About a month ago I fainted at work. It happened after over 30 hours of work with no sleep (we had a critical computer issue affecting production), and also not enough fluids. I hit my head when I fainted and got a slight bump on my forehead. For liability purposes HR required that I be taken by ambulance to the ER room. Completely unnecessary but I had no choice. Well, today I got the bill for the Emergency Room visit and that combined with the Ambulance ride cost me over $4,400. My mouth literally dropped open when I saw the cost, I was absolutely shocked.
Like I said, there was absolutely no reason for the ambulance. I kept trying to say that I didn't need it but one of the EMT's kept saying to me "You don't know what you're talking about. You're not making sense.". She was adamant that I get into the ambulance. (Later on I found this particular ambulance company has many consumer complaints. Over charging, etc. They get paid on commission). I got to the emergency room and sat in a chair in the waiting room. My husband got there and I told the nurse I was going to leave as there was absolutely no reason to be there. I didn't even have a cut on my head, just a very slight bump. I didn't have a headache, no nausea, no confusion..nothing. The nurse told me to wait and she'd get the doctor. A doctor came out and talked to me for maybe 60 seconds. He could tell there was nothing wrong with me. He didn't do any sort of tests (no light in my eyes to check for concussion, no blood pressure...nothing). He told me to go ahead and go home, didn't even give me any sort of instructions as to after care or warning that if I started developing this or that I should see my doctor. I left thinking I wouldn't even get a bill because they did absolutely nothing.
A couple of weeks later I get the bill from the ambulance company and it is $2500!!!! They charged for mileage (Hospital was 5 miles away), for whatever completely unnecessary IV they put in me, heart rate monitor (despite the fact that my heart rate was 60, I'm a long distance runner), linens (over $300 for that...are you kidding me? $300 for the sheet they put over me??). $30 for aspirin that I never took. And finally the costs for the EMT's time.
Then today I got the emergency room bill and it was $1,974!! What??? For a doctor to talk to me for 60 seconds and do absolutely nothing?? This is why we need Universal Health Care. I'm sure some of the cost I was being charged had to do with the hospital trying to make up costs for those that don't have health insurance. I'd always heard emergency room visits were more costly but $1,974 for nothing more than a conversation with a doctor that lasted 1 minute? I can't help but think about the idiotic remarks by many in the GOP about how Universal Healthcare is unnecessary because anyone can go to an emergency room and get treated. I shudder to think what my bill would have been if the doctor actually had to treat me. And I would imagine you'd have to be pretty destitute to get away with not paying your bill. The bar must be set pretty low as far as income goes for bill collectors not to be hounding you. I'm lucky in that I do have health insurance but I still ended up paying a deductible.
Our health care system is broken. Obamacare was a first step but we really do need Universal Healthcare or at least a public option to bring costs down. I'm so angry right now at the outright rip off from both the ambulance company and the hospital. This needs to stop.