We found out the cost of Wallene's accident today.
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$5,972.86.
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That is with the self-pay option, which translates into "No, we don't have insurance."
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If we had insurance the company would have been charged over $9,000.00. I guess this is the way for the hospital to help us out. Nice.
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Why do we not have insurance on her? Because our option is over $600 a month. This is a cost that was hugely out of our league a few months ago [due to us paying child support for a child that wasn't eligible for it] and will not be an option until September, 2009 when the other child turns 18 and we no longer owe on him.
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We have been holding on, praying that nothing happened, but life - as it is wont to do - DID.
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Are we sorry we took her to the Emergency room? Nope.
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Are we beyond thrilled that all she had was a concussion and a broken nose [as opposed to the more nefarious results of running into a cement wall at high speed]?
What do you think? Of course we are thrilled that she is fine and we made sure of it.
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Still ... I have to wonder - that is $2,000 per hour for her to be seen in the Emergency Room. I actually shudder to think if her wounds hadn't been minor - how would we ever, ever had dug out from under those kind of bills?
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Unfortunately she heard Pooldad and I talking about the bill [at 11:30 pm deciding what kind of payments we could afford - Friday is bill paying night, dontcha' know!]. Wallene? You're supposed to be asleep you lil' snit.
What was sad/weirdly funny was her ensuing question:
"Momma, if someone dies in the Emergency room do you still owe the money?"
I responded, "Yes." And then thinking to myself "But it wouldn't be worth paying because you wouldn't have been here anymore."
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It made me cry.
6 comments:
Wow.
Much maligned as it is, I now have a new appreciation for the NHS!
I dread to think how much my month long hospital stay with surgery and several visits to ICU would have cost if I had to pay for it. They say something like $300 per night for a standard bed, so the very minimum it would have cost, before surgery, ICU, drugs etc. would have been $9000.
I hope Obama puts some kind of healthcare coverage for all of you. That is outrageous the cost of medical emergencies where you are.
Some of our hospitals have a program based on your income. You still have to pay but a cut it a little more than that!
I know one doctor who has the policy that if you die, the bill if forgiven. After Mom's death, I called a doctor. He did not know she had passed and I was told office policy said I had no bill.
I would rather have had my mother.
Mom's hospital bill for her five week stay was $244,000. That doesn't include 92 charges by doctors, lab techs, etc. Fortunately Medicare pays all but $750 of the hospital bill, but I'd pay every penny of it if I could have my mother back.
Heres part of my story....it makes no sense, and my story and your don't really add up, or reconcile each other...
Whats really crazy is that even with my insurance, everytime I go to get medicine its a crapshoot...one month its $30 and the next month its $16 tyhen the next its $5.... for the same medicine!Hows Wallene?
adspackman - I'm pretty sure it's more than $300 a night for a standard bed. A few years ago (or longer, actually) I recall finding out the per night charge for the hospital and thinking "That's more than the nicest hotels out there and way less comfortable to boot."
Skippy, I am sorry Wallene's mind even went there. You tell her not to be silly like that. Her life is worth way more than $5k or so. WAY more.
Hospital costs are a bit ridiculous but I try to look at it from the other side, they need to cover their own costs to keep up the care that they do provide. And I am 100% with everyone. I'd rather have someone and be mired in debt than not have them and have no debt.
PS Most of the hospitals I've dealt with will offer some form of payment plan; they just want to make sure they get paid, but they are understanding that it's a lot of money to give in one shot.
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