lol just got my bill from surgery

My 3 yr old daughter needed some x-rays (has frequent knee pain at night, pediatrician wanted to make sure nothing unusual was going on) and some blood work done to make sure everything was fine..

$2,000. And that's with insurance, which didn't pay anything.
 


Free market medicine makes the most sense to me. It's hard to beat these prices:

Surgery Center of Oklahoma

If you're an advocate of coerced, socialist medicine remember to include the appropriate taxes in your calculations.

The owner of that surgery center is a big advocate of free market medicine. He exposes socialist medicine and hospital pricing scams. You know, the reason they charge $100 for aspirin. It has to do with government.

http://surgerycenterofoklahoma.tumblr.com
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E29LD98ruo]How to Fix Health Care: Lasik Surgery For The Medical Debate - YouTube[/ame]
 
No, not even I agree with socialized healthcare. The solution doesn't rely in force and property theft, it relies on getting government out of the equation.

How does socializing healthcare have anything to do with property theft?

Also, why not have an option for socialized healthcare for those that want it? That wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility.

Basically: Don't force anyone who would rather pay $2,500 for a basic checkup to chip in, but allow anyone who wants to benefit from socialized healthcare to do so. Those that do wish to benefit get taxed on it, etc.

Win-win. You get to pay thousands for procedures that cost little more than $50 to perform, and I get to pay extra taxes for free healthcare (sure, I may have to wait in line, but I'd rather get a bill for $0 then scammed)! :2drinkspit:
 
Fuck, that looks rough (wound)!
Fuck, that looks rough (bill)!

Glad you are alright.
 
My 3 yr old daughter needed some x-rays (has frequent knee pain at night, pediatrician wanted to make sure nothing unusual was going on) and some blood work done to make sure everything was fine..

$2,000. And that's with insurance, which didn't pay anything.


Just a quick tidbit for you, I had SEVERE Knee pain for like 4 years between the ages of 4 and 8. Especially at night. I'd be in tears and couldn't sleep.

The Doc's said it was just "Growing Pains." I want to find those guys because I'm only 5' 8" tall/short. LOL

My Fiancee' also had SEVERE knee pain when she was a child.

I remember my Mother holding me and crying with me.

My point of relating this is, as a Parent & Grand Parent now, I can understand "your" concern and the feeling of wanting to STOP HER PAIN!!

Aspirin and warm compresses are what my Mother used on me and it DID help some. She also wrapped an ACE Bandage around my knee and that helped to cut the pain down for some reason. Thinking back now I can remember the feeling of the bandage "Gently Squeezing" my knee and the pain not being as sharp with it on.

Both me and my Fiancee' are over weight and almost 50 yo now and neither of us have ever had any knee problems since the pain in childhood.



On another note, my first daughter had NO TEETH at 2 1/2 years old!!! WE took her to numerous Dentists during those years out of concern. They all said that her teeth would be stronger once they did come out.


When she turned two I made the Dentist take x-rays to be sure she had teeth there somewhere. Lulz


They finally came in just before she turned 3. It was heart breaking!! They all came in AT ONCE!!! She was in so much pain!!

But she has perfectly straight and healthy white teeth. There was no need for braces either.
 
No, not even I agree with socialized healthcare. The solution doesn't rely in force and property theft, it relies on getting government out of the equation.

I've taken part of the healthcare systems in the US, Norway, and now Czech Republic. Norway had the highest level of quality in terms of their healthcare. Czech Republic is by far the most cost efficient one (I buy commercial insurance that costs $~750 a year and gives coverage everywhere in the EU). The US had the most complicated and expensive system.

Seeing as the US has the most privatized system out of the three, I'd say that "getting the government out of the equation" won't necessarily make it more affordable.

Even if it did make it more affordable to completely privatize the system, do you really want to "shop around" for healthcare services? When I have an emergency I just want to go to a hospital as quickly as possible. I don't think anyone wants to be comparing prices/packages while holding a severed finger in their hand.
 
My insurance will jew them down a lot but holy fuck if that doesn't make your heart race opening something like that lol. $73,884 bill to my insurance, not sure how much it'll cost me yet, but I've already paid over $1500.

You no can read? Your insurance paid the hospital $24,000 for the procedure. Your out of pocket expense is $500. Granted that you will most likely get another bill for additional charges not incorporated into the bill... Like getting those staples removed from your head.

hospital.jpg
 
I had my appendix out in January and altogether it was like $45,000 or some shit. But since I pay out of pocket they do an adjustment and I only ended up paying around $14k.

What is this insurance you speak of?

In Argentina, you can have that same surgery for $1K at any of the bests private clinics in the country.
 
You no can read? Your insurance paid the hospital $24,000 for the procedure. Your out of pocket expense is $500. Granted that you will most likely get another bill for additional charges not incorporated into the bill... Like getting those staples removed from your head.

hospital.jpg
Notice at the bottom it says "You have met $1500 of your 2013 individual annual in-network out of pocket.

And the 2 column names being "Amount charged" and "Allowable charges" and the discrepancy between the two.

I get a paper like this every time I rack up any bills, in the past for each $10k on the "amount charged" I've had to pay around $300, along with $700/mo in premiums, along with $40 co-pay for each visit x20 last year. Along with $120/mo in co-pays for prescriptions. You get bloodwork done and you get 5 bills from different labs for it, after insurance.
 
It is actually quite funny how the US govt is stealing from their citizens (I know that EVERY country steals from their citizens, but the US is definitely doing it on a different, much higher level) and doesn't even provide essential services/goods such as education and health care.

The US made $50 Billion in profit from Student Loans this year. Isn't that fucking crazy? That means the majority of those poor kids who go to college with hopes for a better, brighter future in their backpack, have to pay back those insane tuition fees after their graduation. I mean, if politicians were clever, they would realize that no 20 year old can bear such pressure to get done with college, get a job to be able to pay back the loan. The US makes a hefty profit of those educated students in the long run. They get taxes, they get a healthy economy...
Here in the EU (mostly in every country), education is free. No matter where you come from or who you are.

'Merica. The country where the govt. penetrates your asshole with 50" dildo until you die.
 
See the point is they want you to live, so you can die afterwards when you see the bill, and make double the profit.
 
He had 4.5 hours of open cranial surgery where they exposed his brain stem and wrapped it with Teflon. He lived and was back to work just 9 days later.

I honestly don't think $75k is too much to pay for that kind of neurosurgical expertise.

Compare it to what a major league sports player, a high up executive in a major company, or even a high street design agency turning out corporate identities and websites, makes dong what they do.

In the west we pay people with top level skills top level money and the companies they work for usually stick on a healthy percentage on top of that.
 
I mean, if politicians were clever, they would realize that no 20 year old can bear such pressure to get done with college, get a job to be able to pay back the loan.

Bullshit. I paid back my $20,000 in loans without any problems. I know that pales in comparison to what some have as loans for doctorates and law degrees and whatnot, but if you're going to be making a fat 6+ figure salary a year you can pay back you shit too. If you're an idiot and spend a fortune on another useless Psych degree and can't get a job afterwards as a result, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

Why is it the government's responsibility to pay for the education of it's citizens? Shouldn't parents bear some responsibility for paying for their kid's educations? If they don't save anything for the first 18 years of their kid's lives, how is it the govt's fault? Just a bunch of bitch entitlists thinking the gov't owes them something.
 
Why is it the government's responsibility to pay for the education of it's citizens? Shouldn't parents bear some responsibility for paying for their kid's educations? If they don't save anything for the first 18 years of their kid's lives, how is it the govt's fault? Just a bunch of bitch entitlists thinking the gov't owes them something.


IMO, it's the government's responsibility to improve the quality of life of its citizens. One of the best ways to do it is to give access at a very reasonable price (or even free depending on the person's performance in high school) to lower and middle classes to knowledge, the type of knowledge that is useful though, like engineering degrees.