This is extremely important for US citizens - thank you for sharing.
My wife had a small infected cellulitis treated at an emergency room because we were far from home and she was uncomfortable. Beyond what our "good" insurance paid we just recieved the 3rd bill for $795 (others were a several hundred). The worst part is that we have no idea if this is the final bill or if they'll keep coming until we're flat broke. It's like they have unlimited power to keep charging whatever they want.
Honestly, if we'd known it would be $2K out of pocket, we may have waited a day and found a lower cost solution for such a routine procedure (we've had this procedure done 3 times previously). However, we may have just accepted to pay. The point is that the patient has zero knowledge ahead of time what bills they are facing after the E-room visit.
At $2K (and climbing?) our bill is at least manageable. Our friend's wife (who has premium insurance) collapsed and was helicoptered to the E-room. Very sadly, she did not make it. Weeks later he recieved a bill nearing $100K for the helicopter lift.
It's a wicked practice, but the money has to come from somewhere. I'm sure it's a high overhead cost for an operator to have a medical helicopter and trained crew hangared and standing by for emergencies, then to operate during an emergency. However, the point is transparency and seemingly "wild west"-like unchecked billing practices. That way, when selecting insurance providers you can at least look ahead of time for things like ground/air ambulance that you're likely to need in a true emergency.
My wife had a small infected cellulitis treated at an emergency room because we were far from home and she was uncomfortable. Beyond what our "good" insurance paid we just recieved the 3rd bill for $795 (others were a several hundred). The worst part is that we have no idea if this is the final bill or if they'll keep coming until we're flat broke. It's like they have unlimited power to keep charging whatever they want.
Honestly, if we'd known it would be $2K out of pocket, we may have waited a day and found a lower cost solution for such a routine procedure (we've had this procedure done 3 times previously). However, we may have just accepted to pay. The point is that the patient has zero knowledge ahead of time what bills they are facing after the E-room visit.
At $2K (and climbing?) our bill is at least manageable. Our friend's wife (who has premium insurance) collapsed and was helicoptered to the E-room. Very sadly, she did not make it. Weeks later he recieved a bill nearing $100K for the helicopter lift.
It's a wicked practice, but the money has to come from somewhere. I'm sure it's a high overhead cost for an operator to have a medical helicopter and trained crew hangared and standing by for emergencies, then to operate during an emergency. However, the point is transparency and seemingly "wild west"-like unchecked billing practices. That way, when selecting insurance providers you can at least look ahead of time for things like ground/air ambulance that you're likely to need in a true emergency.