How do people survive without medical insurance? **Feedback requested please**
Just yesterday I received an itemized statement for my stay at UCSF Medical Center a couple of weeks ago. I also received a statement from the company that took me on a one hour and 10 minute helicopter ride to Roseville where I needed to receive care.
The most interesting thing about the two statements was their detail. Since last October I have been in and out of the hospital more times than I can even recall but I have never received statements like these that break down each and every penny billed.
The first of the two statements that I opened was the one from UCSF. After reading the nearly 20 pages of charges, I began to realize just how lucky I am to have such great and affordable health care coverage. The final tally there for six days was right around $500,000!
What would happen if I was in need of a liver transplant and I didn't have the cash or insurance to cover this? I know that programs exist to help, but I am not sure just how they all work. This could easily break the financial backbone of any family and that is very sad to me.
Let's take a look at some of the charges that I incurred:
Riafaximin - A very unique antibiotic known to kill even the deadliest of infections and help balance the ammonia levels of liver transplant patients so we don't get disoriented, confused and very forgetful: $97.00 per tablet. I take six of these every day.
One day of room use at UCSF: $5,189.00.
Use of the lab at UCSF to process my constant blood testing: $24,000.00.
One pint of blood products - I needed about seven: $457.00 each.
That is just a sample of what things cost. How do they justify these crazy amounts? The one item that really stood out to me was the antibiotic that I mentioned.
I was charged $97.00 per tablet for it at the hospital, but when I left there I picked up 180 tablets of the exact same medicine (not a generic version) at a pharmacy. The pharmacy cost for that medicine would have been close to $1,200.00. That works out to nearly $7.00 per tablet. How could the hospital charge $90.00 more for every single tablet? That fact just like the medicine itself is hard to swallow! With my insurance, I paid $4.50 for the prescription of 180 pills. I know how lucky that I am!
Now, let me mention the helicopter transport charge real quick. Like I stated above, the trip took about an hour. There was a pilot on board and two really great nurses. One nurse administered fluids via IV, some medicine for nausea, an injection so I did not get air sick or too anxious and also gave me two doses of pain medicine. The other nurse helped get me into and out of the helicopter and kept me quite calm because she knew that I was terrified. I honestly thought that I was going to die that night. I mean that.
Anyway, the air ambulance transport was billed out at $31,500.00! That works out to be $525.00 for every single minute! With that much cash I could have probably put a decent down payment on the helicopter or had a pretty nice little house built on Rock Island just off the coast of Mazatlan, Mexico!
How do you feel about the cost of medical insurance and medical care? Is it hurting your family? My parents work and they work hard and they pay almost $600.00 per month for insurance that only covers 80% of their charges. That percentage may seem adequate but think about the fact that I have probably racked up almost two million dollars in fees in recent months and I am facing a $600,000 transplant that is required to save my life. My parents would have to shell out 20 percent of almost three million dollars! They would never be able to do that!
I would love some feedback on this issue please. Has anyone watched the Micheal Moore film, Sicko? I have yet to see it but I will be renting it soon. I have heard that it is a real eye opener even if you are not a huge Moore fan.
Stay healthy!
-Mojo
Submitted by Motown Mojo on Tue, 2008-09-23 19:28.
