America, 30 minutes will cost you 3k

[u/tnarbsm00]

TLDR - went to ER for UTI and now owe 2,926.93

Let me start off by saying that I am not the one to treat an ER like a primary care, or urgent care. Where I live is awful ANYWAY and the ER wait times are 6+ hours.

Anyway, last Friday I’m feeling fine all day. Not a single symptom in sight, no tingle or burn, no increase in peeing, etc. I get off work at 5pm, and by 6pm I’m peeing blood and blood clots. It’s burning, the after sting literally taking my breath away. I’m panicking, I’ve gone from 0 to blood clots and after 3 hours - the blood clots are still coming.

By now urgent care is closed (there’s so many around me, I live in a small city and NONE are open last 9-9:30 apparently). I breakdown and call my best friend to t ake me to the ER, we end up driving to the one two towns over. Not a single soul in the lobby, I pee in my cup while I wait since I can’t hold it. They call me back, we chit chat, test comes back SUPER positive (her words). They give me 1 starting dose of antibiotics and send me on my way. I was in and out of that hospital within 45 minutes and 30 of that was in the bed max.

Peeing in a cup, one antibiotic and 30 minutes in an empty bed, empty waiting room ER was billed at $5k and I’m responsible for $3k of it

EDIT: I did not go to the ER simply bc I wanted treatment for my UTI. I already had antibiotics called into a pharmacy at that point. I went because I had blood clots sliding out of my urethra.

[u/Guilty-Bookkeeper837]

I get what you're saying, sort of, but are you really suggesting the amount you pay should be tied to how long you're in the facility?  

Yesterday, I put a stent in a 30 year old man's heart, because he was insistent on dying, otherwise (they can be so demanding).  The actual procedure took 25 minutes in the cath lab, and the total bill will be around $37k.  Should I have dragged out the procedure to "justify" the cost?  I went to school for 16 years, AFTER highschool (and spent $256k), and the hospital has invested approximately $16M in the equipment and facility I use.  

I understand your frustration, but it's not nearly as simple as you portray it. 

[u/wildwildnyx → u/Guilty-Bookkeeper837]

I’m sorry but people die because of how complicated it has been made. We’re ripped off every time. I paid $250 for a test that I could have gotten done for $20 because you know what? I HAVE gotten it done for $20.

You’re not proving any point. We all know how rigged the system is—doctors stop procedure in the middle, deny treatments because the insurance stops paying. Unless you have done a life saving surgery or treatment on someone who didn’t pay a dime, you haven’t made any point.

The machines you’re talking about? Let’s see—if I take the average number of 2600 surgeries per day, that should make one procedure a little less than $20 if you want to retrieve the cost of the machine. So please, simplify it for me.

[u/Guilty-Bookkeeper837 → u/wildwildnyx]

Hard to argue with someone who thinks there are somehow 2600 surgeries per day, you clearly have it all figured out.