after finding out Danica's bill. do you guys think that the cost of care alone is justified? granted i would have paid what i needed to keep all of my kids healthy. but do you think that cost of medical care is going up because we have no choice, we need medical care. or is it justified?

i can understand why the cost is high because drs have to pay out the ass enormous sums of money for malpractice insurance but i do think it's wrong because there are so many people that can't afford health care

Frankly I think the cost of most medical care is ridiculous. I understand the need for malpractice insurance, but seriously, it SHOULDN'T cost several hundred dollars a day for a basic hospital room. Plus the cost of the meds they provide is extremely high. After seeing how much my C-section and Cam's nursery stay cost, it makes me very thankful that we have Tricare, even though they suck at times.

:agree

i can understand why the cost is high because drs have to pay out the ass enormous sums of money for malpractice insurance but i do think it's wrong because there are so many people that can't afford health care

i understand the high "dr" bills. i am talking about general hosp charges. like for a room, equipment, medical supplies, that kind of thing. Danica was charged a little over $3000 a day just for her NICU room, just the room.

The cost of healthcare is so high because most people will pay it regardless and many people have insurance that pays the bulk of it. I do think that that is why it is justified, but it is rediculous. Each department (lab, dietary, preop, etc..), doctor, everything charges for their services on top of the actual hospital bill. People will continue to pay for the services regardless of how high it gets, JMO

Frankly I think the cost of most medical care is ridiculous. I understand the need for malpractice insurance, but seriously, it SHOULDN'T cost several hundred dollars a day for a basic hospital room. Plus the cost of the meds they provide is extremely high. After seeing how much my C-section and Cam's nursery stay cost, it makes me very thankful that we have Tricare, even though they suck at times.

same here. between Gabe and Danica, tricare has paid over 3 million in dr bills.

Frankly I think the cost of most medical care is ridiculous. I understand the need for malpractice insurance, but seriously, it SHOULDN'T cost several hundred dollars a day for a basic hospital room. Plus the cost of the meds they provide is extremely high. After seeing how much my C-section and Cam's nursery stay cost, it makes me very thankful that we have Tricare, even though they suck at times.

oh i agree but because of all the frivolous lawsuits that doctors had to put up with in the past has caused their malpractice insurance to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

i understand the high "dr" bills. i am talking about general hosp charges. like for a room, equipment, medical supplies, that kind of thing. Danica was charged a little over $3000 a day just for her NICU room, just the room.

ahh i misunderstood the original point then sorry :blush but i think that's bullshit to pay that much for the room

We had to call the ambulance for my mom once because she was suffering from tremendous pain and no one know what was wrong with her, and her first thought was that she didnt have any insurance so it was going to cost her an arm and a leg for someone to come out to see her...she later find out that if we hadnt called the ambulance she could have died...and that mad me so mad because I could have lost my mother because she cant afford insurance its crazy

Not justified at all. Hospital rooms are the same here and as the govt pays for it the bills aren't half as high.

same here. between Gabe and Danica, tricare has paid over 3 million in dr bills.

That's crazy. I was in for 5 days, and Cam for 4. I was so flabbergasted to see the statements from Tricare for what the hospital and my OB billed them.

I am so thankful they are there and that we're able to get the quality of care that we are because we have them.

It really is no wonder that so many people have to declare bankruptcy because of medical debt.

I think its unjustified how much they charge for stuff. A freaking Tylenol is 5 bucks. I dont see how they can charge like that. I understand they have overhead they have to pay. Like nurses salary and for the cost of the equipment. But that much for a room is ridulous.

I think it's ridicoulous. especially considering that when you look at a bill through tricare that is less than what they would charge the average person. when I would get our pediatric bills and my OB bill it would say actual cost this much, tricare paid this much.. SO I am thinking wow it would be way more without tricare.

Not justified at all. Hospital rooms are the same here and as the govt pays for it the bills aren't half as high.

:yes
The healthcare system in this country overall is grossly overpaid. People make profits off of medical care in this country. If we had a gov't controlled healthcare coverage, you'd see the costs go down tremendously. :no

I think it is ridiculous but at the same time I don't. I am torn. When you look at what all a hospital has to maintain and the employees they have to pay good salaries to....well then it all starts to makes so much sense to me.

The electric bills
The equipment they have to purchase and maintain
The salaries they have to maintain
Yikes, it has to be staggering:wow

look carefully at the eob. what a hospital or doctor charges is not what the insurance carrier ends up paying them.

according to my dad, who sees patients with tricare and other private insurance, tricare reimburses better than a lot of insurance companies out there.

my dad has patients walk in all the time with expensive things that refuse to pay their copay. this frustrates me to no end. is a coach purse a more worthwhile expense than a $15 copay to your doctor?

but, i can't imagine going without insurance, it would be awful to get caught in an accident w/o coverage.

look carefully at the eob. what a hospital or doctor charges is not what the insurance carrier ends up paying them.

according to my dad, who sees patients with tricare and other private insurance, tricare reimburses better than a lot of insurance companies out there.

my dad has patients walk in all the time with expensive things that refuse to pay their copay. this frustrates me to no end. is a coach purse a more worthwhile expense than a $15 copay to your doctor?

but, i can't imagine going without insurance, it would be awful to get caught in an accident w/o coverage.

That is true. That is where HMOs and PMOs come into play. Medicaid and Medicare only pay a certain amount.

A friend and I were just talking about this the other day. I can't believe how much medical care costs, and that is why we pay so much for insurance, just because we can't afford the care without it.

I think it is rediculous. And now there are a ton of medical "issues" that call for more medical care. Its all to make more people take more medication, then the side effects are taken care of with other medication. Its all a ply for money

I think the cost of medical care is outrageous. After getting the statements from tricare after having Cam my eyes about popped out of my head. Even for his office visits, they spend 5 minutes with him and charge $300 and that's not including shots or anything other than looking at him. It's insane to me. It definitely seems like they charge what they do because they know you need healthcare so you just have to suck it up and pay the cost. I do have to say, thank God for Tricare Prime!

i think it was jill that made the point earlier in the thread that medical malpractice increases the cost of medical care. i agree with this. it's not the only cause of expensive medical care but it contributes. to use a personal example that might give some perspective:

my dad's malpractice insurance premium is $90,000 per year. that comes out of his pocket. and he's never been found guilty of malpractice. so, after he pays his office staff, pays other overhead, he has to generate $90k before he can even start making money.

I think the cost of medical care is outrageous. After getting the statements from tricare after having Cam my eyes about popped out of my head. Even for his office visits, they spend 5 minutes with him and charge $300 and that's not including shots or anything other than looking at him. It's insane to me. It definitely seems like they charge what they do because they know you need healthcare so you just have to suck it up and pay the cost. I do have to say, thank God for Tricare Prime!

right, but of that $300 how much did Tricare actually pay?

no matter what my dad bills an insurance co for an amnio he gets paid about $30 by the insurance co for doing the amnio and writing up the report. so, for patients that have insurance the amount billed by the hospital is irrelevant.

ETA: when my dad gets a patient w/o insurance he typically ends up writing off their unpaid bills as bad debt. sorry for all the personal examples but sometimes i think doctors get an undeserved bad rap.

I unfourtunately do not know enough about the subject. I wish I did though.

right, but of that $300 how much did Tricare actually pay?

no matter what my dad bills an insurance co for an amnio he gets paid about $30 by the insurance co for doing the amnio and writing up the report. so, for patients that have insurance the amount billed by the hospital is irrelevant.

ETA: when my dad gets a patient w/o insurance he typically ends up writing off their unpaid bills as bad debt. sorry for all the personal examples but sometimes i think doctors get an undeserved bad rap.

in the same breath though, a person with NO insurance is billed the full amount and expected to pay that.

My whole point of this was I think it is absolutely ludacris that the charge for my daughter's room alone was $3000 a day.

in the same breath though, a person with NO insurance is billed the full amount and expected to pay that.


that's not necessarily true. a patient without insurance can usually call the doctor's office and the hospital to ask to pay at the HMO contract rate, which means they would pay out-of-pocket what an insurance company would reimburse had they had one (still a lot of $$$ though). of course, i can't speak for all doctors/hospitals. this is just the policy that my dad's hospital uses.

but i agree with you that $3,000/day for the facility is shocking.

plus if you go in for something life threatening and they treat you and you can't pay they are S.O.L. what are they going to do make you sick again. they have to treat you in instances like that.

in the same breath though, a person with NO insurance is billed the full amount and expected to pay that.

My whole point of this was I think it is absolutely ludacris that the charge for my daughter's room alone was $3000 a day.


I totally agree with you Donna. It is insane that they charge so much money.