This Guy Put His Hospital Bill Online. Now The Whole World is Talking About It.

[Calliegirl]

This won't surprise anyone in the U.S., this is the norm. For those outside of the U.S., this is the typical cost of health care here. Because of the ACA (Obamacare), this person only (only? ) had to pay $11,000 instead of $55,000 for an emergency appendectomy.

A 20 year old American citizen who came down with appendicitis last October has posted his hospital bill online, and it’s gone viral.

The US remains the only nation in the developed world that fails to provide universal healthcare for its citizens, and most international reddit users could simply not believe what this young man was being charged for treatment they would receive without any bill at all.

Here is the bill...

This Guy Put His Hospital Bill Online. Now The Whole World is Talking About It.

 

[Amy SF]

Yep, par for the course here in the good 'ol USA.

One of the main reasons why costs are so high is to get more from the insurance companies. With super high deductibles, the insurance companies are not only unlikely to pay the entire cost of the bill, but will pay out so little of it that the patients end up paying way more than they should on the balance of the bill. This has always been the intent of the private insurance companies. The patients pay a fortune in deductibles and co-pays and premiums, and when it comes time for the companies to pay out, they pay out as little as possible. In many cases, they refuse to pay anything at all.

I put a link to the article on my FB page.

 

[ledboots]

This won't surprise anyone in the U.S., this is the norm. For those outside of the U.S., this is the typical cost of health care here. Because of the ACA (Obamacare), this person only (only? ) had to pay $11,000 instead of $55,000 for an emergency appendectomy.



This Guy Put His Hospital Bill Online. Now The Whole World is Talking About It.

I think it was his father's private insurance policy from his workplace that paid, not related to the Affordable Care Act. At least that's how I interpreted the story.

 

[Calliegirl]

It said it was because of the ACA he was able to stay on his father's insurance while he was a student.

Hmm....you're right it doesn't mention it in this story. I must have read about it in another article about this story. I'll see if I can find the other article.

 

[Calliegirl]

This is an interesting video, that breaks down this hospital bill and talks about actual hospital costs and profits.

 

[ledboots]

This is an interesting video, that breaks down this hospital bill and talks about actual hospital costs and profits.

That's a very informative video, thanks for posting.

I wasn't thinking of the ACA provision for insurance coverage for the over 18 and under 26 year olds, that was imo the very best part of the ACA.

 

[Kitties]

Scary. The recovery room bill was insane. I remember being in the recovery room after having my gall bladder out. Once I answered questions appropriately, where I was and why I was there, I was basically ignored.

 

[Dropkick]

I was hit by a car many years ago. Broke my hip. For some reason (according to the bill) it took four surgeons to screw it back together.
A few weeks ago I went to the doctor. I had x-rays. I was billed not only for the doctor looking at them at the time I had them taken, but also for a "radiology technician" (who I never saw or heard anything from, or actually knew about until I was billed) to "double check" them at a later date.
A doctors visit without any tests beyond testing my blood pressure, where the doctor talks to me for (at most) 15 minutes costs $240.00
You can't say anything to me that will excuse this obvious gouging and padding of the bills. These are just the most blatant examples that I can come up with off the top of my head, there were many more.
The U.S. medical establishment is corrupt.