Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Blood soaked t-shirt - not an emergency
Old 09-28-2009, 07:34 AM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
RonBoyd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 6,256
Blood soaked t-shirt - not an emergency

From the Consumerist: "Yes, copious amounts of blood flowing from your nipples is really something you want to wait out."

CA Insurer: Woman's Bleeding Breast Not Emergency - cbs5.com
__________________
"It's tough to make predictions, especially when it involves the future." ~Attributed to many
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." ~(perhaps by) Yogi Berra
"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge."~ Lau tzu
RonBoyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 09-28-2009, 08:40 AM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
donheff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,318
Bad timing for Blue Cross. Are they conspiring to get a public option?
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
donheff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 08:43 AM   #3
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
It probably would have cost the same had she waited and gone to her primary care provider, who would have ordered the same tests the ER did.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 09:36 AM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
DblDoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,224
First off as an ED physician this would NOT fall under the category of something that should wait for the clinic to open on monday. Shame on Blue Cross .

On the other hand the number of non-emergent cases I see every shift would boggle your mind. The majority are not true emergencies and could easily await a visit with their PCP. This is a huge $ burden on the system that ultimately WE all pay. Until patients are required to act like consumers with their own $ on the line the system will continue to be abused.

DD
__________________
At 54% of FIRE target
DblDoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 09:44 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
RonBoyd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 6,256
Quote:
Originally Posted by DblDoc View Post
Until patients are required to act like consumers with their own $ on the line the system will continue to be abused.
So if this lady knew, in advance, that she would receive be expected to pay a $2,800 bill out of her own pocket, she would have been more considerate?
__________________
"It's tough to make predictions, especially when it involves the future." ~Attributed to many
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." ~(perhaps by) Yogi Berra
"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge."~ Lau tzu
RonBoyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 12:23 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
DblDoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,224
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBoyd View Post
So if this lady knew, in advance, that she would receive be expected to pay a $2,800 bill out of her own pocket, she would have been more considerate?
No. If she knew it was going to cost her $100 for a copay for the ED visit, the remainder covered by insurance, she would consider it money well spent. Now if she had a low grade fever, sniffles and a cold with a $100 copay and a high probability the insurance company would deny her claim as it was NOT emergent she wouldn't likely show up.

DD
__________________
At 54% of FIRE target
DblDoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 12:41 PM   #7
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
I wonder why hospitals don't establish clinics to shuttle the non-ER patients to. The for-profit urgent care model seems to be quite successful; why can't hospitals do something like that, thus giving the patients DD describes an alternative and creating a new revenue stream?
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 02:57 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Gotadimple's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,605
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post
I wonder why hospitals don't establish clinics to shuttle the non-ER patients to. The for-profit urgent care model seems to be quite successful; why can't hospitals do something like that, thus giving the patients DD describes an alternative and creating a new revenue stream?
Well yes it would if they had one, and if they had the triage unit staffed to refer the the urgent care center. But someone has to pay for the triage, and some states have a law that says every patient that comes to an ER needs to be seen and evaluated (not treated, just evaluated). They can charge for the evalation.

-- Rita
__________________
Only got A dimple, would have preferred 2!
Gotadimple is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 04:52 PM   #9
Moderator Emeritus
Martha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: minnesota
Posts: 13,228
One of our local hospitals has an urgent care attached to the ER and people get routed during triage to one or the other. Seems to have cut wait times quite a bit. I don't know if it has reduced cost. One problem is that the urgent care is open only week days for maybe 10 hour days.
__________________
.


No more lawyer stuff, no more political stuff, so no more CYA

Martha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 05:29 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
The idea that the patient should be able to tell what is and is not an emergency is nuts. In this case, it would depend entirely on the amount of blood. Some bleeding from the nipple would be totally freaky, but likely not an emergency. A lot of bleeding would be a different story. A lot of bleeding from anywhere could be an emergency, and is likely beyond the ken of a patient to decide emergency or not.

But imagine bacterial meningitis. If you don't get seen, and pronto, you are dead or seriously disabled. Do we want people trying to decide if they have menigitis vs some other source of head ache and stiff neck? Same with pneumonia. My ex had pneumonia but she refused to see a doctor because she didn't have a fever. When she finally showed up the doc told her that she was too sick and debilitated to mount a febrile response.

How about MI? Is it indigestion or an MI? I don't want to have to decide this. Being wrong in the too cavalier direction can cost you your life.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 09:46 PM   #11
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Another insurance-company-stalls-on-paying story:

After aneurysm, Assurant Health causes further headaches -- chicagotribune.com

When the claimant suffered a brain aneurysm, the insurance company launched a "preexisting condition investigation" (or "stalling tactic") that took months and was miraculously resolved when the newspaper contacted them about it.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2009, 10:10 PM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
'These insurance companies must have a death wish. I hope that it will soon be satisfied.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 06:58 AM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
RonBoyd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 6,256
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
'These insurance companies must have a death wish.
Yeah. Kinda suspicious. There are beginning to be too many of these type stories. May have to check with Snoopes.com (or whatever) from now on.
__________________
"It's tough to make predictions, especially when it involves the future." ~Attributed to many
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." ~(perhaps by) Yogi Berra
"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge."~ Lau tzu
RonBoyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 12:07 PM   #14
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Gotadimple's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,605
Interesting . . . did a search on Assurant Health and that led me to their parent company Assurant, which is a specialty insurance carrier, and a Fortune 500 company. I hate it when stockholders come before members.
__________________
Only got A dimple, would have preferred 2!
Gotadimple is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 12:49 PM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gotadimple View Post
I hate it when stockholders come before members.
In a free market, stockholders do well when the company provides valuable products/services to its customers. And they employ people in the process. And pay taxes. It is a win-win-win-win.

I don't hate companies, I hate closed markets.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 02:09 PM   #16
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
In a free market, stockholders do well when the company provides valuable products/services to its customers. And they employ people in the process. And pay taxes. It is a win-win-win-win.

I don't hate companies, I hate closed markets.

-ERD50
Thank you Ludwig.

But what has that to do with medicine? If medicine ever was a free market, it hasn't been for at least 50 years and never again will be free .

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 02:15 PM   #17
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
If medicine ever was a free market, it hasn't been for at least 50 years and never again will be free .

Ha
I'm afraid you are correct. But, if we are going to talk about HC reform, it makes sense to me to try to make the market more free rather than more closed.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 03:52 PM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA suburbs
Posts: 1,796
If I woke up to find myself covered in blood from some source that does not usually bleed, I would hightail it to the ER and not be even thinking about insurance companies. I have never known anyone who was denied a claim for an ER visit. I have never been to the ER as a patient so I am not someone who is wont to go running in with an earache or a rash or a splinter. It is the last place I would go unless I thought death or dismemberment were imminent.
WhoDaresWins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 07:06 PM   #19
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 176
I suspect that many non-emergencies go to the ER because they know they have to treat them, and they don't intend to pay. Around here, most clinics require payment at time of services, in large part due to all the illegals not paying, so the illegals now go to the ER instead. Sure has changed in the last 20 years.

I suspect a certain side of the media has some collaborating going on right now with Washington, to dig up the exceptions, forgetting the millions of cases serviced without problems each year. Trying to make insurance companies "eeeeeeeevvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllll ."
missionfinder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2009, 07:39 PM   #20
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
I have a great internist. I would not mind calling him on nights/weekends to ask if I should go to the ER or wait to see him. Doesn't anybody else do that I would guess that most of the time, they would suggest seeing a physician right away since that is the CYA answer. Maybe not?
LOL! is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Got the T shirt! Walt34 Other topics 4 04-16-2009 12:28 PM
"Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own." dex FIRE and Money 14 09-30-2008 10:47 AM
Guess where I got my new t shirt from? brewer12345 Other topics 6 10-13-2007 08:48 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:56 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.