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A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

One question: Is the hospital in question legally required to agree upon terms with any insurer, thus making it be in-network with those insurers? If the answer is "no," there's nothing to say.

Bakers don't have to enter into contracts with customers they don't want to, and hospitals don't have to either. Remember, in our healthcare system, while you and I may be the recipients of care, our insurers are the paying customers, unless the provider hasn't a contractual rate schedule with them, in which case the care recipient becomes the customer.
 
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Am I kidding you that this is the greatest healthcare system in the world?

Stop deflecting and stay on topic. You don't need a nationwide, single payer healthcare system to have a decent billing system in a government run hospital. Your bill for any good/service should not be based on your perceived ability to pay. Get real.
 
Stop deflecting and stay on topic. You don't need a nationwide, single payer healthcare system to have a decent billing system in a government run hospital. Your bill for any good/service should not be based on your perceived ability to pay. Get real.

Deflecting?

The topic I was on is: is this the greatest healthcare system in the world, or what?

And you seem to be arguing... that it isn’t.
 
Deflecting?

The topic I was on is: is this the greatest healthcare system in the world, or what?

And you seem to be arguing... that it isn’t.

Nope here is what you posted and I replied to:

Pubic [sic] hospitals are not the kind that have Trauma centers
.

Nobody gets sent to the hospital of their choice when they get picked up off the street by EMS. This thread is about a specific hospital's billing procedures.
 
Nope here is what you posted and I replied to:

.

Nobody gets sent to the hospital of their choice when they get picked up off the street by EMS. This thread is about a specific hospital's billing procedures.

Not interested in discussing Brazilian pubic hospitals.
 
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills




An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

I would place a large part of the blame for this situation on the paramedics. They should know the policy of one of the city's largest hospitals. Why bring the person there instead of a hospital that would not put her in this situation. From what I read this did not seem like a couple of minutes difference would have life or death consequences.
 
I would place a large part of the blame for this situation on the paramedics. They should know the policy of one of the city's largest hospitals. Why bring the person there instead of a hospital that would not put her in this situation. From what I read this did not seem like a couple of minutes difference would have life or death consequences.

Yes. If paramedics checked the insurance status of all trauma victims, and then conveyed them to the most appropriate hospital... THEN we’d have the best healthcare system in the world!

What an easy fix!
 
Yes. If paramedics checked the insurance status of all trauma victims, and then conveyed them to the most appropriate hospital... THEN we’d have the best healthcare system in the world!

What an easy fix!

Totally unresponsive to the post. Pretty sad that this type of response is what passes for "debate" on the internet.
 
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills




An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

Another reason I am so grateful I was able to raise my family in Canada. :)


If this had happened here, she would have been taken to the hospital, moved to the front of the emergency line, and been fixed up there and then. Xrays would have been taken, and if there appeared to be any complications or additional requirements of let's say a specialist, all appointments would be booked then and there.

No insurance companies to contact, no bills to worry about, no financial catastrophe to contemplate. Nothing to do but get healthy. Trust me, if you've never experienced it, it's awesome. :)
 
I would place a large part of the blame for this situation on the paramedics. They should know the policy of one of the city's largest hospitals. Why bring the person there instead of a hospital that would not put her in this situation. From what I read this did not seem like a couple of minutes difference would have life or death consequences.

How insane is it that paramedics would need to know the insurance and payment policies of all the hospitals in the area?
 
Nobody gets sent to the hospital of their choice when they get picked up off the street by EMS.

In Vancouver you can sometimes choose. One of the factors is how busy they are.
 
Another reason I am so grateful I was able to raise my family in Canada. :)


If this had happened here, she would have been taken to the hospital, moved to the front of the emergency line, and been fixed up there and then. Xrays would have been taken, and if there appeared to be any complications or additional requirements of let's say a specialist, all appointments would be booked then and there.

No insurance companies to contact, no bills to worry about, no financial catastrophe to contemplate. Nothing to do but get healthy. Trust me, if you've never experienced it, it's awesome. :)

On a PPP adjusted basis America spends more than double per capita what Canada spends, yet look at how much worse we do some of the basics.

This really should be a criminal matter.





https://www.healthsystemtracker.org...-spend-half-much-per-person-health-u-s-spends
 
How insane is it that paramedics would need to know the insurance and payment policies of all the hospitals in the area?


How insane is it that you lack basic understanding. This is one of the major hospitals in the city with a unique insurance policy. Should be a big sign in each ride that says DO NOT USE hospital X unless life is at risk.

Even you and Sangha would be able to see and read the sign.
 
That’s just called “freedom” or something and if you don’t like it, move to Venezesweden.

You do realize that Venezuela and Sweden are nothing alike?
 
I would place a large part of the blame for this situation on the paramedics. They should know the policy of one of the city's largest hospitals. Why bring the person there instead of a hospital that would not put her in this situation. From what I read this did not seem like a couple of minutes difference would have life or death consequences.

I don't think the paramedics check billing practices before deciding where to take an accident victim. Nor do I think they should.

Besides, didn't someone say this is the only game in the town?
 
How insane is it that you lack basic understanding. This is one of the major hospitals in the city with a unique insurance policy. Should be a big sign in each ride that says DO NOT USE hospital X unless life is at risk.

Even you and Sangha would be able to see and read the sign.

So now you’re saying that no one should be taken to the hospital, even though it’s the only Level 1 trauma center around.

Or wait... you’re saying they should only send non-commercially insured patients there.

So you want the EMTs to check insurance status on each patient.

Funny- you said that when I sarcastically said that that my contribution to the debate was worthless.
 
I don't think the paramedics check billing practices before deciding where to take an accident victim. Nor do I think they should.

Besides, didn't someone say this is the only game in the town?

Why would they need to?

We have the greatest healthcare system in the world, amirite?
 
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

I used to see this a lot back when I was a social worker. Part of the job was helping people navigate state and local programs related to high medical bills.

What you see there is a Hospital offsetting their losses from serving Medicaid, Medi-Cal and uninsured patients by charging crazy amounts of money for services to patients that their finance department deems "able to pay".
 
You do realize that you are talking about the pricing policy of a public, non-profit, teaching hospital in the bright blue land of unicorns and rainbows. This is not some private, for profit hospital run by evil capitalists. Note that if this patient was under Medi-Cal then the billing amount would have been "adjusted".

Nah, that's just the wannabe bright blue land of unicorns and rainbows. Up here there's no such thing as private, for profit hospitals run by evil capitalists. She would have gotten her arm fixed for free. Why pine for the land of unicorns, when you can come north to the land of beavers and not go broke trying to be healthy? ;) :lol:
 
I used to see this a lot back when I was a social worker. Part of the job was helping people navigate state and local programs related to high medical bills.

What you see there is a Hospital offsetting their losses from serving Medicaid, Medi-Cal and uninsured patients by charging crazy amounts of money for services to patients that their finance department deems "able to pay".

Out of curiosity, why is the cost of everything medical related so much more expensive in the states? Do you not ever get tired of having your health used to extort you out of wild amounts of money, when compared to other places, by doctors and pharmaceutical companies? Wouldn't getting them under control make ANY medical system you end up adopting run better? Seems to me you guys ought to fix that before making any further changes.
 
Pubic hospitals are not the kind that have Trauma centers- I’m pretty sure they’re mostly in Brazil, anyway.

But the hospital she was sent to was not her choice, which is a weird thing to happen if you live in a country with the greatest healthcare system in the world, dontcha think?


People need to better understand financial distress strategies. Limping by for a few years with bad credit isn't as hard as many people think. One thing NOT to do: Be a good little do-bee pay a little at a time. Pay nothing until getting an affordable settlement offer.
 
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