Healthcare: Diagnosis - Sicko!!

So I open my mailbox and there it is....the statement from the hospital showing the charges being billed to my health insurance company from my recent ER visit. First of all, let me say that I thank God for health insurance as I know there are millions of Americans and people worldwide that don't have the luxury. I often wonder though what is it that makes the cost of healthcare so expensive and working in an operating room, it's easy to see from a surgical standpoint where things add up. The amount of drugs given to a patient during the course of surgery and during their postoperative care; working in orthopedics, I see all of the hardware that goes into a patient for a back surgery or neck surgery and I can understand why a hospital stay can add up to thousands of dollars.

I've recently become ever so vigilant though in evaluating my personal healthcare costs and seeing how easy it is for mistakes to slip through the cracks at the patient's expense. I've learned that insurance companies and doctor's offices won't hunt you down when they owe you money, but so often bankrupt people that owe them. As patients, we have to stay on top of things ourselves and know where our money is going. Realize that even though you may pay a small copay, the cost to the insurance company determines the ultimate cost to you.

Anyway, I opened the statement and couldn't make sense of the charges. One charge for the pharmacy and a different charge for the drugs?? Huh?? You wanna run dat by me again?? I called the billing office and tried to get more information. Now of course the billers just mail the bills so they can't actually tell you about any of the magical codes you've been billed for but, at least they were able to send me a detailed statement of the charges billed to my insurance.

Here's the breakdown.....you might want to sit down for this one....

2 tablets of Pepcid AC @ $36.85 for each pill....a total of $73.70

(yes this is the same dosage available over the counter)

1 steroid injection.....a total of $114.00

1 injection of 50 mg of Benadryl

(the same as two over-the-counter capsules) a total of $106.00

"Emergency room services"

I'm assuming the cost of seeing the triage nurse and the doctor

a total of $1,287.25

The transaction of administering the injections.....a total of $141 per shot or $282.00

and here's the kicker that still has me in disbelief.....

a single reading from the pulse oximeter
(you know the thing they clip on your finger with the red light
that reads your oxygen level in 10 seconds or less)

$105.00 Yes, you read that right $105.00!!!

The grand total for my thankfully very short ER visit...... $1,967.95

Let me recap the experience for you....I walk in after being scolded by the security guard for driving too fast (I mean I'm only headed into the EMERGENCY room) to give my name and a clipboard is shoved in my face with marked places to sign. No time to read, this is an emergency!

Next, I fill out the paperwork with my stats and insurance information. I wait. I wait.

I'm called in by the triage nurse who sticks the pulse ox onto my finger, takes my blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate you know all the vital signs. She and another nurse chat back and forth about who's going to take their break now and who can wait until later. Well you know so and so can go help out in such and such area because there are patients that have been waiting there for up to four hours already. I'm scolded for scratching my uncontrollable itch then shuffled down the hall to sit and wait.

I sit. I wait. I wait some more.

I'm called in to go behind the magical curtain to be seen by the doctor and given the highly fashionable paper gown. My back is freezing and I'm itching but I wait.

I sit. I wait.

The doctor who looks like the guy from Honey I Shrunk the Kids comes in and does a basic exam and explains the medicines that he's prescribing. He disappears and I wait.

I sit. I wait.

A nurse comes in and gives me two very painful shots in my bum and two pills to swallow and that's it.

Oh yeah, I sit again and I wait again for my written prescriptions and discharge instructions. I'm sent along on my merry way with a reminder not to scratch the itch that has overcome my entire body.

So let's see, vital signs taken, brief chat with the doctor, 2 painful shots in the bum let me add this up....ching ching....ching....CHA CHING....and the bill magically appears.

Again, praise God for health insurance so I know that I will have to pay only a small portion of the total bill, but I'm amazed at the sheer cost of the whole ordeal. Two drugs that I can buy full bottles of at Walgreens for less than $10 and ok, yes, one shot that I could only get from the hospital costing more than what some people bring home in income for an entire month. The saddest part of it all is that the drug that was not available over-the-counter ran out before the itching stopped so I had to go to my primary care doctor to get more of those.

Although the healthcare industry provides me with a paycheck, they ought to be ashamed of the way that they take advantage of people when they are most vulnerable and least educated. It saddens me to think of the many people who don't have insurance. For some, this one medical bill and the additional medicines prescribed could mean the choice between good health and feeding a family.

My wannabe hippie / black panther is coming out and screaming "RAGE! RAGE AGAINST THE INSTITUTION" but alas the reality is that I'm one lowly patient who is dependent upon this system to keep me functioning from day to day, and that my dear friends is a sad state of affairs. If you haven't already seen the movie, Sicko, it's quite enlightening particularly if you are comparing the U.S. with other countries. As constituents, we need to fight for greater rights when it comes to healthcare and be vigilant about keeping watch over our bills. Our health is all we have and sooner or later, we will depend on the healthcare centers to care for all of our needs.