Choo choo! All aboard the Complain Train!

[Xprimentyl]

Welp, the bills from my hospital stay back in August have been piling up for the past couple of months, and today, I finally got it all sorted... +$6,000 dollars later. Fuck me, I'm getting "DO NOT RESUCITATE" tattooed on my forehead. I'd say I'd move to one of the better countries with free healthcare, but due to what I've been paying into our shitty healthcare system, I probably couldn't afford it!

Oh, and another thing, if one guy shows up at one hospital and receives care from several of said hospital's doctors and nurses, can they just consolidate the charges and send that guy ONE fucking bill?? For weeks, every other day it was a bill from the surgeon, then the anesthesiologist, then the lab techs, then radiology, etc. all on the same letter head, but separate bills. Every time I paid one, another one showed up! I'm only GUESSING I'm done because I haven't received another bill in about 3 weeks *knocks HARD on wood*.

TL;DR? If you live in the States and get seriously sick or injured, jump off an overpass and try to make it look like an accident so your loved ones can collect the life insurance.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Welp, the bills from my hospital stay back in August have been piling up for the past couple of months, and today, I finally got it all sorted... +$6,000 dollars later. Fuck me, I'm getting "DO NOT RESUCITATE" tattooed on my forehead. I'd say I'd move to one of the better countries with free healthcare, but due to what I've been paying into our shitty healthcare system, I probably couldn't afford it!

Oh, and another thing, if one guy shows up at one hospital and receives care from several of said hospital's doctors and nurses, can they just consolidate the charges and send that guy ONE fucking bill?? For weeks, every other day it was a bill from the surgeon, then the anesthesiologist, then the lab techs, then radiology, etc. all on the same letter head, but separate bills. Every time I paid one, another one showed up! I'm only GUESSING I'm done because I haven't received another bill in about 3 weeks *knocks HARD on wood*.

TL;DR? If you live in the States and get seriously sick or injured, jump off an overpass and try to make it look like an accident so your loved ones can collect the life insurance.

Always ALWAYS ask the hospital for an itemized bill. It's amazing how much some hospital bills suddenly shrink when you ask them what exactly you're paying for.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I'd say I'd move to one of the better countries with free healthcare, but due to what I've been paying into our shitty healthcare system, I probably couldn't afford it!

This is easily my number 1 motivator to migrate. And also my number 1 reason that I don't want to migrate to the US. I'm young but I can already see all the medical issues future me is going to get to enjoy.

 

[davidmc1158]

Jumping in on the medical cost complaint car. . . . .
Just received a bill in the mail today for an MRI scan that I got a couple of weeks back. Total bill? $52,624.75 Amount covered by insurance? $0.00
A few phone calls later and it turns out that somewhere along the line, someone put the wrong name of the medical facility in the paperwork, one the insurance company didn't recognize, and so claimed it was an "out-of-network" claim and they denied coverage. It has been re-submitted and we'll see if this mess gets cleared up or not.

It should, but this is just to remind folks just how stupidly expensive the U.S. healthcare system is. If I didn't have insurance, I would be completely screwed financially just from this ONE scan. I would have gone bankrupt and not been able to receive my cancer treatments (and thus have died) two years ago if it weren't for the insurance I got through the ACA marketplace. So . . . . . yeah. There's my b*tch moment of the day.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Jumping in on the medical cost complaint car. . . . .
Just received a bill in the mail today for an MRI scan that I got a couple of weeks back. Total bill? $52,624.75 Amount covered by insurance? $0.00
A few phone calls later and it turns out that somewhere along the line, someone put the wrong name of the medical facility in the paperwork, one the insurance company didn't recognize, and so claimed it was an "out-of-network" claim and they denied coverage. It has been re-submitted and we'll see if this mess gets cleared up or not.

It should, but this is just to remind folks just how stupidly expensive the U.S. healthcare system is. If I didn't have insurance, I would be completely screwed financially just from this ONE scan. I would have gone bankrupt and not been able to receive my cancer treatments (and thus have died) two years ago if it weren't for the insurance I got through the ACA marketplace. So . . . . . yeah. There's my b*tch moment of the day.

What the fuck... Was the amount in error as well? Or is that really how much a single scan costs?

 

[twistedmic]

I recently discovered that the sequels to several fantasy books I've read, and enjoyed, in the recent past have effectively been canceled.Looking them up on Amazon now shows they are book one of one in their respective "series". I feel like I have been lied to and that I have wasted my time waiting for these books to emerge. I'm seriously considering deleting them from my Kindle library.

I can't decide which is worse, not getting the next book or getting the next book and it turns out to be shit (think getting Jaws 4 immediately after Jaws).

 

[davidmc1158]

What the fuck... Was the amount in error as well? Or is that really how much a single scan costs?

The IV to receive the contrast for the scan: $831
The scan itself and the analysis thereof: $51,455
Various medical supplies: $99
Sterile supplies: $60
Lab/Chemistry: $121.45
Lab/Hematology: $58.30
Sadly, that's just how expensive it all is. Welcome to the jungle, don't mind the jaguar that's currently eating your face, he's just a feature of the place.

EDIT: Part of the problem (here in the U.S. at least) is that a large number of people default on their payments because they can't afford them if they don't have insurance. The hospitals simply add the unpaid bills/cost onto everyone else's bills in order to recoup those lost funds. I have no real idea how much these things REALLY cost, but this is how much it comes to when those unpayable bills get passed onto everyone else. AKA, it's not a bug, it's a feature of the system.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

EDIT: Part of the problem (here in the U.S. at least) is that a large number of people default on their payments because they can't afford them if they don't have insurance. The hospitals simply add the unpaid bills/cost onto everyone else's bills in order to recoup those lost funds. I have no real idea how much these things REALLY cost, but this is how much it comes to when those unpayable bills get passed onto everyone else. AKA, it's not a bug, it's a feature of the system.

A large part of this is due to the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) signed into law by Reagan. It says that emergency departments must accept patients regardless of their ability to pay- but it does nothing to actually compensate those hospitals for the incurred costs of doing so. Combine that with the resultant unpayable medical bills driving a great many people into bankruptcy, and lack of medical insurance causing people to defer seeking treatment until their condition gets bad enough to necessitate going to the emergency room, and you have a perfect storm of rising costs that have to be paid off somehow.

It would be far, far more cost-effective to simply give everyone in the country medical coverage so that they can get care when it's first needed, but that would prevent poor people from suffering the way some people think they deserve.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Always ALWAYS ask the hospital for an itemized bill. It's amazing how much some hospital bills suddenly shrink when you ask them what exactly you're paying for.

The bills were itemized, it's just that they each came from separate departments within the same hospital at different times.

 

[Baffle]

The IV to receive the contrast for the scan: $831
The scan itself and the analysis thereof: $51,455
Various medical supplies: $99
Sterile supplies: $60
Lab/Chemistry: $121.45
Lab/Hematology: $58.30
Sadly, that's just how expensive it all is. Welcome to the jungle, don't mind the jaguar that's currently eating your face, he's just a feature of the place.

EDIT: Part of the problem (here in the U.S. at least) is that a large number of people default on their payments because they can't afford them if they don't have insurance. The hospitals simply add the unpaid bills/cost onto everyone else's bills in order to recoup those lost funds. I have no real idea how much these things REALLY cost, but this is how much it comes to when those unpayable bills get passed onto everyone else. AKA, it's not a bug, it's a feature of the system.

In the UK it costs the NHS about £300 to do an MRI scan apparently (https://www.theguardian.com/society/ng-interactive/2016/feb/08/how-much-have-i-cost-the-nhs)

Edit: My understanding is that healthcare wages are absolutely miles higher in US, increasingly so as you move up the ladder.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Edit: My understanding is that healthcare wages are absolutely miles higher in US, increasingly so as you move up the ladder.

Yeah but OTOH going to med school in the UK is only moderately financially crippling.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The IV to receive the contrast for the scan: $831
The scan itself and the analysis thereof: $51,455
Various medical supplies: $99
Sterile supplies: $60
Lab/Chemistry: $121.45
Lab/Hematology: $58.30
Sadly, that's just how expensive it all is. Welcome to the jungle, don't mind the jaguar that's currently eating your face, he's just a feature of the place.

EDIT: Part of the problem (here in the U.S. at least) is that a large number of people default on their payments because they can't afford them if they don't have insurance. The hospitals simply add the unpaid bills/cost onto everyone else's bills in order to recoup those lost funds. I have no real idea how much these things REALLY cost, but this is how much it comes to when those unpayable bills get passed onto everyone else. AKA, it's not a bug, it's a feature of the system.

What Is the Average Cost of an MRI? - GoodRx

Get the lowdown on MRI costs from GoodRx. Discover factors influencing average prices of an MRI scan, how insurance can help, and more.

www.goodrx.com

Apparently you’re paying a shitton(s) more than actual cost. Absolute insanity any way you cut it though.

 

[Baffle]

Elon Musk is suddenly in the news again, and looking at him makes my skin crawl. No news for me!

 

[Chimpzy]

Elon Musk is suddenly in the news again, and looking at him makes my skin crawl. No news for me!

Now that he's Chief Twit, he should hire Kanye to do content moderation.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Now that he's Chief Twit, he should hire Kanye to do content moderation.

I would not be terribly surprised if Kanye would be an improvement over whatever happens to Twitter next.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Oh God. I mean I'm not even on Twitter, but if Elon's in charge then we're going to be seeing him in mainstream news even more often.

Can't he just overdose on whatever drugs he's taking?

 

[Baffle]

Oh God. I mean I'm not even on Twitter, but if Elon's in charge then we're going to be seeing him in mainstream news even more often.

Can't he just overdose on whatever drugs he's taking?

Yeah but then he'd have to keep telling us about it because we need to know how cool he is.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Elon Musk is suddenly in the news again, and looking at him makes my skin crawl. No news for me!

What, you mean you're not excited to see Musk's brand-new, unmoderated, one-app-for-everything WeChat clone?

Imagine a "social credit" system predicated around your willingness to suck Musk's dick.

 

[BrawlMan]

I got my copy God of War Ragnarök. I traded in some games and a PS4 controller, so I would not have to pay anything. The GameStop clerk was "disappointed" that I got the PS4 version. I told him not everyone can get a PS5, and that I don't care much for graphics so long the game works. They have a special deal for trade-ins, but I didn't know nor have the time and money. Hence my other trades-ins. I am not running back and forth to get X amount of games, so I can trade-in for an overpriced console/console bundle. People like that need to fuck off and mind their own business, unless they're gonna pay for me. Another GS employee understood where I was coming from and thought what I did is smart.

Also, that same jackass that was disappointed, said Gungrave is "no longer relevant". Dumb mother-fucker! No one asked for your goddamn opinion! I want to pre-order the new Gungrave game. He is relevant, but not to you. Otherwise, the developers wouldn't have bothered making another one.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Also, that same jackass that was disappointed, said Gungrave is "no longer relevant". Dumb mother-fucker! No one asked for your goddamn opinion! I want a pre-order the new Gungrave game. He is relevant, but not to you. Otherwise, the developers wouldn't have bothered making another one.

American retail culture is very different from ours, but man, I still can't imagine someone doing that. One thing to try and engage the customer, but that's going way too far.

OT: I just started a job in the tech industry, and these motherfuckers loveeeee their acronyms. I'll get used to it eventually but man is it annoying.