Re: 40 million Americans
Fun topic here. I'm one of those out there that did not have insurance. The fiance and her five kids did, but not me. Im young and invincible,, remember?<br /><br />Nope... went out on the boat was was tubing. Fell off and broke a finger. Went to the ER, they couldn't do anything but send me to an orthpedic doctor, however they still managed to charge me $400 for 15 minutes of their time.<br /><br />The orthopedic doctor performed the surgery, put in a couple of screws and have done numerous x-rays before and after. Their total bill was around $1100. Not bad at all.<br /><br />Then come the bills from the hospital, the hospital x-ray tech and the anesthesist. X-rays were pretty cheap, the doc who knocked me out sent me a bill for $600 and the hospital sent me an additional bill for $4000.<br /><br />I'm wondering what in the hell the hospital did besides see me for 15 minutes in the ER the day it happened and give the orthopedic doctor a place to do the surgery and for me to rest a couple of hours a few days later. Total cost for all of this is somewhere around $6K and it's all coming out of my pocket.<br /><br />The problem is the hospitals, not the doctors, when it comes to ridiculous medical costs. The other bills I understand. X-rays, surgery, anesthetics... but what did the hospital do to deserve $4000+ of my hard earned cash? They gave me a band-aid and a place to lay down for a couple of hours. $2000 an hour for a hospital stay? I'm in the wrong business.<br /><br />That said, I am not in favor of the goverment taking over health care and I certainly don't want a hand out. The more they take over, the more stuff gets screwed up. However, something seriously needs to be done about our system.