As some of you may know, I went out to dinner on February 13th, a Sunday. We drove from Delaware, where we live, to a big lobster place in Cape May, New Jersey. It was very crowded, and the waitstaff and buspersons were running their heads off, and when she was clearing my table, the waitress spilled a dish of applesauce on the floor. I thought it was all cleaned up. I was wrong. When I stood up I slipped on it and dove into the chair legs and table legs of a big table near us.
When I regained consciousness (not long), I was able to stand, long enough to get out into the lobby and out of the gaze of 400 or so eyes. But then the sick hit me, and the dizzy, and the confused, and the restaurant called an ambulance.
I ended up in a helicopter flying to Atlantic City in the dark, getting a CAT scan in their shiny new trauma center, and staying the night. Things have gotten better since then.
Until the bills started coming. Nobody took our insurance information until we got to the hospital and thank heaven I have it, because the bills are just stunning.
For the ambulance and EMTs: about $700.00.
For the paramedics: about $2,000.00.
For the hospital stay, I hope including the meals and the CAT scan: about $26,000. One night. Already approved.
And the kicker: the helicopter. Basic rate plus 37 miles: EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. I screamed "I didn't buy the helicopter!".
I'm not going to complain about them making a big fuss about a concussion in Cape May, because this is either my eighth or ninth, and I worry about it. If I had been seriously injured, they might have saved my life.
I'm not coming to a conclusion here. I'm not really sure what it is, except that they're charging these prices because they can, and it's a bloody outrage, and why what I voted for evaporated is a mystery to me. Because of my insurance I can absorb all this. Others can't. It's all so wrong.