Comments on: Bum’s Rush by a Twin Cities’ Hospital? http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/bums-rush-by-a-twin-cities-hospital/ Reflections of a Prehospital Care Paramedic Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:39:54 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Margaret http://ambulancedriver.net/2009/03/bums-rush-by-a-twin-cities-hospital/comment-page-1/#comment-26 Margaret Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:47:19 +0000 http://ambulancedriver.net/?p=142#comment-26 It is plausible to me. I am sure that this is what happens when nobody (even the hospital) doesn't know what to charge people. They don't know because they charge different people different amounts due to what group coverage they do and don't have. Giving her a CT scan that quickly? That's a little strange, unless they thought something serious was going on. OTOH, I have had first hand experience with Methodist's billing department after a couple of different hospitalizations in my family. Twice I had items show up on a bill that were unexplained. I called and both times I was told they they would have to investigate the bill and I would have an answer in TWO weeks. Once it turned out to be a mistake (We owed no money). The second time, it turned out that we got charged $200 to watch an 20 year old educational video that was supposed to explain a procedure. Nobody told us beforehand that we would be charged $200 for the privilege of watching it. Nobody even asked us if we wanted to watch it. A nurse simply popped the video into a VCR in the hospital room. Blue Cross wouldn't pay for it and I can't say I blame them. I felt taken. In other respects, Methodist is a great hospital, with excellent doctors and nurses in my experience. The billing department (and the food) are glaring exceptions to the rest of the place. These people could have refused treatment and left, I guess. But they wanted to be treated, they just wanted to know how much something cost so they could make a decision. Healthcare is the only place we would allow this to happen. And this is not about private vs. government healthcare. it's about the mess that healthcare is today for anyone caught between having most or all of the tab picked up by uncle sam or a private insurer. If you try to navigate getting treated without either, the system doesn't know what to do with you. It does not compute. It is plausible to me. I am sure that this is what happens when nobody (even the hospital) doesn’t know what to charge people. They don’t know because they charge different people different amounts due to what group coverage they do and don’t have. Giving her a CT scan that quickly? That’s a little strange, unless they thought something serious was going on.

OTOH, I have had first hand experience with Methodist’s billing department after a couple of different hospitalizations in my family. Twice I had items show up on a bill that were unexplained. I called and both times I was told they they would have to investigate the bill and I would have an answer in TWO weeks. Once it turned out to be a mistake (We owed no money). The second time, it turned out that we got charged $200 to watch an 20 year old educational video that was supposed to explain a procedure. Nobody told us beforehand that we would be charged $200 for the privilege of watching it. Nobody even asked us if we wanted to watch it. A nurse simply popped the video into a VCR in the hospital room. Blue Cross wouldn’t pay for it and I can’t say I blame them. I felt taken.

In other respects, Methodist is a great hospital, with excellent doctors and nurses in my experience. The billing department (and the food) are glaring exceptions to the rest of the place.

These people could have refused treatment and left, I guess. But they wanted to be treated, they just wanted to know how much something cost so they could make a decision. Healthcare is the only place we would allow this to happen. And this is not about private vs. government healthcare. it’s about the mess that healthcare is today for anyone caught between having most or all of the tab picked up by uncle sam or a private insurer. If you try to navigate getting treated without either, the system doesn’t know what to do with you. It does not compute.

]]>