Dr and the Medics
Now a while ago in the blog I mentioned that when Ellie was admitted to hospital the 2nd time she had to take an ambulance, as that was the Hospital’s rules and that I got there before she did and I walked. I bring this up because yesterday we received a bill from the ambulance company charging us $50 for the ambulance. The ambulance actually cost $500 in total and our insurance covered $450, but the remaining fifty is ours top pay.
The bill is broken down as such $42 for using the ambulance (an ambulance we were forced to use) and $8 for the “gas”. Now bear in mind that when Ellie and Jen got in the ambulance, I started walking and got to the hospital wing before them, so it really isn’t that far between the 2 buildings, and a gallon of petrol here is around $2.80 here at the moment. So eight bucks is a bit steep.
It has really highlighted the crazy medical system that is here for Americans. The actual quality of the care is fantastic, and I have no complaints about that, Ellie has received the best medical attention probably anywhere in the world, as the teaching is up to date and the machines they use are on the cutting edge of technology. But what is amazing is the amount you have to pay if you don’t have health insurance, and also the confusion about what you do pay when you have insurance.
Every time we go to the Dr’s it costs us $10 as co-pay. The insurance company picks up most of the fee but I still have to pay $10 out of my own pocket. Jen’s co-pay has recently gone up to $20. It is the same amounts for the girls. We received a summary of the amounts that are insurance company have been billed from UC San Francisco and it was $102,673. Luckily we have insurance or else we would be in big trouble. We have also received a bill from the people that provided us with the Biliblanket that Ellie used when she had jaundice. It seems that our insurance don’t pay for that treatment so we have to pick up the tab to the tune of around $100.
My parents were out recently and my mother forgot her insulin, so we went to get some, the Dr’s visit was $75 and then the actually prescription cost $450. So she had to pay $500 plus to get her medicine, a costly mistake she won’t make again.
Every now and again a politician will try and tackle the medical industry in this country, but ultimately nothing will change as medical insurers have big bucks to spend to defeat the politicians in elections, as do the medical professionals themselves.
The bill is broken down as such $42 for using the ambulance (an ambulance we were forced to use) and $8 for the “gas”. Now bear in mind that when Ellie and Jen got in the ambulance, I started walking and got to the hospital wing before them, so it really isn’t that far between the 2 buildings, and a gallon of petrol here is around $2.80 here at the moment. So eight bucks is a bit steep.
It has really highlighted the crazy medical system that is here for Americans. The actual quality of the care is fantastic, and I have no complaints about that, Ellie has received the best medical attention probably anywhere in the world, as the teaching is up to date and the machines they use are on the cutting edge of technology. But what is amazing is the amount you have to pay if you don’t have health insurance, and also the confusion about what you do pay when you have insurance.
Every time we go to the Dr’s it costs us $10 as co-pay. The insurance company picks up most of the fee but I still have to pay $10 out of my own pocket. Jen’s co-pay has recently gone up to $20. It is the same amounts for the girls. We received a summary of the amounts that are insurance company have been billed from UC San Francisco and it was $102,673. Luckily we have insurance or else we would be in big trouble. We have also received a bill from the people that provided us with the Biliblanket that Ellie used when she had jaundice. It seems that our insurance don’t pay for that treatment so we have to pick up the tab to the tune of around $100.
My parents were out recently and my mother forgot her insulin, so we went to get some, the Dr’s visit was $75 and then the actually prescription cost $450. So she had to pay $500 plus to get her medicine, a costly mistake she won’t make again.
Every now and again a politician will try and tackle the medical industry in this country, but ultimately nothing will change as medical insurers have big bucks to spend to defeat the politicians in elections, as do the medical professionals themselves.
posted by Nick at 10:26 AM
2 Comments:
Ian and I just spent the weekend putting the world to rights and after reading your blog (and our trips to hospital in recent years) we decided we're lucky to have the NHS. Problems yes. But it seems ultimately preferable to having to deal with insurances.
I agree, the NHS may no longer have the cutting edge technology, but at least you don't have to pay for the services. It will never happen here though.
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