Comments on: $20,000?!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:59:18 +0000

While on COBRA, it is sad that people are afraid to go to the doctor for a regular checkup. Knowing you will be changing to another plan within 18 months, there is a strong dis-incentive to have anything diagnosed. Diagnosis can create the dreaded pre-existing condition that will either disqualify you for a new plan, or will force you to pay a lot extra.

Paying over $1000 per month for insurance you are afraid to use is a definite problem with the current system.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:59:18 +0000

Paying over $1000 per month for insurance you are afraid to use is a definite problem with the current system.

By: GeekMBA360

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:12:55 +0000

Thanks, Ted. “lawsuit avoidance + academic curiosity + desire to be meticulous” — right on! These are the three key contributing factors to the cost. I don't have a solution. Maybe a “fully integrated” hospital like “Kaiser” in CA will help drive down the cost since all departments and doctors work closely in one campus? Not sure.

By: GeekMBA360

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:08:13 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Eric. I was suspicious of the CT scan, and your link only validated my concern.
The sad part is that he could have avoided the CT scan all along — when we got to the hospital, the first thing the doctor wanted to do was to take his blood, which included checking his blood sugar level. However, the nurses who were assigned to us were not experienced in drawing kid's blood. They were panicking, was calling for “re-enforcement” from other nurses, poked him several times, finally got the blood, and then spilled the bottle. The doctor got frustrated, so she wanted to go to get a CT scan first since it would take than 1 minute. It's a mess.

By: GeekMBA360

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:04:05 +0000

Hi, Cathy,

Thanks for the comment!

Sorry that I should be a little bit more specific about the description. Basically, the kid wasn't waking up in the morning. He would open his eyes for a few seconds, but then went back to sleep. It had never happened before.

Did we over react? I think it's hard to say. When we got to the hospital, his blood sugar level was dangerously low. From what I was told, it was the right decision to get him to ER within the shortest time possible.

After the incident, we did learn from the doctor that we could have tried to give the kid "water with honey". But, without knowing the cause, we had to take him in to get treated by professionals.

I think nobody wants to go to call 911 and/or go to ERs. It's not a pleasant experience.

By: ctelesco

ctelesco — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:42:44 +0000

Your description of your child's health issue is vague so I am responding to what I read. Sounds to me like you overreacted. Who calls 911 simply because their child is “extremely sluggish” – this does not sound like an emergency to me. As the mother of two teenaged children I can tell you I called 911 ONCE – when my two year old daughter stopped breathing. People needlessly using the ER and ambulances simply because they have been blessed with good health insurance drives up the costs for everyone. My husband is self employed so we know first hand the pain of paying for our own medical insurance. Rather than worrying about “shopping around”, how about excercising some common sense?

By: TedHoward

TedHoward — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:27:34 +0000

Most of my friends in SF are ER residents. There are so very many comments I could make.
You say that there's no consumer transparency into prices. Do the doctors know the costs of different procedures and tests? The ones I know don't. It's also all 'sliding scale' because each medical plan authorizes a different level of payment. The medical providers often have to contact your insurance just to find out what to charge for a service.
If they diagnosed low blood sugar, why was there a CT and a trip to another emergency room? Doctors typically don't consider cost. They are tasked with providing the best possible care by exploring all possibilities, not balancing the costs and benefits of treatment options. So, your child had a CT, blood panels and more, followed by a transfer to Children's because non-pediatric ER's don't know much about kids and the first ER staff might have missed something. Part of this thoroughness is lawsuit avoidance but a large part is an academic curiosity and a desire to be meticulous.
It's like the Innovator's Dilemma in that everyone's actions make sense individually but taken as a whole it is clearly messed up. Unfortunately, the negative consequences of this snafu are mostly felt by the consumers of healthcare such as your family.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:42:39 +0000

that's a sad story, sorry to hear about it.

the ct scan is particularly outrageous. the only way to justify giving a kid that much radiation when his blood sugar was low, is legal protection for the doctors. It's plain immoral. see http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Expos...