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ddk_mod ([personal profile] ddk_mod) wrote in [community profile] daredevilkink2015-05-09 07:29 pm
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Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
haha HECK YEAH WE ARE.

My roommate didn't have insurance when she wound up with alcohol poisoning/seizures, so we called the ambulance, and they had to drive like twenty miles to get to where we were - it was pretty rural - and they took her to the hospital, where she was stabilized. they kept her overnight for observation, and she got a bill for I think a couple grand?

surgery and a week long stay oh my god. thousands. thousands of dollars. hospitals have to stabilize people, you can't turn someone away if they're dying, from what I understand, but the minute they're stable and conscious someone's going to be looking for insurance or signing you up for medicare/any other low-income insurance program.

(my mom had to go to the emergency room because she had a seizure and forgot where she lived - she was conscious, but before they started the - MRI, I think? - they actually had someone come in checking her insurance. so.)

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
...are there places where you aren't? where? what's that like? :P

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Canada? It's not actually "free" here though (because everything is paid for through taxes that everybody pays), but as far as I know the hospitals don't chase you down with enormous bills unless you've gone the private healthcare route.

(I could be wrong? The only experience I've had with staying in hospital was overnight observation for shock, and I wasn't charge for that, so I wondered)

(of course, the trade-off to "free" healthcare is obscenely long wait times for appointments and non-emergency surgeries, so...)

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-21 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
Australia, too. I'm fairly certain it works the same way, we all pay a little extra in taxes but the trade off is "free" health-care.

I've never had much experience with hospitals, so I can't say for certain that it's all entirely cost-free but I have spent time in the ER and been admitted for a short stay before and that's never cost a cent. I've also had cat-scans and x-rays and never been sent a bill. We pay an Emergency Services Levy, which as far as I'm aware is a small fee added to our water bills that means we don't have to pay out-of-pocket for ambulance rides.

I was watching friends last night and Rachel ended up in the ER. Monica asked if she had insurance and she says "sure, yeah, gonna want some of that!" and Monica says "Rachel, you don't have insurance?! An X-Ray's going to set you back $500 at least." I straight-up almost died when I heard that, I always forget what it's like over there, absolutely insane.

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-21 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
...the new thing, too, is that the ER jacks up prices astronomically.

anon with the friend who had to take an ambulance for alcohol poisoning, here, and she was upset/out of it when they released her? so she didn't check/google what the hell they were trying to give her to take home.

*makes face* they sent her home with like five or six extra-strength aspirin and charged her twenty bucks for the "prescription".

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-22 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
OP - I came across this horrifying little tidbit while researching this:

"Expanding health insurance coverage for the poor leads to a significant increase in costly emergency room visits, according to a new study."

Like.... No shit, now that people are insured they can actually AFFORD to visit the ER, whereas before they would have just suffered/died without seeking medical attention. Mind-boggling!

:-|


http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/03/study-expanding-health-coverage-increases-emergency-room-use/

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-22 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Canada doesn't charge anything for doctors visits or hospital care unless you want perks like a private room or something. At least in Ontario where I live.

When I was eleven I broke a hip and collarbone in a pedestrian car accident and my family was on government assistance at the time. Not one bill showed up and I had multiple surgeries and was in the hospital for weeks. Same thing when my mother had breast cancer and a mastectomy. In fact even a home assistant to help her with some child care as she recovered was provided.

The only things not covered by taxes and the government here are dental care, vision, most physiotherapy and prescriptions. Those you still need health insurance to cover.

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
and the ambulance will often charge you too, unless you're lucky and your insurance covers that.

*anon is not bitter AT ALL about the nearly $1000 ambulance bill she got stuck with a few years back, no really, why do you ask...*

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
...yeah, I've known people who refused to get in ambulances because nobody could afford the ride. like. "don't call the ambulance i'll walk" type of shit. :/

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, okay.

If you were to hazard a guess, what type of insurance would Matt be able to afford? He's a lawyer (albeit, a not-so-successful one, lol), so I'm assuming he'd be alright....? y/n?

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-20 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
He would probably be able to get at least minimum coverage-meaning that he would still have to pay *A LOT* if he were to come into the emergency room with something that required extensive care. Even if it were just stitches or something.

The best health insurance in the U.S. is probably what military members get. Everyone else is kind of an uphill battle.

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-21 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Matt might actually be eligible for SSI benefits, depending on how much he makes a month at the law firm. That could have been helpful income while he was in college, and it could have gotten him medicaid, too.

All the stuff I can find is about legally blind and people who are disabled/unable to work, so I don't know for sure. But even if it isn't he still has access to obamacare. Whether or not he can afford it is another thing though (I sure as hell can't. still uninsured.)

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-21 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
OP - Thank you! Heh... all of this is probably only going to amount to less than one line of exposition in the fic I'm working on, but thank you for the info. :-)

(The American "health care" system is scary as fuck, holy shit)

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-22 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
After insurance, I owe around $10000 in medical expenses from an ER visit, one night in a mental health facility, and two months of outpatient treatment for depression and anxiety.

Also, the year before, I went without prescribed physical therapy for a shoulder injury, because I hadn't met my ($3000) insurance deductible and the physical therapy would've cost over half of my income for the several weeks it would take to meet my deductible, after which I would still have to pay 20% of the cost of future PT appointments.

Medical bills are the biggest cause of US bankruptcies.

Re: Are Americans charged for emergency hospital care?

(Anonymous) 2015-07-22 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
and let's talk about the scramble that the affordable care act introduced by president obama caused. i knew people whose hours at their minimum wage jobs were being cut because otherwise their employers were legally bound to provide health care for their workers. the funniest thing was that one of the politicians advocating against obamacare actually ended up signing up for it after he lost his health insurance when his wife was laid off.

overall hospital visits right now are a nightmare but obamacare helps somewhat. i personally think we aren't going to be totally better off unless we fully socialize health care the way canada or some european countries have because otherwise we're going to keep having cases like some of the ones anons have listed above :(