Phil & Mary
Of course, hard-core conservatives would rather the man die than get treatment for which he couldn’t pay since that would mean their health care or tax money would subsidize it. Exaggeration? I once heard on a conservative talk show some years ago two guys spouting exactly that. Be able to pay your own way or die. How much you want to also bet they were Christians?
Hospital seeks $42,000 — from a homeless man
Phil Hughes, a homeless man she had befriended[, …] showed up one day and offered to paint her house number on the curb for cash.
[Mary Olsen] gave him $5 and a lunch of turkey and mashed potatoes. During the next few years, she hired him for painting, yard work and other odd jobs.
Hughes has no family in the area, so when he developed a high fever and blood infection a year and a half ago and sought treatment at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Olsen told him to give her name and address as an emergency contact.
“I didn’t want him to die and not know about it,” she said.
The $42,000 bill addressed to Hughes that later arrived at Olsen’s home covered the three or four days he spent in the hospital.
[A] collection agency began hounding her with phone calls looking for Hughes. The collectors especially liked to call early Saturday mornings.
She told them Hughes did not live there, was homeless and could not afford to pay. Her pleas made no difference: The calls continued daily for a couple of weeks.
“Phil is so obviously an indigent person that no one would expect he would have enough money for lunch,” she said, “let alone a hospital bill.”
I especially liked the hospital’s, “who me?” response.
wouldnt have been a problem if he was an illegal immigrant instead of a homeless american
dammit, just noticed where that hospital is from…
Collection agencies are the lowest form of life.
>>wouldnt have been a problem if he was an illegal immigrant
Wtf does THAT mean? Is there some special insurance for illegal immigrants that I haven’t heard about?
Well, let’s start the mandatory nationalized health care conversation.
We need nationalized health care so desperately it’s not even funny. The next highest paying nation in the world pays just 9% of their GDP in health costs. We pay 15%. Despite this obvious total rip off, we do not even get decent health care for our money. We rank well below every other developed democratic nation in the world. Only Israel, if they can be considered democratic rather than theocratic, rates lower than we do. All other nations that rank worse are clearly developing nations.
Wake up America!! Demand socialized medicine.
I prefer it at the national level, but would settle for it at the state level with some very strict and strong national regulations on the states. Either way though, this is clearly not something to be managed by corporate greed.
They weren’t Christians but I would not bet you that they said they were Christians.
Pharisees to a person.
No, that’s just his racism backed up by conviction rather than facts.
What I can’t get over is that he racked up $42, 000 in a few days. Do you guys use gold syringes or something?
Mister Mustard (#4),
jlm (#1) may have been referring to THIS .
Ascii King (#7),
My car was hit by an inattentive SUV driver here in Dallas for which I spent 4 hours in the emergency room and my bill was over $13k!
Misanthropic Scott (#5) and the argument I give my conservative friends for a nationalized health system is so our corporations can play on an even field with all the other corps that are in countries that have a NHS…
Most Hospitals have Charity care assistance programs that would take care of the bill. And a good hospital would have had him fill it out and approve it while he was there.
Most bills are not paid because of a problem, collection agencies are there to try to solve the problem. In this case trying to qualify the man for Medicaid ot Charity.
Collection Agencies save the average person hundreds of dollars each year because of the monies Collection Agencies Recover.
There are bad agencies out there though, just like there are bad lawyers, reporters, school teachers, and blog posters.
>>jlm (#1) may have been referring to THIS .
Well if he is, he’s dumber than I thought. The only thing that article says is that under EMTALA, emergency rooms must provide medical care to people coming in with a qualifying condition. Legal immigrant, illegal immigrant, natural-born citizen, over-insured VP of the US, they all must be treated.
I must have missed the part about illegal immigrants getting a free ride.
“In Los Angeles County alone, illegal immigrants cost taxpayers nearly $440 million in health services annually and a whopping $1.1 billion statewide.”
do some searching, there is plenty of material
>>In Los Angeles County alone, illegal immigrants cost taxpayers
>>nearly $440 million in health services annually
And how much to legal residents with no insurance cost them?
OK, so we have a completely fucked up immigration policy, and we have a completely fucked up health care system, and instead of legal immigrants going to the doctor with a $20 copay to be treated for an infection, they go to the ER and rack up a $42,000 bill instead.
I’m still not seeing where they don’t send the dunning letters to illegal immigrants and try to get remuneration for services rendered, just as they do for legal ones and natives.
I think Ascii King is right. Racism, backed up by conviction rather than facts.
I’m neither conservative nor christian. I am opposed to theft and slavery.
If someone needs medical care but cannot afford it, he/she must rely on charity. I think that all of the people who support the idea of “national heathcare” (i.e. theft through taxes, slavery through the regulations on doctors) should start a charity. They can even legitimately deny care to people on the basis of being conservative. What’s not to like? (Oh, right. The absence of forcing your will on others.)
“I’m still not seeing where they don’t send the dunning letters to illegal immigrants and try to get remuneration for services rendered, just as they do for legal ones and natives.”
illegal immigrants can and do get free health services in many states, California being possibly the worst. I understand you want to argue, but this will be my last comment to you. Do some reading and get mad at the California legislators, not me.
I think some of you are missing the point, In this nation that cares not a bit about its poor, homeless, and uninsured this guy got $42K in medical care that cost him absolutely nothing.
>>Illegal immigrants can and do get free health services in many
>>states, California being possibly the worst.
Good time to bow out, Jimbo. Before you have to pony up some proof. I maintain that ERs have to treat all comers, and they can’t get blood from a stone, so the destitute (legal, illegal, and natural-born) end up getting it for free. I haven’t seen the press reports about where illegal immigrants have the debt forgiven.
But, oh! You’ve made your last comment, so I guess you don’t have to point that out to us.
Smooooooooooth, Jimbo, but you’re BUSTED.
I once heard from a friend of mine that works in the accounts section of a hospital that they write off as much as 25% per month of their delinquent accounts. He said one of the major driving factors of the high cost of health care was the fact that not only do you have to pay for your care, but as much as 50% of someone else’s stay.
The US medical system of insured care and enforcement of repayment by intimidation and standover tactics, is a model of efficiency that we all aspire to.
HOw can we cut the costs to Doctors and hospitals…
1. Equipment costs, could be cut in Half. The profit margins are thru the ROOF.
2. Insurance costs, Esp if the Doctor DOES correct the problem at NO COST if there WAS a mistake.
3. Lawyers.
4. drug costs, I need not comment on Pills that cost $0.10 to make and sold at $5 a pill.
>>I need not comment on Pills that cost $0.10 to make and
>>sold at $5 a pill.
Well, I feel that I SHOULD comment on the fact that the price of the pill is intended to cover not only the $0.10 cost of ingredients and the profit margin, but the $100,000,000.00+ the company had to invest in developing the drug in the first place. And many drugs (recombinant proteins, for example) cost a heck of a lot more than $0.10 per dose to manufacture.
#22
The thing is, Farmaceuticals may sell those pills at $5 each but the Hospitals charge you at least $50 for each one of them…
I took my pet asian goat in for an enema once and was able to get it done for free by telling them it was an illegal mexican goat. Those stupid american doctors couldn’t tell the difference between a mexican goat nad an asian goat.
While I was there they were treating a couple of kids that had been run down by a drunken mexican in a pickup full of lawn mowers. He was there too cause he had a cut on his head and he kept asking me about my goat. I told him she was already married but didn’t have any papers to prove it.
Later that same week I was helping at loaves & fishs and this same mexican guy comes up and tells me that the beans aren’t cook enough. Funny cause his english was better but I spoke to him in arabic and smiled before scratching myself with the serving spoon.
I find out this guy comes here all the time even had his kids birthday party there and did a penyata full of that cheap awful chinese candy.
Yeah, the first thing we should do is blame our health care system problems on the dirty Mexicans. It’s their fault that insurance companies charge so much. Yeah… the dirty illegal Mexicans… it’s their fault.
If those dirty Mexicans were not here, then Blue Cross of California could make an even bigger profit than the TWO BILLION that it made last year just in California. That is profit, not revenue. And taht is for ONE insurance company. I know, let’s blame the dirty illegal Mexicans for the high rates and high profits that the insurance companies have. That’s it!
As an American citizen, I should not expect the government to have program in place do a ‘means test’ and help me with healthcare is I can’t afford it. Nope. If I am poor, and I get a gall bladder infection, and the bill comes to $75,000.. well they should just leave me to die in the street. Or they should take my home to pay the bill, or garnsh my minimum wages in the job that I have where the employer offers insurance for the equivalent of 2 weeks pay per month.
But of course, it’s all the illegals fault. Those dirty Mexicans! I say let them run around with contagious diseases, dying in the street, having malnourished American babies (because they were born in the USA).
If they don’t like it here, those dirty Mexicans can move to France, where every person is covered for basic medical care, no questions asked. That will make things all good here in the USA, getting rid of those dirty Mexicans!
>>#25 – That will make things all good here in the USA
Very accurate summary of the neocon solution to both health care and immigration. Just let the fuckers die.
>>when it comes to health care, I’m not convinced that the free market
>>as really the best model to operate under.
I’m not convinced of that either. Of course drug companies are going to get every penny they can, and they could use some trimming back.
However, that would distinguish them from some of the other scoundrels in the health care system (like for-profit health insurers) who provide essentially NOTHING (at least nothing the gummint couldn’t provide at a fraction the cost), yet they still have plenty of cash floating around for $15,000,000.00 salaries and $135,000,000.00 golden parachutes.
That silly “it only costs a nickel for the raw ingredients, yet they charge you five dollars for the pill” nonsense gets a little wearisome.
I’m going to stay out of this fracas as I’ve been in the health care industry as a software developer longer than some of you have been alive. I will make one observation from experience. That hospital bill, like all hospital charges is complete fantasy. No carrier pays that amount. Depending upon various negotiated fee schedules, the reimbursement may be as little as 5% of the charge.
Now returning control to the opinionated, the astute, the ill-informed, and the sages of the circus.
PS: The words “These corporations make wild profits” from ‘OhForTheLoveOf’ is a gross understatement.
Ah yes, misty water colored memories of the birth of one of my daughters, now age 37.
There were some unexpected birth complications and what with co-pay, etc., I was not able to pay all of my part of the attendant OB/Gyn physician’s fee in full so I set up a payment schedule with his office.
After several on time monthly payments, I missed one.
The very next week I got a call at home from a collection agency. The person calling stated that since I had missed a payment that ‘we’re going to come get my wife.’ I said that I understood what I had just been told and hung up the phone.
I then immediately called the OB/Gyn, stated that I had just received a call from one of his contractual suppliers and told him what they had said. Then, I added, ‘ I completely understand that they are going to come and get my wife. What do they plan to do with her or to her after they come and get her ? ‘
Well, his silence was deafening. He then mumbled something about that I could make the payments to him as I was able A N D I never received another call from his (the one with whom he had signed a contract) collection agency.
¡ Ah, the joys of parenthood !
Allen McDonald, El Galloviejo®
>>Candidly, anyone with experience in the health care field
>>would have to be woefully ignorant not to be aware of
>>the outrageous margins in both industries.
Well gosh. I’ve been involved for over 30 years, and while the profits are certainly good, they’re nothing like the for-profit insurance industry.
I guess all that Hot Gossip goes to the software developers, and not to the people involved in carrying out the business.
>>For once we are in agreement.
Excellent. Perhaps we should just take that Giant Leap as a civilized nation, and provide health care to our citizens. A single-payer insurer has a lot more leverage (unless the exploiters are being pimped by a dingbat like Dumbya) to negotiate good prices for drugs, medical care, and the rest.