's smallest issues)
For a pregnant lady a 3D/4D ultrasound costs around 150 bucks from a private clinic without insurance. I understand the skill involved in operating the ultrasound machine, electric bill, etc etc.. but $2000 or so for 15 minutes??? ![]() P.S. In terms of real value, NO DOUBT it was priceless to get a 'clean' bill of health from this 2 hour visit. Last edited by sarv_shaktimaan; November 28th, 2017 at 11:34 AM. |
#5
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
Contractual adjustment of $2400 was applied first, then insurance company paid rest of the bill, patient owed only $50 afterwards.
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#6
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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Thank God for insurance!
__________________
"Hippies. They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad." - Eric Cartman. ![]() |
#7
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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I heard hospitals over charge insurance companies so they get enough to cover their costs.. and Insurance companies under pay since they don't buy bloated medical claims.. it's a vicious circle. The famous article on Time about all this .. Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us One of the many exorbitant charges in a hospital bill, from the article.. Niacin Tablet Patient was charged $24 per 500-mg tablet of niacin. In drugstores, the pills go for about a nickel each ![]() Last edited by sarv_shaktimaan; November 28th, 2017 at 07:41 PM. |
#8
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
Do any of you have relatives living in USA/Canada that are over 70 years of age? My relatives over the age of 60 are visiting India every 3-4 months.. they spend first few days doing all the wellness tests, ECG, etc etc.
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#9
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
American health care is the best in the world ...
only if you are in an emergency situation like an accident, where they will get you to the hospital ER in no time and doctors start working on you immediately. For all other ailments, the medical expertise is not bad at all BUT THE COSTS ARE KILLER!!! |
#10
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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Coming to OP, some examples - My Tauji, visiting his son (my cousin) was hospitalized for a few days. The bill came to 50-60k. The travel insurance which he had from India, refused to cover it. It said that existing conditions are not covered. ![]() one colleague had sleepless nights over a 17k bill he got for maternity of his wife. Later on it was settled that the bill was a goof up due to incorrect insurance information
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This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang Last edited by sgars; November 30th, 2017 at 07:56 AM. Reason: One sentence was confusing. Added context to it ‘coming back to OP’ |
#11
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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The scary part was overhearing a doc tell another patient that they had to amputate his leg ![]() later, i had to visit a 'podiatrist' who dug over my left foot for 3 months. Quote:
__________________
This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang |
#12
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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56-60K...wow. that would have been brutal. Luckily for me, I live where everything is fairly simple. for both my C-sections, I paid $130 for 3 nights stay. that was for parking. everything else was covered. |
#13
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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![]() ![]() If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay monthly for medical insurance premium? I pay like 400 for family, used to pay as high as 1000 per month few years back, before tax that too. Parking in hospitals is free in America (if you're admitted there, they'll waive the parking fee).. but a regular pregnancy with most insurances will cost at least $1K to $5K, C-section must be higher. Epidurals alone cost about $2-3K. Quote:
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#14
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
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Since I am paying only for 80%, my husband took 20% at his work. so between the both of us, we are 100% covered. This is for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids). Only thing that is not covered for is the ambulance, if we need to call 911. Epidural, C-section, prescription drugs, ECG, bla bla bla bla everything is covered. At hospital, we also get a little care package for newborns and Mom that include formula (if you opt for breastfeeding and supplementing with formula), they let you have a free breast pump (you need to return it later), diapers, lotions etc. If you are very lucky and fall into the hands of a kind nurse (nurses literally rule the hospitals....lol), she will give you a stash of personal care items that are hospital grade (Believe me, they work so much better than what we get in drug stores). AND, we also get 1 full year of Maternity leave (with reduced pay but Job and position and pay security). They are pushing for 18 months now. The bill is already approved. In the last 10 years, I never paid even a single penny for drugs or hospitals. There are certain medical conditions that are not covered (rare blood disorders etc) Go Canada! EDIT: P.S: We have very high income taxes and also 13% GST/HST. Last edited by Aashika; December 1st, 2017 at 06:47 AM. |
#15
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Re: CRAZY medical costs in USA
My first one was born in Apna desh* and the hospitalization etc. was covered by my better half’s insurance. Nothing went out of pocket for hospitalization. My insurance would have covered at least a good part of it, but the need did not arise. The parking was a mess but free
![]() BTW, looks like desi insurance companies have now become Shabana (autocorrect for Shaana ![]() The second one was born in the land of opportunity**. The costs came to 4-8 K (USD) after insurance. not sure because there were so many bills. The costs before insurance were 50k or so. BTW, both were C sections. * a few months after I joined EC **in the same hospital that Michael Jackson, Victoria Beckham besides others had their babies.
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This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang |
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