I am having a triple bypass heart surgery!!!

[shadowgrin]

But Jabba has the bitches!

[Dc311]

After getting all of the bills from the hospital and different doctors my total bill came out to $75,826.88.I was actually charged over $400 by two doctors who actually never saw me in person.I was charged 125 dollars for an insulin shot.The actual vile of insulin i could get for 4 dollars at the wal-mart pharmacy.
I found this out two days ago.I got a letter today from the hospital saying that since I am uninsured that they will give me a discount.So now they knocked off $51,651.40.So now my new total is $24,175.48.That was pretty cool of them to do.Too bad they are not going to see any of it.

I still have the heart specialist to see by the end of the month,the actual heart surgery(No date yet) and the stay(no shorter than a week in the hospital) to look forward to.

Bottom line.Don't do hard drugs.Don't smoke.Don't become an alcoholic.And stay in shape/keep healthy if you do not want to go through this burden.

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Oh and thanks for the well wishes from the people that I have not thanked as of yet.

[NovU]

I'm shocked to hear about your bill. Did you confront them at least? That sounds excessive especially for the doctors you never met. For what reasons? Outrageous. What happens if you don't pay btw?

[shadowgrin]

Not hoping that it will happen to you soon rather than later but have you made arrangements in case the meat pump conks out Dc311?

For me I want this to be played as my lifeless meatbag body is carried to be grilled, with the ashes to be collected as fertilizer.

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[[Q]]

I'm shocked to hear about your bill. Did you confront them at least? That sounds excessive especially for the doctors you never met. For what reasons? Outrageous. What happens if you don't pay btw?

that's because you're Canadian. that's how healthcare works in our great country

[benji]

I'm shocked to hear about your bill. Did you confront them at least? That sounds excessive especially for the doctors you never met. For what reasons? Outrageous. What happens if you don't pay btw?

that's because you're Canadian. that's how healthcare works in our great country

That's how all third-party payer systems work, Canada's no different.

I'm shocked to hear about your bill. Did you confront them at least?

Did you read his post? They knocked over $50K off his bill.

[NovU]

I am now friggin scared to get sick or hurt in merica.

Did you read his post? They knocked over $50K off his bill.

I know but even at $25k it sounds a lot. 50k dc sounds crazy too. That normal?

[benji]

Being uninsured almost always leads to a "discount" being given to you.

The reason the original bill (and total bill) is so high is because of the third-party payer problem. (And outside manipulation.)

The only difference in other countries is that the costs are even more obscured, distorted, and spread amongst the lower classes.

[NovU]

I guess one good thing about Canadian health system is that when you walk into a hospital you are absolutely worry free financially and when you walk out you aren't any poorer, not even for a dime unless you're buying prescription drugs. But if surgery is required, it takes great deal of pain because of the waiting list. To my understanding this system requires for the working population and rich to cover for the expenses of those sick, poor, and elderly.

[benji]

I guess one good thing about Canadian health system is that when you walk into a hospital you are absolutely worry free financially and when you walk out you aren't any poorer, not even for a dime unless you're buying prescription drugs.

It's basically the same in the U.S. for the vast majority of people. Really, the only difference with us uninsured is that we are just shifting when we wind up paying around. The insured, those who live under monopolized health care, etc. are all paying for it constantly on a regular basis.

The waits (and "lower costs") come about because the Canadian government is stingier and more financially sane than the U.S. government. (And utilizes more direct price controls instead of the idiocy the U.S. government does.)

[NovU]

I don't really have much insight on american health system(or Canadian for that matter) but one distinctive difference I think is insurance being handled by profitable private corporations. The other day, I spoke to one of my buddies who moved to the state and he was telling me how crap his company health insurance was(up to certain amount and visits?) By the way, how much does insurance cost? I actually have interests in moving down to the state for couple years in a near future.

In Canada there's no 'uninsured'. More money you make more you pay for the health coverage. More assets you have more you pay with tax. When I was a student I stopped paying the medicare bill for a few years(because I was away from home) and they finally started calling me to cough up $200, which isn't much but lol. Even then I was eligible for the health care freely the whole time.

Some rich that can afford and don't want to put up with waiting list they actually go overseas or to the states for surgery. There's good and bad I guess.

[benji]

The problem with the American health care system isn't that it's not monopolized enough like Canada, the UK, etc. It's that it's incoherently semi-monopolized. The U.S. government already spends 60+% of health care spending and this will only be increasing massively over the next decade. (Even worse beyond that.) The state governments and now the federal government are establishing further and further regulations on things like what "defines" insurance driving up costs endlessly. Because of the third-party payer problem, and the constant pushing of that system by the state, more "prices" are decided by Medicare which is extremely dangerous to public health and public finances.

Essentially what the U.S. system will end up with, and is already 90% there, is health insurance as essentially a quasi-public utility. Private profits, socialized costs, sovereign protections. There's too many interests involved to allow a complete monopolization, instead it will be more of a cartel system like you'd see under a fascist state.

Any failures in the system will be blamed on the few remaining unmonopolized dynamic parts:

Higher premiums are just the beginning, because virtually all existing policies in the individual market and the vast majority in the small-group market do not cover all of the "essential" benefits mandated by the law. Policies without premium increases will have to change, probably by shifting to more restrictive networks of doctors and hospitals. Even if only one third of these policies are affected, this amounts to more than five million people.

In addition, according to Congressional Budget Office projections in July and September 2012, three million people will lose their insurance altogether in 2014 due to the law, and six million will have to pay the individual-mandate tax penalty in 2016 because they don't want or won't be able to afford coverage, even with the subsidies.

And unlike more homogeneous and subservient nations, it will lead to horrendous politics.

[Andrew]

Pretty sure I'd turn green if I were ever handed a bill like that. In any case, still hoping it all turns out well for you.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Patriotism, fuck Brody.

Agree with that bottom line Dc311, word.

[Bella]

Sorry to hear, get better soon.

[Dc311]

Not hoping that it will happen to you soon rather than later but have you made arrangements in case the meat pump conks out Dc311?

I have not.But my family knows that I want to be cremated.I actually should get on that.

[NovU]

Dude, stop talking negative. You'll be fine. If you were over 50, you'd be in trouble but you're still young and should be able to recover.

[Dc311]

Dude, stop talking negative. You'll be fine. If you were over 50, you'd be in trouble but you're still young and should be able to recover.

I am not being negative.I should have funeral/cremation arrangements planned out and paid.I don't want that burden on my family regardless of how I die.

[SoF'nAwesome]

You don't have to worry about that now.

[BobcatsThunderBulls]

Hey DC311, I am sorry to hear about your health troubles.

Just a thought on the docs that you never saw. The docs you did see may have consulted with them for a few minutes to an hour. It may have been their input that convinced the docs, that you did see, that surgery would be successful. Who knows.

btw, I am speaking from a the perspective of one who has recently graduated with an Associate's in Medical Administration Support.

As for the socialized health care. More and more doctors here in the states are closing their practices because of what the "Affordible" Health care act is doing to them, and most of it has not even been implemented yet! (There are some parts that are very good though!)

[J@3]

Damn just saw this. you're only like 5 years older than me so this is kinda terrifying. Good luck with everything, hopefully you live long enough to see the next NBA Live game.. which I assume will be some time in 2040-2050

[Dc311]

Thanks J@3,BobcatsThunderBulls and anybody else I forgot.


I just want to put this out there.
It has been sort of weird since I have been out of the hospital for about a little over a month now.Besides some of the stuff I have mentioned,I have had a great urge to tell my friends how I actually feel about them.You know...just in case if I were to die of anything,at least they would know how I feel.People have been coming out and telling me how they feel as well.With bad to great to really fucking great outcomes.A real rollercoaster.Lots of conversations over the phone,many conversations face to face.A few would turn into big arguments but then settle down and end with the big "I care" hug.And a few conversations would end in the "really fucking great" level.People that I have not seen in person in years have been popping up.I have gotten only one "I hate you" through all of this.It was with the closest female friend that I have.I deserved it.We patched things up now.But it is still not the same.I guess some things are left to be unsaid.

A real rollercoaster indeed.

[Lean]

But how are you feeling now? I do hope you get better.

[[Q]]

i think if anything you should write down everything you'd like to say (or make some sort of video) so in case you don't happen to get around to it, it will be recorded somewhere

[Andrew]

That's understandable. I'd imagine that you and everyone else are doing your best to stay positive and I hope that the prognosis is promising, but given the circumstances it certainly makes sense that none of you want to leave anything unsaid or unresolved. Hopefully, everything will be fine and these conversations will only strengthen your friendships in the coming years.