The medical system is so corrupt

N5922S

N5922S

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While visiting my mother in the hospital this morning, a doctor (not her surgeon, but an "associate" who looked to be about 22) came into her room for less than 1 minute. Based on experiences of friends, I'm guessing this will be billed $200-300. :mad2: What can you do?
 
Does she have insurance? Should just be a co-pay right?
 
If she had surgery, post op follow up visits are usually (up to 90 days after surgery) included in the surgery fee. If she had medicare and did not have surgery, Medicare would approve only about $102.00 and the rest would go away.

If she has insurance there are similar write offs based on the contracts between the insurance company and the physician. Seldom will a physician receive what they bill.

If my plumber or electrician came out to fix a problem at my house, I would expect to pay more than $100.00
 
N5922S said:
While visiting my mother in the hospital this morning, a doctor (not her surgeon, but an "associate" who looked to be about 22) came into her room for less than 1 minute. Based on experiences of friends, I'm guessing this will be billed $200-300. :mad2: What can you do?
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Please post again after you get the insurance companies "explanation of benefits".
 
N5922S said:
While visiting my mother in the hospital this morning, a doctor (not her surgeon, but an "associate" who looked to be about 22) came into her room for less than 1 minute. Based on experiences of friends, I'm guessing this will be billed $200-300. :mad2: What can you do?
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Visits to patients in the hospital may be brief but that physician is usually responsible for all problems that occur in a 24 hour period. Before I set foot in the room I have usually checked the telemetry, vital signs, lab tests, etc. I often get called by a nurse about patient issues at all hours.

If the person who checked on a post surgical patient only looked 22 he or she was probably a medical student or resident. Unless you are some wunderkind you don't finish surgical training until you are about 31 years old, 4 yrs college plus 4 years medical school and 5 years for general surgery residency. Add 3 more years for cardiothoracic surgery or certain other surgical subspecialties. I have 7 years post graduate training following medical school.
 
Gary F said:
Visits to patients in the hospital may be brief but that physician is usually responsible for all problems that occur in a 24 hour period. Before I set foot in the room I have usually checked the telemetry, vital signs, lab tests, etc. I often get called by a nurse about patient issues at all hours.

If the person who checked on a post surgical patient only looked 22 he or she was probably a medical student or resident. Unless you are some wunderkind you don't finish surgical training until you are about 31 years old, 4 yrs college plus 4 years medical school and 5 years for general surgery residency. Add 3 more years for cardiothoracic surgery or certain other surgical subspecialties. I have 7 years post graduate training following medical school.
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Man you gotta really want to be a doctor to go through all that...
 
so you saw a man come into a room, don't know what he he did on your mother's case, don't know what he will bill, but you made up some circumstances and numbers on your own and then used the in-your-head circumstances to declare 1/5 of the US economy corrupt ?
 
Most hospitals now have staff doctors that visit. Just another way to run up the bill.
 
EppyGA said:
Most hospitals now have staff doctors that visit. Just another way to run up the bill.
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:dunno:

What do you mean by this? Somebody has to be responsible for the patient. In the current system that provider can call in as many consultants as they choose. It's not efficient but remember that hospitals are working under many layers of government regulation.
 
JHW said:
so you saw a man come into a room, don't know what he he did on your mother's case, don't know what he will bill, but you made up some circumstances and numbers on your own and then used the in-your-head circumstances to declare 1/5 of the US economy corrupt ?
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I think you have it backwards. He decided the medical system is corrupt, so everything he sees just confirms that belief.

OP, I sincerely hope your mother has a speedy recovery, regardless of an corruption of those treating her.
 
Hospitals spend an inordinate amount of our money covering their butts! :mad2: Every bad outcome has to be blamed on somebody, besides the patient or "just bad things happen"
Gary F said:
:dunno:

What do you mean by this? Somebody has to be responsible for the patient. In the current system that provider can call in as many consultants as they choose. It's not efficient but remember that hospitals are working under many layers of government regulation.
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N747JB said:
Hospitals spend an inordinate amount of our money covering their butts! :mad2: Every bad outcome has to be blamed on somebody, besides the patient or "just bad things happen"
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You know this for a fact? Cite your evidence.
 
Gary F said:
Unless you are some wunderkind you don't finish surgical training until you are about 31 years old, 4 yrs college plus 4 years medical school and 5 years for general surgery residency. Add 3 more years for cardiothoracic surgery or certain other surgical subspecialties. I have 7 years post graduate training following medical school.
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I'd just say, in defense of fellow young looking people like myself, people's impressions are not very true judgements of age. I'll turn 32 in a couple months, and I'd bet that 5 of out 10 people think I am 22 or younger. Young face, lots of grey hair on the sides but only noticeable in certain light, have always been a slim guy, and no hint of balding. That I am a relatively experienced guy in my field/profession, would be lost on many if they saw me in civilian clothes. My point being to the OP, that "22 year old" might very well be much older and fully qualified to be the visiting doc.
 
35 AoA said:
My point being to the OP, that "22 year old" might very well be much older and fully qualified to be the visiting doc.
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Or it was the surgeons physicians assitant who may well have been 25 or 27.
 
the medical system in the USA is terrible. High costs for questionable service. But every other country's medical system is worse, by a long shot. I look forward to going back to america and paying $300 for a simple doctor visit that costs me $30 here. Because it doesn't matter if care is cheap if it takes you weeks instead of hours to get it.
 
"The medical system is so corrupt"

No its not, it's just for profit.


A friend of mine back in the UK had a heart attack, he was on the operation room table within 90 mins, had a stent put in, 4 days in hospital for recovery, 5 meds a day probably for the rest of his life, a 1 year gym membership - total out of pocket : $0

Here in the US I hate to think what that would have cost him.

So I know some will argue that you are paying for this in your taxes, true so I got some figures from him and others on that and what they pay "extra" in tax for their medical system, per year is a hell of a lot less than what I pay here for insurance per year.

US is one of the few countries in the world that has a for profit health care system and that's just wrong.
 
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Stand by for incoming... :popcorn:
 
Scrabo said:
US is one of the few countries in the world that has a for profit health care system and that's just wrong.
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In france, germany, the netherlands, switzerland and canada physicians work in for-profit entities. Health insurance in the netherlands and switzerland is provided by for-profit insurers.

The only thing unique about the US healthcare system is how much money we spend.
 
weilke said:
The only thing unique about the US healthcare system is how much money we spend.
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... by putting a middle-man in the relationship.
Insurance companies have done to healthcare what student loans are now doing to education.

I'm usually wrong, but that's how I see it.
 
Ghery said:
But it was easier to get into medical school than veterinary school. :D
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That's still true. Lots of aspiring veterinarians just give up and apply to medical school.
 
Scrabo said:
"The medical system is so corrupt"

No its not, it's just for profit.


A friend of mine back in the UK had a heart attack, he was on the operation room table within 90 mins, had a stent put in, 4 days in hospital for recovery, 5 meds a day probably for the rest of his life, a 1 year gym membership - total out of pocket : $0

Here in the US I hate to think what that would have cost him.

So I know some will argue that you are paying for this in your taxes, true so I got some figures from him and others on that and what they pay "extra" in tax for their medical system, per year is a hell of a lot less than what I pay here for insurance per year.

US is one of the few countries in the world that has a for profit health care system and that's just wrong.
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:yes:
 
I would opine that a huge portion of the CYA costs are due to patients penchant for seeing how much of a doctor's money they can get for a mis-diagnosed hangnail.
 
Scrabo said:
"The medical system is so corrupt"

No its not, it's just for profit.


A friend of mine back in the UK had a heart attack, he was on the operation room table within 90 mins, had a stent put in, 4 days in hospital for recovery, 5 meds a day probably for the rest of his life, a 1 year gym membership - total out of pocket : $0

Here in the US I hate to think what that would have cost him.

So I know some will argue that you are paying for this in your taxes, true so I got some figures from him and others on that and what they pay "extra" in tax for their medical system, per year is a hell of a lot less than what I pay here for insurance per year.

US is one of the few countries in the world that has a for profit health care system and that's just wrong.
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I've lived in several countries with not-for-profit medical care.

I've waited over a week to get a broken arm set in luxembourg.
I've had my finger with a bone hanging out, stitched up by a veterinerian in germany because it wasn't a 3-day wait.
I've had my child subjected to x-ray after x-ray by an incompetent doctor in australia before her care was taken over by a transplanted doctor from NYC of all places.

When it comes to picking a medical provider, give me an inflated-price greedy profit seeking american any day.

It's like any other populist policy, it counds good in a utopian planner's textbook, but eventually you have to live it.
 
Like beauty, age is in the eyes of the beholder. My Mom used to complain that you knew you were getting old when the police started looking young. Now that I'm about to enter my 60th year, I see what she meant.
 
Not sure if that is what is wanted on this thread but from lots of conversations I hear, I get the sense that people think medical care should somehow be free. Why is that?

I just had shoulder surgery the docs got paid 17k. I paid 3k. That's quite a deal for me.
I can't think of any other thing where I only have to pay for part of something. Maybe car insurance if the car is totaled but I lose the car. I got a shoulder that's better than the old one.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
Not sure if that is what is wanted on this thread but from lots of conversations I hear, I get the sense that people think medical care should somehow be free. Why is that?

I just had shoulder surgery the docs got paid 17k. I paid 3k. That's quite a deal for me.
I can't think of any other thing where I only have to pay for part of something. Maybe car insurance if the car is totaled but I lose the car. I got a shoulder that's better than the old one.
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Glad to hear that.
 
weilke said:
In france, germany, the netherlands, switzerland and canada physicians work in for-profit entities. Health insurance in the netherlands and switzerland is provided by for-profit insurers..
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True and so does the UK but it's an option. No one is forcing you down the road of private insurance.
 
Scrabo said:
True and so does the UK but it's an option. No one is forcing you down the road of private insurance.
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I am not talking about the parallel private healthcare system in the UK and spain where the politicians and decisionmakers get their healthcare separate from the peons.. No, the mainstream system in the counyries I mentioned is fee for service with many of the independent providers working as for-profits.
 
If there are so many people who think that for profit healthcare is evil, why doesn't some liberal org start their own non-profit health plan?
 
jtheune said:
If there are so many people who think that for profit healthcare is evil, why doesn't some liberal org start their own non-profit health plan?
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There are some faith based coop healthplans.

HCSC who is on the blue cross business is a mutual. Some local blue affiliates are non-profit.
 
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Hey, vets are good docs....just don't go to them with a broken leg...:yikes:
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Not sure if that is what is wanted on this thread but from lots of conversations I hear, I get the sense that people think medical care should somehow be free. Why is that?

I just had shoulder surgery the docs got paid 17k. I paid 3k. That's quite a deal for me.
I can't think of any other thing where I only have to pay for part of something. Maybe car insurance if the car is totaled but I lose the car. I got a shoulder that's better than the old one.
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I doubt that the surgeon got $17k. That seems very high for a single procedure. Did that include any of the facility charges?
 
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