We took my son to the emergency room because he fell and lacerated his head. After about 1 1/2 hours, we were out. All the doctor did was take a tube of skin glue, hold his head together and rub it on.
Now we just got the bill and it's $600!! (That's combining both the hospital and doctor fees) Can someone tell me why in the world are medical expenses so high, where does all this money go??
2007-02-07 02:14:24 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
Mostly into the hospital execs and physicians lavish lifestyles.
2007-02-07 02:21:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
There are many reasons why the cost of an Emergency Room visit is high.First off, every patient in the ER helps pay for the facility. Even though your son had a minor injury (which most likely could have been handled at a doctor's office or clinic), you are still paying for the availability of the equipment, such as Xray and CT scanners.
There is also the issue of uncompensated care! By law, an ER is not allowed to turn anyone away because of an inability to pay. Quite a few people go to the ER, and never pay! The hospital has to charge more, to cover the cost of those who do not!
$600 for the care you received is actually lower than I would have expected. You should check to see if there is a walk in clinic in your area, for incidents like this. These clinics are privately owned, and provide basic services without an appointment. They usually have longer hours than a regular doctor's office, most in my area are open 7 days and have early morning and late evening hours!!
2007-02-07 02:32:48 · answer #2 · answered by fire4511 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yep! It goes to pay for the doctors big fancy houses and their fancy cars they drive! And their nice clothes, jewelery, trinkets, etc. It's a legal ripoff! And the lawyers are right up there with them. Things are getting so bad right now, that they are the only ones making money. But, the economy is getting so bad, they are the next ones to be hit. And, they are not going to know how to live on small incomes like the rest of us do. There is no excuse for that! No one is worth that much money per hour! And what really sucks, is when you go to a doctor, and you don't even really get answers, just the run around, and you still have to pay. Now, if you took your car in for repairs, and they said "I think it's this" and charge you , and it's not, you don't have to pay for that! Cause that is not the problem. I agree with you. It's a big ripoff!
2007-02-07 02:23:55 · answer #3 · answered by Shari 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
most went to the hospital room, the second highest was the drs. fee, and a tiny bit for the medicine. I know when I worked for a hospital that the normal E.R room fee was like $400, for something that was not super serious!
2007-02-07 02:18:50 · answer #4 · answered by Bunker J 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's cheap! In our area a general trip to the local ER is going to relieve you of $1500 plus!
That is why most insurance plans discourage ER visits! They intend for you to use your PCP or the Urgent Care Centers! Your bill then would be under $200 in most instances!
It's refered to as "informed consumer"!
2007-02-07 02:22:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋