About six weeks ago, I was compelled to visit the emergency room at the University of Washington Medical Center. To make a long story short, I suffered a couple of severe coughs, after the last of which it felt like a cannonball had gone through me and ripped my organs from my rib cage, or something.
I spent about 12 hours in the ER altogether, occupying a bed. I received an X-ray, blood tests and some inhalation therapy (because the incident had whacked my lung). Later, I had an EKG and a CAT scan. (The CAT scan alone cost $5,000. Hell, you can buy a used CAT scan machine on eBay for $40,000.) I also had some morphine (no help) and later some Dilaudid and IV Ibuprofen for pain.
They never did find out what was wrong with me, and, shrugging their shoulders, finally sent me home around 1 a.m., drugged up enough that I was able to walk to the door and get in a cab. It’s taken awhile, but the lingering pain has subsided.
The bill came in at $9,500, plus $800 for the ambulance that I took to UWMC.
As a retired Federal employee, I have good insurance. So the whole thing cost me $250 ($150 for the ER visit, $100 for the ambulance). I’m fortunate to have the resources that $250 isn’t such a big deal.
Now, imagine I lived in the world under the healthcare plan passed this a.m. by those dopes in the House, and imagine that my state goes for the waiver allowing insurance companies not to have to offer “essential benefits,” of which ER care is one. Suddenly, that $9,500 would loom pretty damn large. (And that’s the discounted Blue Cross price; someone without insurance would pay a lot more.) Not to mention any more serious condition requiring surgery and/or a stay in the hospital. A couple years ago I had surgery and a stay of about 14 days. The bill? — $300,000. Again, I was fortunate to have that great insurance.
I hear every so often of folks proud how they’ve set aside $2,000 or even $5,000 to pay unexpected medical bills. My experience shows just how fragile and faulty this conception is.
Most consumers have no idea how much emergency medical care or a stay in the hospital costs. All the bromides offered by the GOP on health savings accounts and “reduced premiums” by undercutting Obamacare mandates amount to nothing more than a giant mound of pig poo.
If 12 hours in the ER can cost 10 grand, no one is safe without comprehensive insurance that includes essential benefits.
Every single GOP representative who voted for today’s monstrosity — particularly those in districts that voted for Hillary — has to be hounded about this craven, heartless legislation every damn day from now until election day, 2018.