• 🐱TheCat@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Here’s my American Healthcare story:

    • snap finger bone, go to urgent care to get splint
    • pay 50ish dollars that day
    • 2 months later, get bill for 200 dollars
    • ahah! everyone says to ask for an itemized bill! do that
    • get itemized bill back that claims the 200 charge is for ‘visiting with a doctor with knowledge of medical history’ (paraphrasing)
    • contest charge because I did not see a doctor, and splinting a snapped finger does not require any fucking context at all
    • get runaround for 2 months, while being threatened with late fees
    • finally they say they will adjust the bill
    • get new bill for $201, ‘for a visit that did not include a doctor’ (no fucking joke)

    welcome the USA, where healthcare operations are scams

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-based-nextcare-inc-pay-us-10-million-resolve-false-claims-act-allegations

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/urgent-care-provider-convicted-health-care-fraud-and-ordered-pay-125-million

    (these are just 2 of the scams in my state, thanks to shell companies when one is shut, another opens)

    edit: and in case anyone thinks I paid that shit, I didn’t. I sent them a polite version of a ‘fuck you’ reply. Then covid hit and I never heard from them again.

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Mine was when I cut the tip of my finger off… Bottle broke and sliced my middle finger from the middle of the nail down to the corner. Only thing holding it on was the nail itself. I go to urgent care because it’s closer than the hospital. The doc soaks it in iodine and alcohol, checks for glass, then says he can stitch or glue it. He opts for glue. I get a wrap and splint to protect it, “keep it dry and unwrap it in a few weeks to make sure it took.” Couple weeks go by and I get a bill. $8,000 for superglue and a bandage! A little less than 1/4 of what I made in a year at the time. Best part? “Payment in full is expected one month from receipt.”

      Fucking greedy bastards…

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        My mom called 911 a few years ago and got taken to a local hospital by the ambulance that showed up. Charged $2500 just for the ambulance ride. The hospital she went to had its own associated ambulance service, not the company that actually took her; my mom ended up getting another bill from this associated ambulance service for $2800 despite the fact that they literally did nothing at all. I almost had to tie my mom up in the basement to prevent her from paying this second bill out of pocket.

    • Rengoku@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Meanwhile, I was hospitalized due to covid and bronchitis combo, paid less than 20 dollars because Government covered all my ass.

      And I am in a third world country.

    • ezmack@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      Heres mine:

      Emergency root canal.

      How much does this cost?

      Idk.

      What will my insurance cover?

      Idk.

      I need1500 now 1500 after.

      Ok please make it stop.

      3 months later get a bill already in collections for 3000.

      Credit score goes up 30 points