Don't have a pretend heart attack and go to the ER
 

$1,490


They're going to have fun getting that full amount out of me.

Send them $50 a month...it will keep them quite and they won't turn it over to a collection agency to bug the s*it out of you.

I'm thinking of calling them and demanding they reduce the price ... but I don't know which angle is best to work to get them to come way down.

On the bill, and the envelope that came with it, they have my middle name as Andre .. and it's Andrew. I suppose if I don't pay and they take me to court I could argue that I never opened the bill in the first place because it's against the law to open mail that isn't your own.

good luck with that.


you can appeal the amount of the bill. get them to show every charge for everything used, they could have messed it up....good luck with that too.

They did.

was it accurate?


you can tell them you're a charity case and they'll write it off. if you really are a charity case that is!
hell, i took my son to an er a few years back for a broken arm...they charged 600 bucks just to determine it was broken-and then they asked us where we wanted to go, as they had no ortho on staff. their er bill was higher than the er bill for the hospital who actually treated him.

as long as you make an effort to pay a little each month, they'll leave you alone.

I had to have been drugged by someone that day. Only explanation I can think of.

That's boondox PA prices. Be happy it wasn't 5 times that.

Sounds like a panic attack. Did PG de-friend you on facebook that day?

What did I tell you dude?

Now that your dream of getting out of not getting raped by the hospital has ended, call them and set up an appointment to talk to them.

Tell them you lost your job and you are going to declare bankruptcy, and that if they don't greatly reduce your bill, they aren't even going to get a cent from you. Of course, make them think that you want to do the right thing and pay them, just that you cannot, or will not, pay anything close to that amount.

If they go to collections, big freakin whoop. After awhile, the worst that will happen is that you get some calls. After awhile, if that annoys you, accept one of their settlement offers. You'll end up paying a ton less.

Or offer something up yourself to one of the collection agencies.

Just tell them you are an illegal immigrant - it's then free

Tell them you weren't anywhere near the hospital on that day, you were at the track with your FB bestie, PG, and your lottery winning neighbor stole your identity.

PG will corroborate your alibi and your neighbor won't remember where he was that day.

I really can't believe that you don't have some Presque Isle vouchers that you have won laying around for this sort of thing.

A few things...
Why dont you have health insurance?

Why are you so gay that you had a little pain and ran to the Hospital? I weigh 330, and I have never had a pretend Heart Attack....

Why dont you have health insurance?

That's about the one smart thing Dougie has ever done, outside of racing. Not having health insurance.

Yeah, our health care system works so well. I love the scare tactics employed on people. If you don't have insurance, you are going to die! Tomorrow!

My job covers my health insurance, totally free... I dont pay one penny for it, its MVP and its solid enough. $10 max co pay....

they really dont take ANYTHING out of your paycheck for insurance? I have insurance through work, pay $45 per bi-weekly paycheck.. and the insurance blows. 1800 deductable

Nothing at all, first job I have ever had that does it this way... Dental and Health. Even when I worked at AMC it was like $47 bi weekly.... That was supposed to be like the best plan in this area.....

you have it made.

Not really... I work overnights, 3 12 hour shifts a week. Most of the time it ends up being 15 hours straight... Cant sleep at all, and it happens to be weekends, Thur-Sat. The pay is not great, but the insurance makes up for it.

My employer picks up 100% too, but our copays are higher because it's an HMO and overall a greater pain in the butt then I had with regular BCBS in NY. For example, I had to pay $15 to see my regular doctor for a referral to have the doppler scan at a surgical center, the center is considered a specialist visit so it was another $35, and then finally they referred me to the emergency room which was a $150 co-pay. Free dental too.

ALOT of people have no insurance at all. Just way too much money, especially if you have a pre condition....As soon as you get anything a little of base in your health record, you are SCREWED.

What do you do for a living?

Right now I work for a company called ALG, Alternative Living Group. I am the overnight supervisor, I have 3 other people under me, pretty basic. I work in a Residential setting, there are 4 residents in my house. All male and all pretty high functioning....Younger also, 3 of them are younger then me, and one of them is 30.

i didnt report any of my pre existing conditions & they didnt ask (which was cool).

Tho they did say pre existing conditions would be excluded for the first year only. I would have the doctor put it through as a "regular checkup" during the first year so they didnt catch on.

that is really awesome RHT. tons of respect for your profession. My best friend since I was 5 yo had a mentally challenged brother (David), & I pretty much grew up with them... so I would volunteer with the Special Olympics and it was so great being around those kids.

Unfortunately, David developed stage 4 brain cancer in the fall of 2006, and he lost his couragous fight on April 8th of this year. Its been by far the most difficult death of a friend or family member that I've had to deal with, and I cant imagine being in my best friends shoe's, or her parents and other brother. People with special needs I believe make bonds so much stronger, they are a joy on this earth. I really want to get involved with volunteering again.. need to get off my butt and just do it.

Thats really neat, RHT.. you get to have an emotionally satisfying job (though I'm sure its difficult), and get great health benefits. you should be proud.

I went to the ER last fall without health insurance.

I had an itching problem. But I don't remember what it was called. It wasn't just a minor itch. I was itching all over my body, on my head, under my feet, there wasn't one spot where I didn't itch. It's strange that I can't remember the name of it, considering the price I paid.

Anyways, AHA it's the hives. Now I remember.

Anyways, I went to the ER. The doctor immediately identified the problem. He injected the liquid form of Benadryl into me. I felt a lot better, almost immediately.

But then he gave me 3 different other drugs, and I don't know why, but he was the doctor so I took them. :confused::confused:

When I later got the bill, which amounted to roughly the same amount in the OP's case, about $1,400 something, I saw that for each different pill they gave me they charged at least $100 each. I could understand paying for the Benadryl because it cured me, but I felt like I was being price gouged for the other 3 drugs I didn't need. What could I have done though but take them? I'm not a doctor. I don't know what's good for me. And these weren't bottles of pills they gave me, I was paying $100 for each single pill they fed me at the ER! For the same price at the pharmacy, I could have been getting at least 30 or 40 of them for $20 or so.

In fact, I later found out Benadryl is quite cheap and could be found for about $10 a pack. I'm sure the stuff they sell at the pharmacy is not the cool liquid form they injected into my veins at the ER, but it would have probably worked the same.

That's not to mention the separate, additional $270 bill I got in the mail to charge for the doctor's fee (because apparently the doctor himself needs to charge his own fee even though the hospital already charges one).

I was barely at the hospital 3 or 4 hours.

After doing a lot of research, I was afraid of getting bad credit if I didn't pay the bill off....and they did threaten sending my bill to the collection agency.

The best I did was negotiate the bill into portions so that I was paying $279 a month for 5 months. No they didn't lower the amount, but it was better than paying it all up front, since I didn't have the $1,400.

I worked for the local ARC for 2 years out of high school... I have used the R word around here a few times and I feel horrible about it, I am a hypocrite because I have yelled at people for using it and came back and done it myself....

I totally understand. That is the one word in the english language that I hate.. no other words bother me. I try not to ever say it but still mistakes happen.

I know SCUDS will flip, but if even 1/4 of the worlds population had the same outlook on life as these kids do, this world would be a million times better place.

Its sad that the more brain power you have, the more you take for granted. If anyone has a reason to complain, its these kids.. but they dont and look at everything as glass half full. I saw David two weeks before he went into hospice care to go through an agonizing 12 day death, and talked to him on the phone two days before.. not one complaint eventhough he was paralized by then.. couldnt even roll over in bed.

Jobs in that field do offer excellent bennies.

One poster who I hate, hates it so I have used it to piss her/him off.... I know its wrong, and I have defended my guys in the community when anyone has gave them a hard time.

^^^^SeaWorld stunt seal.

Dude go die somewhere....

Oh gosh, that was a great repartee.

If the reader is a hunk of silly putty.





The degenerative hen....RhNegative 10.

!!OOOOOOOOOO!!

Even if you have insurance you usually still have to fork out a lot of money for emergency room visits and expensive tests.

My insurance costs me about $380 a month and I have a $2500 deductible. When I had to get an MRI a couple of years ago, the bill was about $4,000. I think the insurance company ended up paying about $800 and I had to pay the rest.

I spend around $4,500 a year for insurance and then if I go to a doctor I still end up with a big bill. Insurance is a bad deal but it saves you if you happen to get really sick and have some huge bill like $100,000.

Thank you so much.


He'll be Oinkmaned before the week is over.

Could have been a combo of that and being very tired - or someone just somehow drugged me earlier that day.

I never felt like that before.

My mother was babysitting her two grandkids - and she came to the hospital towards the end with them. They ended up releasing me and I felt very tired but otherwise good.

We went to the local Eat-mor-Chiken afterwards .. and I felt good enough to play in the kids area with my bro's little kids. The older one, who can talk, kept calling me "Uncle David" ... I was like, damn, do I see them so rarely that they don't even know who I am?






I would have to say I still looked pretty drugged up in this pic.

You do look like something in that picture....

quit hinting and just tell him you think he's hot.