Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Ouch!

It only took a month but we received the bill for my hospital stay.

And all I can say is Pooldad is in the wrong business. I am thinking pharmacueticals is the place to be. From all appearances I took A LOT of drugs while I was there. PAGES of drugs tadpoles.

For a stay of 9 days it cost $52,768.55. Just to occupy the hospital room cost $1,100 per day.

Thank goodness a large portion of this is covered - as it appears now we are responsible for $6,859.00. Not exactly a drop in the bucket but a heck of a lot more manageable than the $52K, right? [I said "appears" because who can read this bill? It is 20 pages long and ends with "Amount due: 00.00" but the cover page says we owe the $6,859.00 - whatev.]

That $52K doesn't even include all the specialists I was treated to - the hematologists, the heart guys and the jerk internist? They all billed seperately.

What I was really curious to see was what a pint of blood costs - since I had six, but I either don't know what the correct terminology is for blood or they forgot to charge me because I can't find it on the bill. I know that sounds a bit creepy but I figure that is pretty much what actually saved my life and I was interested to see what they charged. [ETA: Found it - it is listed under "Storage and Processing" and each pint is $600 for a total of $3600. Yes, I have mad math skillz.]

What I really should add up are the charges for being on a 9 day high - Dilaudid [no I still can't spell it and it isn't written by that name on the bill] every 4 hours for 9 days? Yep - that is definitely a large part of it. I was certainly pain free for 9 days but I wouldn't want to ever have to take a pain killer like that for a long time. Loopy for a few days? Good - Whacked for the long term? No thanks. I like to remember the conversations I have had tyvm. [Thanks to Rudee I found this too - and it was $18.60 per shot. I don't think I want to add that up.]

The best part of the bill tho'? The payment plan they chose for us to pay off the balance. At $70 per month [quite affordable - I am not complaining] there is a very good chance in the EIGHT years it will take to pay it off I may not even be here I will be 52 years old. [because tadpoles are bullies, hee]

10 comments:

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Hey, erase the last sentence. I mean it. I'm gonna come to the DC area and play some kick the can with yo behind.
Play nice don't make me cry. Crying makes me pissy. This face has a hard enough time making it through the day without crying puff to have to get over.
So now that we've settled that. Gasp.....hospitals suck, doctors suck harder. Hey $70 is cool though.
As of this Friday, we have no health insurance so I get to cancel my hand surgery Wooo hooo. But SM starts his new job on Monday so I will have to non sicky until September 15th. The old company has already charged us through the end of the month but our coverage is up Friday...tell me how that makes sense? It doesn't which means insurances sucks too. Tee Hee
vert word is astran..way too tempting but no

Rudee said...

Look for hydromorphone on the bill. That's your dilaudid...or dalala.

Keep healthy, Skippy.

Amy said...

I'm with Linda - Erase it.

I believe it! Hospital bills are crazy. I would be really interested in the blood too, especially sice it usually is donated (but I guess they do have to process it).

We have a good friend of ours that fell- FACE FIRST- off a 30 foot cliff while he was rappelling. It was a miracle he lived. They flight-for-lifed him to the hospital that was only 9 miles away. The bill for that was $18,000.

mi said...

i'm with linda and amy on the erasing!

it's crazy how those bills add up. i got charged 70 bucks once for over the counter medication.

really?!?

colenic said...

Skippy-
I used to really enjoy going through the medical bills when I got them on a normal basis. I once saved over $2000 because they charged me for the equivalent of Tylenol that I never received. It is too expensive to get sick in today's society....hugs to you...and I agree that the last sentence should be erased!

ellen abbott said...

And they wonder why people don't/won't/can't pay their medical bills.

Teresa said...

wow! that's quite the bill. wonder what the blood did cost. did you ever get a diagnosis after all of this? i know chf, but what was the blood for?

my sil was in a car accident last year and her first night with all the specialists, treatments, etc was over $100,000. she lived six weeks and actually died from something secondary to the accident.

and yeah, erase that last sentence. we're all going to gang up on you.

qandlequeen said...

THUD!

christopher said...

What happens when people can't afford their medical bills? I mean even $6k is a lot of money. If you can't pay, do they send a collection agency after you? Garnish your wages? Make you go bankrupt?
Over $50,000... That's kind of insane... :p

Al said...

Wow, that is a crazy bill. I think I'd need more hospital treatment if I ever received a bill that large!

For all its faults, of which there are many, this makes me so glad for free at point of access healthcare. I dread to think what my month in hospital complete with emergency surgery, week in ICU and who knows how many pints of blood a couple of years ago would have cost otherwise. My thanks go to St George's Healthcare and King's College Hospital NHS foundation trusts for covering the bill.

(Yes, I am still reading even if I don't comment much or have my own blog any more).