$8,200 for a bandage? WTF?

[pokerfan]

Seriously, :wft:

Wednesday, Aug 6, 2014 • Updated at 1:22 PM EDT

A New Jersey hospital charged a teacher nearly $9,000 to put a bandage on his middle finger, an NBC 4 New York I-Team investigation has found.

Last August, Baer Hanusz-Rajkowski, of Bayonne, accidentally cut his finger with the claw-end of a hammer. He says he waited a few days for it to heal but the cut didn’t seem to be closing, so he went to the Bayonne Medical Center emergency room to ask whether he should get stitches. The nurse practitioner determined no stitches were necessary, he says. There was no X-ray either.

Instead, Hanusz-Rajkowsk got hit with an $8,200 bill for the emergency room visit, the I-Team has learned. On top of that, Bayonne Medical Center charged $180 for a tetanus shot, $242 for sterile supplies, and $8 for some antibacterial ointment in addition to hundreds of dollars for the services of the nurse practitioner. In total, the bill was nearly $9,000.

“I got a Band-Aid and a tetanus shot. How could it be $9,000? This is crazy,” Hanusz-Rajkowski said. “If I severed a limb, I’d carry it to the next emergency room in the next city before I go back to this place."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/I-Team-NJ-Hospital-Charges-8K-to-Bandage-a-Cut-Finger-270053241.html

[msongs]

1. BMW's are expensive ya know nt

[PoliticAverse]

2. Why would you go to an emergency room for a cut on your finger that's a few days old? n/t

[enlightenment]

4. That is a question.

Although a quick search suggests there may be only one (or none - it's hard to tell if it is open) walk-in clinic in Bayonne.

If he was concerned about healing or more serious injury, it's not too surprising that he might want to see someone before he could get an appointment with his primary care doctor.

[abelenkpe]

9. I don't know about Bayonne but to get an appt with a primary care doctor here

takes between 6-8 weeks. Perhaps that was also a factor?

When I broke my arm a few years back I went to the hospital in Burbank (St. Josephs) that x-rayed my arm, determined it was in fact broken in two places and then sent me home in a sling with a list of doctors to call in the morning to get it set. They did not have a doctor on staff on a Sunday who could set my arm. In the morning my hubby and I called the doctors on the list and none of them would give me an appointment any earlier than two weeks out.

We went to a different hospital (Cedars) and got it set that day.

Recently my hubby had a deep cut on his hand that wasn't healing. He called our primary care doctor and could not get an appointment any earlier than a month out. So he went to the hospital, got stitches and yes, the insurance paid. Our healthcare system is seriously f'd up. ACA has done a lot to get people who otherwise could not get covered into the system but there is still so much that needs to be done.

Right now, I have an appointment in two weeks with my doc to get a referral to see a dermatologist to check a mole I'm concerned may be cancerous. (Several relatives have had skin cancer.) Y'know how long ago I made the appt? Back in June. Her earliest opening was two months out. We have double coverage from good paying entertainment jobs. But it doesn't mean anything. Two months. To get a referral. How long will I wait for the dermatologist do you think?

[enlightenment]

11. It's ridiculous.

Yes, the ACA has helped people get coverage, but coverage doesn't equal care. It never has. Combine that with the increasing privatization of healthcare and there is little the average person can do.

It's a nasty trap and we're all stuck in it.

[Maedhros]

3. This is why the ACA may not be the solution we need.

Even with coverage, outlandish medical expenses can still make health care unobtainable for working class families.

We need to end price gouging by the healthcare industry.

[Hoyt]

5. If covered by insurance, the hospital will get s few hundred dollars and write-off the rest, unless

one is uninformed enough to go to an out-of-network facility.

Hospital charge structures are developed by idiots, and insurance companies pay a fraction of what they charge. It's an insane system that ought to change, but it is not as bad as it appears in these kind of examples. If you are uninsured or go out-of-network, you can really get screwed.

[savalez]

6. Find out where your local Urgent Care center is.

Only go there. Leave the ER to Paramedics and Ambulances.

[abelenkpe]

10. Last time we went to Urgent Care

the doc sent us to the hospital emergency room. It's not always a solution. But otherwise yeah, I'd always go there first.

[Lancero]

7. The only part of that bill that makes any sense...

Is the $180 for the tetnus shot, and even then it's stretching things.

[Ilsa]

8. ERs need triage to send folks to clinic?

A kid showed up to ER because of his acne one time. Doctor refused to treat him, told him he needed to see a dermatologist and wash his pillowcase, hair, and face more frequently.

[oberliner]

12. Per the article: the hospital has written off his portion of the debt.

“I understand there is no balance due on this bill,” Spektor said.