hospital bill

always confused

Seasoned Expediter
the wife recently was in the hospital for surgery. went in wednesday, released sunday before lunch. now normally this stuff is transparent to me as the wife does the bills, but i happened to be at the house when the bill from the hospital showed up. 54000 yes thousand dollars for four and half days. that doesn't include the doctors. to me that seems obscene. i bought my house in 91 for 57000. my math skills aren't the best but thats over ten grand a day for a room. no wonder health insurance costs are astranomical. how in the world would a 'working person' ever pay that. thats more than most make in a year.

as a question.. what do you do about health care?
 

Scuba

Veteran Expediter
1 That isn’t just for her room the major part of that bill I’m sure is for the operating room.
2 The bills are so high because we expect Dr’s to be perfect and if they make a mistake we sue the heck out of them so their INS premiums are high
3 Those that can pay have to cover the loss from those that don’t pay
 

Keeshond0622

Not a Member
Those that can pay have to cover the loss from those that don’t pay

Finally, someone that understands exactly what Obama the Socialist wants to do with nationalized healthcare.

And believe it or not ... the big "O" wants to give nationalized healthcare to illegals too !!

BTW, did you see in hos "BIG" stimulus package that he wants to give illegals tax refunds (free non-welfare welfare checks) too ????
 

Humble2drive

Expert Expediter
as a question.. what do you do about health care?


To get back to your question. This has been addressed on many posts in the past so utilizing the search function will yield some good info for you.

This is the age old problem facing Independent Contractors and Business Owners in America. In my opinion, being uninsured is the worst decision due to the possibilty of financial devestation if a very serious illness or injury should occur. Health insurance should be factored in as an expense along with truck payments and fuel. If the expense can not be covered by revenue from the business then that would indicate a problem with the business.

Some choices include:

1) Individual plans - More expensive than group and you must qualify for a decent plan. A good option if you are healthy.

2) A group plan through an association - Certain groups or associations offer health plans to their members (ex: OOIDA). Usually less expensive than Individual but limited on the coverage.

3) A group plan through a spouses employer - This is usually the best option if the driver is running solo and the spouse is employed. Lowest premium and best coverage.

4) COBRA from previous employer - If someone is leaving a job where they were covered by a group plan, they may be able to keep that coverage for up to 18 months. The premium will be high but it will be the same coverage and will protect against pre-existing conditions. A person with on going medical conditions may also have the option to convert to a permanent policy at a higher premium in order to preserve coverage.

Those are just some of the options I can think of off the top off my head. We are currently under COBRA and looking at individual policies.
 

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
okay you got the hosp bill. wait for the insurance to take their chunks out of the bill before you go freakin out any more.

after that call the hosp and arrange monthly payments.
 

Mdbtyhtr

Expert Expediter
There is another option, become a leased employee. There are staffing companies like Kelly, Staff America etc. that provide small businesses with payroll services, access to credit unions, reduced cost health care, all available to them as a large "Buying" group. Small businesses lose key employees all of the time to larger companies that can afford these and other benefits. The only way that they can compete is to turn over their employees to one of these companies and "Lease" them back. They are technically an employee of these firms and the small business receives the benefit of lower workers comp., as well as the previously mentioned benefits.

Scott
 

pjjjjj

Veteran Expediter
.......the bill from the hospital showed up. 54000 yes thousand dollars for four and half days. that doesn't include the doctors. to me that seems obscene. i bought my house in 91 for 57000. my math skills aren't the best but thats over ten grand a day for a room. no wonder health insurance costs are astranomical. how in the world would a 'working person' ever pay that. thats more than most make in a year.

as a question.. what do you do about health care?

Well God FORBID if you guys gave up your rights, became marxists (ok, haha) and got national healthcare coverage!
Jeez you cry about your healthcare bills, you cry about your insurance premiums, and you cry about the possibility of becoming more socialist than you already are.
Wake up! When y'all are putting tons of money into a pot that pays for your healthcare, what is that? It's like a group plan right? And what would it be if the government collected those same funds differently with similar end results? Collected them according to income, or whatever other means they might come up with.
As far as I understand it, you guys already don't let the sick and ailing die in the streets just becuz they happen to be poor and in need of an appendectomy and some penicillin, correct? So what's so different?
Are you expediters just making soooooooo much money that you're afraid you're going to have to pay a buck or two of YOUR hard earned income towards some poor bum on the street who needs some medicine? Meanwhile, as an industry, seems many are into claiming as many expenses as possible to get away with, so you don't even have to pay taxes!
I sure don't proclaim to know the answers, but I can tell you for certain that the minds that are collectively thinking about the ways things could or couldn't work, are way smarter than I or you. And they're thinking way further than you could probably imagine, about what the potential downsides/upsides could be as a result. I've noticed people here seem to think fairly narrowly about things, more about how they might affect 'them', or 'their family', or 'their industry', or whatever.. and not necessarily about 'the big picture'.
You know.. as a Canadian who enjoys 'free' healthcare (to a point), I am still 'free' to go and pay for whatever services I'd rather pay for. I can fly to your country and pay for whatever services I want from whoever I want. Nobody is forcing me to go to one doctor over another.
Not having a 'benefit plan' since we are self employed, we end up paying lots of bucks each year anyway becuz the govt only pays for deemed 'necessities'.
The way I see it, it's all the same, only different.
Maybe we are a kinder nation tho, becuz.. say an old woman who has spent her life serving her husband, family and kids.. volunteered time to her church or whatever other organizations.. husband works hard for an honest living his whole life.. he dies.. her kids are grown and struggling financially across the nation somewhere.. he has no pension (maybe kind of like an expediter).. and she is broke eventually.. what do you do? Put her out in the street and tell her she should've thought ahead and provided for herself? Tell her already financially-struggling kids to come and support her? Let her die of frostbite and starvation? Do you decide who is worthy to get welfare and healthcare and who is not? If so, who is the decision-maker? What if others don't agree with that person's decisions? How do you help? How much is she worth? Where does she go?
Your problems are so much bigger than just saying 'obama the socialist wants to give us national healthcare.. beware.. run.. hate.. you'll be sorry..'..

I don't have time to read alot of news coverage, but I can't recall Obama saying he wants to give illegal immigrants free healthcare. In fact.. if you have national healthcare, it will be a lot easier to find the illegals because they'll be the ones withOUT the coverage. What'll you do with them then?
 

MSinger

Expert Expediter
If you think healthcare is expensive now.....wait til it's "free". What program has the government ever managed correctly? None it is always full of fraud and wasteful spending. What makes you think healthcare would be any different. Remember the big scandal at Walter Reed Medical Center not long ago? These are the same people who will be in charge of our healthcare if Obama and his posse' of thugs have their way.
I am not necessarily happy with the way things are now but if you put government in the middle of it it will only make things worse.
 

MSinger

Expert Expediter
If that's just the hospital bill, just wait til you start getting the doctor bills, the lab bills the radiology bills, etc. It's like going to Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Everything is ala carte.
 

Suds43

Seasoned Expediter
These are the same people who will be in charge of our healthcare if Obama and his posse' of thugs have their way.


Ya'll have a short memory. Remember when "Slick Willy" used national healthcare for ALL AMERICANS as one of his major priorities when he was trying to get elected and re-elected???
Thanks "Willy" I'm really benefiting from your national health care!! The world is a better place because of you!! NOT!!!!
 

Oilerman1957

Expert Expediter
Well, we already have a national health care plan, you just have to be old enough to get it>>>>>>Medicare, seems to work pretty good.
 

themagicoen

Expert Expediter
Well I had back surgery and this is what it came out to.

Nurse Anestheisa - $1125
BCBS paid $917.47
Doc Anestheisa - $1350.75
BCBS Paid $1074.00
Spine Doc #1(same doc, 3 bills) - $3191.00
BCBS Paid $1070.80
Spine Doc #2 - $16,568.00
BCBS Paid $6692.52
Spine Doc #3 - $420.00
BCBS Paid $273.66
Brace - $1199.00
BCBS Paid $841.00
Hospital $50,628.68
BCBS Paid $26087.55
Total: $74,482.43
BCBS Paid $36957 or only about 48%, my out of pocket is $100.

So if I would have to pay cash I would be paying for the rest of my life yet an insurance company has to pay half of it. This is what's wrong with our healthcare.
 

usafk9

Veteran Expediter
Awesome post, pjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj (remind me one day to ask what all those j's are for).

I am a very strong advocate for nationalized healthcare here in the states. Several people I know, myself included, are living sans health insurance. That's about to change. Several of us have been greatly impacted financially because of the lack of affordable healthcare, even to the point of bankruptcy.

I get so tired of hearing people compare proposed national health care plans as "MArxist" and such. Wonder how many are going to be saying the same thing when they stick their mitt out at retirement age looking for their first SOCIAL security check.

I view a lot of the problems we have in this country now are due to a lack of a national health care system. Look at GM, for example: They pay retiree health care benefits, and that adds thousands to the cost of a new vehicle, before the first bolt is installed. Same scenario with national healthcare? Maybe not so expensive. Maybe they're a little more financially solvent right now (that's a whole 'nother thread, I reckon).

Call me what you will. I agree with pjjjjjj. I'm looking forward to national healthcare.
 

MSinger

Expert Expediter
I suspect that GM would be paying higher taxes to the government to support your idea of "free" healthcare. So instead of writing the check to Anthem Blue Cross they would just hand it over to Uncle Sam.
 
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