Blown Away - the hospital bill showed up

My da Vinci procedure 2.5 years ago cost the insurance company about $40,000 - which included all ocsts with the exception of a couple of thousands I paid out-of-pocket.  The hospital billed about $70,000 before it was discounted.  I continue to believe the da Vinci was my best option and that the procedure is safer overall - presents less risk - than open surgery.  about Canadian health care - I wouldn't want to be subjected to that system.  My brother and his family are Canadian and left Canada for the USA because of the high income taxes he and his company paid.  You pay for government services and health care in one way or another.  I prefer a system of care where I make the decisions on care and when to receive it instead of someone else choosing for me.  Though, insurance companies in the USA sometimes do pressure patients and doctors to choose one care option over another.  I'm fortunate that I have good Blue Cross & Blue Shield coverage through my employer.  While the uninsured might not have regular primary care attention unless they ask for it they are entitled to go to any hospital emergency room for care and the hospitals cannot deny them and the hospitals pay the cost of the care until the person is discharged.  Not the best system in the world but it is there to be taken advantage of in emergencies.  That doesn't help Prostate Cancer patients, though.  The Bottom line is that each of us wants the cancer either removed or taken care of and what works for one of us might not be the course of treatment for the next guy in line.

 

In Denver, my hospital bill was around $30K..Medicare Advantage paid all but $200-$300..

For the radiation treatments, my total co-pays amounted to $4500

Speaking of the 40 million uninsured..It would be interesting to track the treatment given to say, a 59 year old who went to a free "Health Fair" and discovered he had a PSA of 9.6 Lets assume this person is currently unemployed and is fighting to keep is home from being foreclosed.. What happens to this person when he walks into the local hospital's ER and hands them the letter urging him to seek further testing....Do they have a different Pardin Table for this guy??

Mel:  Don't think we have interacted on this forum yet.  However, you are on my prayer list.  Hope the next step works well for you.

I agree with all your points.  Being a Hopkins patient myself I know the demand that that hospital gets from two distinct levels.  First, the international clients - they come and pay cash in some cases.  Yep, suitcases filled with cash.  Some are so impressed with the service they write an even bigger check.  In 2012 a new wing will open at Hopkins.  A big chunk of change 994 million came from the family of the late ruler of the United Arab Emirates.  Mayor Bloomberg (NYC mayor) is giving them a building as well.  So as can be seen success begets more success.

Contrast this with the epidemic of drug dealers and petty criminal drug mules and runners in Baltimore.  An occupational hazard of that profession in downtown Baltimore is that they get shot regularly.  The are obviously not unionized so they don't have a collective health plan.  If they were unionized could you imagine the union meetings they would have?  Anyway, you won't see any buildings being offered by them in thanks for patching them together so they can deal on the street for another day.  Those are the polar opposites that Hopkins and a lot of city hospitals have to contend with on a daily basis.

Despite my rants, I do have compassion for those who don't have insurance because of job loss, sickness, and other factors that are out of their control.  On the flip side, realize that some people are short sighted and refuse to buy health insurance because they are just being cheap.  Manditory coverage is something they want to fight against.  So the big question is how do the ones who had bad things happen to them to yank away their insurance get coverage without resorting to the ER as the primary method of treatment costing all of us higher premiums.

I agree with a higher tax overall, BUT with multiple safeguard against fraud as well as a Congress that can't be allowed to take that money and push it on to pet projects to assure reelection.  The days of pork-barrel spending must end.    I don't think we need to dismantle our system of health care to accomplish the goal of insuring those who want to be insured.  For those of us who work hard, sacrificed a lot to have a decent life, the health care prize should not wind up being all in the same socalized medicine system.  That's not a solution.  That is just lacking any imagination and thoughtfulness at addressing the problem.  I am not in favor of boutique doctors either.  I just think we should resist having the best parts of our system dismantled so that a small percentage of people can be covered.  We have lots of smart people in the country. Somebody must have a decent free enterprise idea that does not cost a fortune but can preserve the world class health care we have and create the insurance pools for the 30 precent of Americans who need coverage so they can get the same benefits you and I already have.

Mike