What goes on in the emerency room - and the start of a racket

The emergency room brought out my split personality. On one side, I was in pain and just wanted it all fixed and the pain to stop. What would have been really great would have been for someone to walk up to me and taken care of everything without my having to get involved.

But there are two unfortunate parts of health care. The first is that because of our legal systems, doctors have to explain everything to you and have you make the decisions. The second is we can't trust our medical professionals to be perfect 100% of the time, so we need to listen to everything and make sure they make the right decisions. Yet we have to do this under the influence of pain medications.

The surgeon looked at the X-rays and MRIs and told me that I have a broken foot. Gee .. thanks! He further explained that my fibula was broken and three meta-tarsals. I knew what meta-tarsals are, but I couldn't remember .. is the fibula the big bone or the little one. Fortunately, it was the little one so this isn't a big deal. So ... why was I scheduled for surgery the next day??

Health care costs have gone through the roof, and this is an example of why. First, an ambulance ride costs almost $1,000. If you have to be airlifted, make that tens of thousands of dollars. Anyone in a car crash already has more to pay out than many people make in a week.

Jumping ahead a little bit, this little ordeal ends up being billed at over $55,000 dollars. Just for the hospital. Physical therapy is at $4,500 and climbing. Why does a simple fracture of my left foot cost $60,000 to fix?? Oh .. that's what is billed .. did I mention that??

I don't understand ... 40 years ago, they would have slapped a cast on me and sent me home. Maybe a hospital bill of $500. I can appreciate that possibly putting the plate in and not having a cast is more comfortable, but is it $59,500 more comfortable???

There is part of the rise in health care. Our health care has gotten better, and we have to pay for it.

But the insurance pays doesn't pay that bill. They only paid around $23K for the hospital, and $800 for the therapy. Yep .. if you have insurance, there is a 'discount' of over 50% from what the hospital bills. I still owed $3,000 for the deductible and the 20% that I have to pay up to my maximum of $3,000. But at least I didn't have to pay $60K.

Why doesn't the driver that hit me have to pay??? More about that later....

But for now, let's put the hospital bill and insurance payouts in perspective. If I have no insurance, I have to come up with $60K. If I have insurance, they only pay $24K. Why??

These are the 'negotiated' rates. Insurance companies are big, and they get to negotiate with the hospital how much a stay costs. So when someone goes to the hospital, the cost is much less.

Sounds unfair...why can't I do that.

Guess what ... you can!!!

I have friends that don't have insurance. Before they went to the hospital, they too negotiated. They even got similar discounts. One friend was able to borrow the money to pay off the hospital, and was given a 50% discount because she had cash.

Again ... why?? Why are we billed so much, but have to pay so much less.

I don't know but I have a guess.

If I don't pay my bill, guess what the hospital writes off?? You guessed it, the full amount. Suddenly, they aren't paying taxes on $50K even they they would only have gotten paid $25K if I had insurance.

Games ... it's all about games. What a racket with you and me as the ball.

And do I have some more games to tell you about. A really scary and maddening game the hospitals, and their lawyers, play.