Members bassthumpintwin Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 So my wife is a juvenile diabetic, and she wears an insulin pump 24/7.... a few weeks ago the catheter pulled out while she was sleeping, so she went without insulin for most of the night. she woke up, noticed it, and replaced it. Standard procedure. she checked her sugar throughout the day, only to find that it kept going up. Eventually it gets up to about 590 (this is BAD) and we decide we need to go the the ER. (At this point you could easily go into a diabetic coma and/or kidney failure) So she pulls her pump out as a final check, and it turns out it's clogged with blood, so no insulin had been going through. We change it on the way to the ER, but decide we should still go just incase there was something else wrong. Long story short... we get there, and they check her sugar, and give her some water. They check it again, and it's going down.... They check a couple more times and finally they release her. All in all, we were there for a couple hours, and they did little more than give her some water, check her vitals, and check her sugar. We got 2 bills in the mail totalling 700 DOLLARS. Now, dont get me wrong, I'm grateful they took care of my wife and made sure she's ok, but what on God's GREEN EARTH did they do that justifies charging me 700 dollars? and mind you, this is AFTER insurance.... and I have great insurance... so it could have been much more. this is just UNBELIEVABLE. I really can't afford this crap right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 Wow....that sucks. Over here that would cost me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WillPlay4food Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you have great insurance, how come you weren't limited to a $100 ER copay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dwalmz Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 That's a damn shame. I think most insurances cover only 20% of ER costs or something like that. I refuse to do the ER thing unless it's REALLY serious (which of course your situation was)! We have these here in Virginia and the insurance pays most of the bill. See if your area has something similar. Only thing is it's not 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members countrybass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 She's a juvenile? Ya married a youngin!! We do that in the South too.:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members justinbass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you have great insurance, how come you weren't limited to a $100 ER copay? Way to be sympathetic fella. bassthumpintwin - That really sucks. I have a roommate with an insulin pump, and he is a broke grad student. He's been to the ER three times in the last year and a half. Everytime he was okay, but he had some crazy blood sugar readings and was getting sick, so he went to be safe. Each time he was given an IV and sent home after a few hours. You made the right choice to go and be safe. It is unreal how expensive ER visits are, even if basically nothing is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members countrybass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 In all seriousness, that isn't funny!! I have a friend of mine. She wears a pump and that damn thing is always screwing up. Whether its a clogged line or kinked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JacieFB Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 That's a big drag, man. I'm sorry to hear about that. Generally speaking, emergency response to Type I Diabetic issues are not really even viable. Take a low blood sugar for instance. By the time the EMTs get there, it's too late. Sounds like a rough night. I'm glad your wife is okay. Does she see an endocrinologist? The one I see has a 24-hour hotline that you can call. You call into an operator and he/she calls the endocrinologist that's on call and he/she calls you back. Thankfully, I haven't had to use it, but it might be an option to help you check things out in the future before going for an expensive ER visit. Also, what pump is she on? Medtronic Minimed(I'm on the Paradigm) also has a 24-hour hotline. Again I haven't had to use it, but perhaps they could help you step through any potential mechanical or electrical problems that are pump-related. I'm sure the first thing they would say would be, "Change your infusion set." Sounds like that ~might~ have caught the problem at least before you were out the door. Then let how she feels dictate whether an emergency room visit is necessary. Seems like not all health practitioners are diabetic-savy. They could have at least given her some IV fluids. That may have helped her feel better quickly. I've had a 500+ blood sugar a couple of times and it sucks. No 2 ways about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassthumpintwin Posted April 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you have great insurance, how come you weren't limited to a $100 ER copay? I havent met my deductable yet.... IIRC, i have to meet a certain dollar amount before my out of pocket is limited to so much per visit. I'll have to review my plan.... I believe I could have gotten that, but it was so much extra a month that it wasnt justified. How many times did I think we would go to the ER? Thank God it's only been once.... I mean, it's not the best plan money/companies can by, but around here, most companies like the one I work at dont offer very much better, and it's STILL better than a lot of other people's insurance plans that I know of. Insurance or not, I just dont know what the expenses were. a glass of water, some blood sugar strips, 15 minutes worth of CNA/Doctor visits, and a couple hours time from entering to exiting.... (IF THAT). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 Our healthcare system is heavily subsidised by the government and in the public hospitals normally only a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members venturawest Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 double check that bill VERY CAREFULLY. frequently - and especially in the ER - the billing department either forgets to bill your insurance, or doesn't do it correctly, so they send the balance (or the whole bill) directly to you. i say that as a physician who's seen it happen, and as a guy that it happened to a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mytola Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 That really sucks. I can't imagine how it would be having to pay amounts like that for healthcare, but then we have that "bad" socialized healthcare over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dwalmz Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 double check that bill VERY CAREFULLY. frequently - and especially in the ER - the billing department either forgets to bill your insurance, or doesn't do it correctly, so they send the balance (or the whole bill) directly to you. i say that as a physician who's seen it happen, and as a guy that it happened to a month ago.That's true. They'd rather you do the billing. I've gotten those too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 Ugh that sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassthumpintwin Posted April 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 That's a big drag, man. I'm sorry to hear about that. Generally speaking, emergency response to Type I Diabetic issues are not really even viable. Take a low blood sugar for instance. By the time the EMTs get there, it's too late.Sounds like a rough night. I'm glad your wife is okay. Does she see an endocrinologist? The one I see has a 24-hour hotline that you can call. You call into an operator and he/she calls the endocrinologist that's on call and he/she calls you back. Thankfully, I haven't had to use it, but it might be an option to help you check things out in the future before going for an expensive ER visit.Also, what pump is she on? Medtronic Minimed(I'm on the Paradigm) also has a 24-hour hotline. Again I haven't had to use it, but perhaps they could help you step through any potential mechanical or electrical problems that are pump-related. I'm sure the first thing they would say would be, "Change your infusion set." Sounds like that ~might~ have caught the problem at least before you were out the door. Then let how she feels dictate whether an emergency room visit is necessary. Seems like not all health practitioners are diabetic-savy. They could have at least given her some IV fluids. That may have helped her feel better quickly. I've had a 500+ blood sugar a couple of times and it sucks. No 2 ways about that. It's the same pump IIRC.... They WOULD have given her an IV, but like I said, her sugar had gone down some by the time they checked her out. We basically went just to be safe. I mean, we caught what we were 99% sure was the problem before we were out the door, but when you are 5ft tall and not that big, a 590 sugar can cause all kinds of problems.My wife has been through countless high sugars, as well as 37 kidney failures, (also, her dad is an EMT, and my mom is an RN) so we kind of know our way around things.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 That really sucks. I can't imagine how it would be having to pay amounts like that for healthcare, but then we have that "bad" socialized healthcare over here. Ours isn't too good either but at least it doesn't cost a lot when I have to go to the hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassthumpintwin Posted April 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 double check that bill VERY CAREFULLY. frequently - and especially in the ER - the billing department either forgets to bill your insurance, or doesn't do it correctly, so they send the balance (or the whole bill) directly to you. i say that as a physician who's seen it happen, and as a guy that it happened to a month ago. Well, the first bill that came was from Anthem, and it had what the insurance paid and what the customer owed... it was like 140.00. No big deal.... Then YESTERDAY a bill came from the Hospital and it was like 560 dollars.... It didn't really specify what for, and what, if any, was paid by insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I feel your pain. I have an pelvic floor disorder, so they tried to shoot botulism toxin into one of my pelvic muscles to relax it. The procedure literally took less than five minutes. The doctor took a needles, stuck it in my twice, and that was that. Nothing to it. The bill? $3800!!! My insurance covered most of it, but I was still stuck with $980 worth of deductible and copay. I tried all manor of getting it reduced, but the cocksuckers wouldn't budge. Talk about getting raped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members justinbass Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 Well, the first bill that came was from Anthem, and it had what the insurance paid and what the customer owed... it was like 140.00. No big deal.... Then YESTERDAY a bill came from the Hospital and it was like 560 dollars....It didn't really specify what for, and what, if any, was paid by insurance. Call your insurance company before paying that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 We need the federal government to step in and solve this crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 Well, the first bill that came was from Anthem, and it had what the insurance paid and what the customer owed... it was like 140.00. No big deal.... Then YESTERDAY a bill came from the Hospital and it was like 560 dollars....It didn't really specify what for, and what, if any, was paid by insurance. Please get an itemized bill from the hospital. Mistakes are sometimes made, sometimes not. You need to see what you got charged for. The total can also be disputed,and sometimes you can reach a settled amount with the hospital. I racked up a $20,000 hospital bill back in 2000, after insurance. We negotiated/argued with the hospital and reached a settlement of about $12,000. Hospitals would rather get a sure $12,000 than shoot for the whole amount and maybe not get anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 We need the federal government to step in and solve this crisis. Yes, with hospital bureaucrats and insurance bureaucrats involved already, we need federal ones to break the tie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bogster Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I worked for a hospital billing company for a few years. We handled 20 hospitals in the state. It is standard procedure just for being triaged that you get billed. Even if someone came in, gave their name and address to the triage nurse, told them their ass hurt, then while waiting got up and left without seeing a dr., they would STILL get billed. And it wasn't uncommon to see that bill be between $500-$1,000. Ridiculous in the extreme? Yes. A reality, though? Unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AntiStuff Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I went in last year for an infected tooth that started swelling up. All I wanted was some painkillers and some antibiotics. Waited for an hour, went to the room, waited another half an hour, saw the nurse for 3 minutes, then the doc came in, looked at my tooth, wrote me 2 persciptions. Probably 7 minutes total face time with the Nurse and Doc, cost me $400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willbill0587 Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I like the NHS. Free everything here in the UK, and in Wales where I live, you get free prescriptions too. Ace. Its when you read things like this that you don't mind paying a little National Insurance each month. How come the US hasn't got the NHS or anything? Seems a little backward doing it the way you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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