No doubt about it, the American healthcare system is totally messed up.
The fact that someone who doesn’t have a good job or doesn’t make enough money can be ruined financially for the rest of their life because of an unforeseen accident or a chronic disease is just terrible.
And I think most people would agree that it needs to be fixed sooner than later.
People talked about the outrageous charges they’ve been slapped within the American healthcare system.
1. A travesty.
“My 3-year-old daughter woke up in the middle of the night crying about stomach pain.
We took her to the ER in case it was appendicitis. By the time the doctor checked her, the pain was gone, and we went home.
Even with insurance, the bill was $1,400.”
2. Have to cancel.
“I was supposed to get a colonoscopy, but they called me the day before to tell me it would be $900 up front after insurance.
I told them, ‘That’s really funny and everything, but I’m gonna have to cancel.’
So anyway, hopefully I’m not dying.”
3. Awful.
“Got charged $3,600 dollars to go to the hospital after a s**ual assault.
This is without doing a r**e kit. After I posted online freaking out that I would never be able to pay this enormous amount off, some kind strangers helped me.
Without them, I would still be paying $50 a month for my r**e.”
4. Here you go!
“My husband and I recently had our first child. We both have private health insurance and chose an upgraded plan specifically for having a baby in mind.
After giving birth with no extreme complications, we received a bill for over $15,000, after insurance. They charged both my insurance and my newborn’s insurance.
They charged our son FOR HIS OWN BIRTH!”
5. WTF? is right.
“My husband ran into a wall in the dark and busted his forehead open.
The cut was pretty deep, so we went to the ER. He spent 10 minutes with the doc and got three stitches.
The bill? $3,000. That’s $300/minute, $1,000 per stitch.
WTF?”
6. For a phone call.
“I was told that I had to make an appointment to get a medication refill for a med that I’ve been on for years.
I had a 15-minute PHONE CALL appointment and just got a bill for $511.70.”
7. Outrageous.
“I was charged $2.2 million for my NICU baby born at 28 weeks.
She was there for 92 days.”
8. For six stitches.
“We pay about $650 per month for insurance.
Kid got kicked in the face running behind the swings at a playground, split her upper lip open, and we went to the ER.
She had six stitches, some minor pain medication, and lidocaine — we paid $2,000 for it altogether. For six stitches.”
9. While pregnant…
“While pregnant, I had an iron deficiency.
Unfortunately, I could not take iron pills, as they made me very ill. I needed two iron infusions. I ended up paying over $3,000 for iron.
Absolutely ridiculous.”
10. Therapy.
“Just got a bill for eight therapy sessions. The grand total? Nearly $2,000. And that’s with insurance. I make $12.50 an hour and have rent and all my other bills to pay.
Needless to say, I didn’t even get to enjoy that $1,400 stimulus check. Mental health resources should be more affordable.”
11. You’re just fine!
“A few months back, I went to a podiatrist because my toe nail was growing very weird, and they sent a clipping to test for any fungus.
Not only did I have to pay $200 for the appointment, but then the pathology lab sent me a bill for a little over $1,000.
Most expensive doctor appointment I’ve ever had for someone to say, ‘There’s nothing wrong.'”
12.
“”I was diagnosed with an ultra-rare spinal cord injury that was going to leave me paralyzed if left untreated.
The surgery was actually twofold — they had to do a procedure before the surgery to mark the spot on my spine where they’d operate. My insurance wouldn’t cover the initial marking procedure. It was going to cost $25,000, and I had to pay before they’d do it.
I was able to negotiate down to $12,000 and pay by borrowing from family. I had the procedure, then had the surgery. The total cost for my surgery/meds/physical therapy would have been over $750,000 without insurance.
I ended up paying another $10,000 — again borrowed from family. Thank god for insurance, because otherwise I’d be paralyzed by now. But also, f**k the privatized medical system in America that runs up the cost of absolutely everything involved with medical care.”
Do you have any healthcare horror stories?
If so, please share them with us.
Do it in the comments. Thanks!
