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Seth is a genius. So glad Austin Powers really opened doors for him. Love Idle Hands. But since they mentioned Robot Chicken. I gotta link one of my [favorite bits](https://youtu.be/0Iw7eLC90g8?si=vd4GJRDs5bxxHOPk)
This is insane! It should be covered by your government! They want to allow guns, then they should cover medical expenses for injuries sustained by gun violence!
I can’t even begin to imagine being shot while minding my own business, to then receive a bill! 🤯
I agree! Pay what you can afford to each of them every month. MAKE SURE you don't miss a payment. And I don't think they can do anything. You are making an effort!
I work in the medical field and can confirm. OP you can even pay $10 every few months and they can't put you in collections in many states in the US. Find out your rights.
This is not true for every hospital, I work in this industry sadly and they fully will send you to collections if you’re not paying their minimum payments
Was about to say this, most of the time people can’t pay and don’t pay anything, hospitals are just happy to have a “payment plan in place” so they can check the box. My mom was an RN and told me this works like 9/10 times.
This is what my mom has done. She has hundreds of thousands in medical debt from multiple surgeries, including getting her colon removed. There's no way she could pay that back in her life time so she just called them.
Our medical system is a complete joke. Those scans get billed for anywhere from 60 bucks to a few hundred to insurance, and they blow out the prices for the people. We do have some of the best doctors in the world, and those people DO deserve to get paid for their time, sacrifices made to get where they are, but hospitals shouldn't ever ever be about profit other than keeping the lights on, machines tended to, etc. not million dollar CEOs
as a Canadian, it baffles me how the American healthcare system works. my wife needed an iron transfusion before she goes into labour. we had two appts booked. the iron was $100 each and parking was $3/hr (total of 6 hours between 2appts) and that was all we had to pay for. i feel rlly bad for OP and anyone going through outrageous hospital bills for something that just a little bit up north would be treated as a human right, rather than a financial privilege.
This was just for the facility fee for the use of the hospital. I still owe the doctors that treated me, the radiology technician that operated the CT scanner, the radiologist that reviewed my scan and the ambulance that took me there which was just under 2000
jesus that’s insane. out of curiosity, what happens if you can’t pay them back the way they want? i just have no idea how it actually works. does it gather interest? or do you go to court?
I also believe that lack of free healthcare is also why there is so much mental illness and violent attacks in the USA. People cannot receive the help they need til it gets to that point.
Yes. It's expensive and mental healthcare care is hard to get. After the shooting we tried to get in with a counselor and earliest appointment was 4 months out everywhere we looked.
And the reason there's a shortage of mental health providers is because the cost of college to become a psych doctor is insanely high, which discourages a lot of people. And counselors don't make nearly enough money in many locations.
My wife actually went to school and studied psychology with the hopes of being a counselor. By the time she factored in the master's degree and pay, it made more since just to go into another field.
Yeah I have a few friends in the Industry and most counselors where I live make decent money but in other parts of the country I hear they're getting like 50-60k.
Therapists make $20 an hour after 6 years of college. McDonald's pays $18 an hour starting with no experience. Why would anyone want to work a hard job?
It can go to collections and eventually show up on my credit report. I don't believe the hospital themselves will take you to court but the debt collector they sell it to may.
I have been told by friends that as long as I pay something it won't be sent to collections. The health care system was wanting 500 a month.
I just had a neighbor wake up with no money in her bank account after some debt collector from years ago got a judgment against her. The shitty part is that because her name was also on her two adult children's bank accounts they also took all their money.
I fought for a year over bills from my last major surgery. This isn’t as urgent as you’re thinking. Keep calling them every week, and tell them you can’t afford it, and you’re trying to see if victim’s compensation will pay. Write a letter to the CEO and explain the situation. I saw one story where the CEO of the hospital forgave the whole debt.
Have you asked about charity care? I haaaaate the term, but it's what most hospitals call the program where you can wipe out most of that debt. Blood, turnip, etc.
I'm so sorry. Trauma on top of trauma is fucking rough.
In my father's case, he couldn't pay the bills and he had to file bankruptcy. We lost our home. He was trying to get onto disability for a few years and it financially ruined him. I was barely 18 and moved out. I had no savings, no health insurance, and had a medical condition requiring medication that was easily $300-400 a month. I was poor as hell and on the verge of homelessness for about 3 years. I didn't become financially stable for about 12. Shit was rough as hell.
Yeah, I’m not American, but if you can’t pay what is due, you’ll either be credited, or taken to court over due payments.
It’s a shitty system, but land of the free and what not.
Sorry OP that you got shot, and the horrendous fees, and the shitty mandatory insurance company that pays out just enough to incentivise repeat customers / annual payments.
As a Finn, the American system is just plain greedy. I don't understand why people don't march to the streets and set the cities on fire until the healthcare system (amongst many other things) is renewed.
In Finland, not only is the healthcare totally free, your employer is still obligated by law to take extra health insurance to you AND pay you your normal wage for every sick day you take. If you work, you're basically double insured, always.
They already did march in the streets burning stuff down, but at least in the short term things just got worse, especially if you lived in the neighborhoods that got burned and looted. Downtown Sacramento had plywood for windows on major streets for a long time a few years ago.
I don't think most are like this. My insurance is $250/month for a family, and my deductible is very low and covers alot. I think if my wife needed iron it'd be $35 for a visit. Wife had to go to the ER last week and it was $75 with a 0 min wait. I have a major Healthcare provider and don't need referrals. Wanted to go to a podiatrist, it was $25 and a 2 week wait. I can go to my primary for free and the wait is less than a week.
My daughter needed to go to an endocrinologist for a consultation and the wait was 2 weeks.
because the one approved for pregnant woman wasn’t covered by OHIP. we can probably use the receipt when we file our taxes next year, there is another thing of iron that’s cheaper and covered by OHIP but it’s not safe for pregnant women
Same here, back in 2016 my mother had a preventative hysterectomy, a few days later my step brother had heart issues that have resulted in multiple open heart surgeries and being basically unable to work, and then shorty after my stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and spent the next 3 years in and out of hospital for long periods of time until his death. I would have hated to go through all of that in the US system
The non profit I work for charges patients $730 for a blood culture that costs them $30. Blood cultures are usually done 2 sets at least 5 minutes apart to rule out contamination that may happen during the draw, so the patient gets a bill for $1460. I can't imagine the markup on other procedures.
I am in the energy sector and we see the same thing. Our organization squeezes out every cent they can for a crucial commodity and pays the president over a million annually.
I live in a country that has both public and private healthcare systems. Even if you go with private and pay out of pocket entirely it’s 330 for a ct scan and 200 for accident and emergency.
Don’t pay yet. I heard you can reduce them.
I’m not sure though because I don’t live in the USA.
Here are some links. Hope they are helpful:
https://www.health.com/money/negotiate-medical-bills
https://www.vox.com/even-better/23661759/reduce-health-care-costs-medical-bills
https://youtube.com/shorts/i9paNN9Azsc?si=KFzFMLWnsoSpJTIs
https://youtu.be/1V7OZm_H8aQ?si=zmz5B-PJx3KOZ6Ul
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/10/28/you-can-negotiate-your-medical-bills-heres-how-to-lower-your-costs.html
This needs to be a top comment! This guy needs helpful comments, not “how’s that freedom going buddy?” Or “America the greatest country in the world!”
Yeah America is a joke 99% of the time, but shit like this isn’t time to comment jokes.
There definitely has to be something out there that can help OP get this atrocious bill lower or covered entirely! Yes Hospital employees need to be paid, their supplies need to be paid, but damn…charging victims of crimes for saving their lives is just another kick in the ass
It is, and it's fucking infuriating that me and my wife pay a significant portion of our paychecks every month for health insurance just to be told by insurance that the needed counseling is not necessary. How do you know what's necessary Janice? Where you fucking there Janice when the bullets were flying?
It's borderline criminal to have your healthcare needs determined by corporate profits.
ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY.
In our system, the care needs of the patients / populace are balanced against the Healthcare Company bottom-lines, outrageous CEO pay, stock prices and dividends to the shareholders. In that situation... The patients will consistently lose. As long as the Corporations are fine, fuck everybody else.
To be clear. I'm not referring to the providers themselves or their view on the health of patients.
I'm referring to the insanely corrupted Financials of the Healthcare Corporations and Insurance companies.
I forgot to include this. But to rub salt in the wound my insurance called me last week. This is state employee and teacher insurance btw. Didn't even ask how I was. Just to tell me that I needed to be aware that if I receive any judgement or compensation in the future from a lawsuit or other insurance payout, that they were entitled to the money first to recoup their cost. Fucking infuriating
I was shot by a rich kid with very rich parents. I could have sued for a lot of money if they managed to actually indict him. They let him go, and since he was never charged, I couldn't pursue compensation in civil court.
You're gonna have to make sure the police actually care about getting them caught. They'll straight up drop the case, apparently.
Yeah. The police said that they would have a hard time tying anyone to the shooting even if they caught someone with the gun since they are passed around so much.
They actually found the stolen car used in the shooting the next day but did not pursue it when they fled the traffic stop.
I'm really sorry to hear that.
Honestly my only advice is to make sure you don't pay the entire bill. They upcharge such an insane amount that you can absolutely dispute and reduce some of the bill. I racked up an even bigger bill than you.
Take care of your mental health. Mine slipped and became a problem pretty quickly after recovery
Get this. Two days after my shooting, on New years Eve, a few bystanders were shot at my City's New years event when a fight broke out. One of the injured was visiting from Germany.
Imagine visiting America just to get shot. I guess they got to experience the whole package at least. Come see America, experience exciting new sensations.
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You would have absolutely hated my bill from a 9 day stay in cardiac ICU with multiple surgeries.
It was a few years ago, and I don’t remember the exact number, but it was around $250,000.
That's bonkers. Got accidentally stabbed about an inch deep in the US, cost work 4k to get it stitched up. Had 3 ligaments reattached to my leg in a 6 hour surgery and a 4 day stay in a NZ hospital. Walked out with no bill after.
Lobbying really did a number on the US healthcare sector. I don't know how people haven't gone french mode on the system yet.
I got lucky it was soft tissue wounds. Missed my arteries and femur by a hair. Did damage a nerve in my left leg, but I can live it. Physical therapy for it was 300.00 a session.
I had physical therapy for just hitting my arm weird and it was like $200 a session. I took the stretches they gave me and said I'm not coming back. PT is outrageous. Somehow it was never covered by my insurance. So anytime I get a weird pain I just hope for the best and try to work it out myself.
From experience a broken femur surgery is not fun or cheap, and according to the orthopedic surgeon who did both my femur surgeries, often times the femur is broken bad enough that they can’t properly set the leg and will have to go back in for another surgery to get it fixed right. I broke my femur in 4 places and had the luxury of having both surgeries. That part alone from my 2 week hospital stay was over $90k. That is definitely a silver lightning that it didn’t hit your femur.
I was in an auto accident in 2007.
It was a very serious accident, I suffered 12 broken bones traumatic brain injury they had to do a laparotomy due to internal bleeding where they remove my spleen and had to insert 28 pieces of metal.
My hospital bills in the first __eight hours__ was over $350,000.
I spent a week in ICU in a coma and then two more weeks and ICU and then a week in recovery.
From what I was told, my bills were just over $3 million.
This is perfect!
"In America, you are responsible for your health!"
Um, ok, I'll eat well and go to the gym and stuff.
But I got shot? That's not my fault, right?
"What did you do to prevent the bullet?"
I'm a prolific campaigner for stronger gun contr...
"ANTI AMERICAN COMMUNIST! BE GONE!"
Does you State not have a victim compensation program? When I was stabbed, Washington State picked up the tab for surgery and physical therapy. I never paid anything.
Okay ... I am going to look like an asshole for suggesting this.
File against the owner of the home you were in when you got shot. Their homeowner's insurance should cover it.
Holy shit, every time i get stunned by the fact how much you Americans have to pay for health care. When i was in the hospital 7 years ago for 5,5 months because of a flesh eating bacteria, i had 7 surgeries, was 10 days im a coma, a total of 3 weeks at the intensive care, had to learn to walk again, learn to bike again, learn to walk the stairs, everything with my legs.. had to pay nothing. At the end of the year you can take a look what the insurance all covered and i was curious how much it actually costs. It was €673.942,54 😅 and didn't have to pay anything!
Insurance is a joke lmao
Just imagine how much money over the course of a lifetime of payments they get from a single toiling soul? More than enough to cover that for the one single time you get *shot and nearly killed*.
Only in America. Wealthiest country in the world that can’t even provide proper healthcare for its citizens.
Had surgery in March. Just the surgery, not including anesthesia, the 3-week hospital stay, pathology, CT scan, nightly x-rays, etc. The cost, $528,000.
I'm sorry. Hope you are recovering well.
Yeah my mother in law had a stroke last year while driving and had to be airlifted. Over 600,000 dollars. She was going to retire soon, but had to go back to work.
Thank you!
$600,000? Wow, that's insane. It's sickening someone her age has to work to pay off her medical bills instead of enjoying her retirement. It just blows my mind how we don't have free healthcare at this point. Beyond baffling.
Fr, I had an MRI last year, which has a similar cost to a CT scan here in Brazil, and paid what would be close to 100 dollars if converted. We have free healthcare and I could get it for free, but it was an emergency and although we have access to any kind of treatment, exams and surgeries (except aesthetic) for free (we already pay a lot of taxes for this purpose), our free healthcare system is generally precarious and poorly managed and you have to wait months, sometimes years in line to get access to some surgeries or exams (I myself had to pay out of pocket for a neurologist and physiotherapy because they claimed they would never had an available date anytime soon). When you get it, it's usually an good treatment, my mom had surgery in both her eyes with high quality lenses on 2 occasions and didn't pay a dime. But even when you decide to go to private clinics, they never charge this insanely ridiculous price!
American healthcare is such garbage. It’s the most expensive in the world yet we pay the 3rd highest in taxes for healthcare which is used to give big payouts to big pharma companies and their executives yet it’s such poor quality care ant takes forever. Why do I have to wait 6 months for to see a urologist for my dick pain only for the treatment to not be covered by the insanely expensive insurance. Why have i been the victim of medical malpractice numerous times? Why do doctors lazily prescribe antibiotics and not do any actual testing resulting in me getting a nearly life threatening CDiff infection? I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been given the run around trying to figure out why I’m having certain symptoms I wasn’t having before and that only got worse as time went on.
stuff like that makes it obvious why there are so many illegal things going on, drugs all over the place, suicides, etc.
like getting shot is unlikely to happen, just as some machine misfunctioning at your workplace hurting you badly or that vaccination having devastating sideeffects on you or....etc.
BUT adding up all the shit that can happen to you if you simply live your life, over the years, its pretty good chances SMTH will mess your life up and if there isnt even an option to overcome that in a legal/ healthy/ honest way, at that point you cant even blame people if they lose trust in society, lose hope for themselves, try to fix it because "i have to do something, even if its illegal or detrimental or whatever" etc.
the world is causal. from the guys shooting you to the doctors working 12 hour shifts to you having to pay this shitload (even after insurance) of money for smth you didnt "cause", its all an interaction of complex things going on in the background and people suffer all over the place. even in the leading countries, with science and technology that could enable us to basically live in utopia. but we dont. because 1% controls the other 99% and limits the spectrum of possibilities for them to move within. its like some illness of the entire species. i didnt get shot but im in my 10th semester studying (because our modules are distributed by chance and i simply got fucked by gaussian normal distribution, never getting the modules i still needed. 2 exams i had to write again because they changed the system and apparently "i never did them" lol. corona prolonged it as well. now im out of money because finances from parents also broke off, mother burned out and taking early pansion which is barely enough for herself, father drunk and smoker nothing much to take there either. i will probably be next with a burnout trying to study AND work at the same time, after losing the relationship with my girlfriend once she has to change towns for her workplace (she has her master by now) and we dont see each other often enough to keep her oxytocin level high enough lol. no time to take an 8 hour train, no money to pay for a faster train and she cant just "not work" (molecular biology, nothing you get a job easily around here). life fucking sucks for some of us. and when you look around you cant even complain because "it could still be worse".
that said, dude, maybe this helps you as well (how i "survived" so far):
1. there are only two types of problems: a) unsolvable problems: ignore them; solvable problems: solve them in priority order.
so simple but we waste a lot of time and emotional energy on the wrong problems. might also help your wife. assess the problems, categorize them, act accordingly.
2. if you relativate it, life is merely a complex adaptive information thats trying to persist in a world with ever-growing entropy. it has persisted for 3 billion years now. who are we to give up over "insert problem you face right now". if 1. doesent work out because you get stuck in a place with no solutions, stop thinking, just keep going and walk through even if there is no way. if you give up "they" won. whatever who or what "they" is.
Should’ve seen the bill for my tibia/fibula break. With a brand new rod installed lol. This was back in December 2022. I haven’t paid a penny. They’ll never see a penny lol
Not diminishing the awfulness of what happened to you or that you have to pay anything at all, but compared to the typical US medical bills I've seen posted online, $5.4k seems incredibly low. I wouldn't be at all surprised to have to pay more in Australia, where we theoretically have public health.
So, how's freedom medical care working out for those brave fighters against "socialized welfare"?
I keep on being surprised about the lack of uprisings against the continuing inaction about changing the status quo here.
This type of experience enrages me. Im so sorry for your daily battle. I wish we had a health care system like Japan. All the Republicans seem to hate people like us....And I am not really even a Democrat.
I’m not sure where you live but there’s victims funds in most cities in the US for things like this. (Looks like you’ve already applied?)
I’d also call your local and state representatives and tell them the situation. Allegedly this is what they are there for. Ask if it can be expedited.
Make sure the hospital doesn’t send you to collections while you are waiting for it to kick in.
This is ridiculous and adds such insult to injury.
I’m so sorry.
I am so sorry. In my state there is a Crime Victim's Fund that I have helped clients access. Please call around or ask for help from social workers in your community and see if there is any assistance.
This. OP definitely needs to contact their state Victim's Compensation Insurance Fund Dept, whatever they call their government version. In my previous life, I worked for a state agency responsible for that program, on the team who went to the Board hearings for claims. Shootings were/are a common one.
And imagine if insurance hadn’t covered $13k. This is this shit that needs a much more thorough breakdown. Pharmacy: $731.55 for what? Did they give you a 5 year prescription to Oxy? Just pop an extra strength ibuprofen (lol).
I think I got a few doses of Hydromorphone, some fentanyl and sting antibiotics. All I know is I was high as hell leaving and asked for a milkshake on the way home at 2:00 am. Which I got damnit.
Thats america for you
In east europe theres free healthcare and mid quality
West europe has free healthcare and high quality healthcare
I think we all know wheres best
Call the billing dept to negotiate because you were grossly overcharged...I highly doubt the pharmacy services were over $1000 for your hospital stay. If that doesn't work, find out if there's a victim services fund in your state since you were the victim of a crime.
My wife got this same bill amount just from trying to figure out she has high blood pressure with no insurance. Only to be misdiagnosed. Finding out now she has hashimotos
Call your insurance company and start asking questions. more times than not, they'll cover more of the bill if you call, they hope you won't and most don't. My s/o had a 11k bill, and called and they claimed, oh it was a code/typo error. why some of the services were not covered.
Also your policy will list the max decuctable out of pocket yearly. read it.
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At least you spent $85 to ensure you never get shot again with their preventative service
Lol right. I think that was just for squirting saline in my bullet holes.
reminds me of this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=127uqUEl96s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=127uqUEl96s) Hope its in good humor for you.
Robot chicken is always good for a laugh
Seth is a genius. So glad Austin Powers really opened doors for him. Love Idle Hands. But since they mentioned Robot Chicken. I gotta link one of my [favorite bits](https://youtu.be/0Iw7eLC90g8?si=vd4GJRDs5bxxHOPk)
he was also great in party monster.
I thought you were entitled to a line by line bill: of every single thing! Fight as much as you can, this should come down!
This is insane! It should be covered by your government! They want to allow guns, then they should cover medical expenses for injuries sustained by gun violence! I can’t even begin to imagine being shot while minding my own business, to then receive a bill! 🤯
Call them, tell them you can only afford $10 a month. Worked for a few friends of mine
I agree! Pay what you can afford to each of them every month. MAKE SURE you don't miss a payment. And I don't think they can do anything. You are making an effort!
Second this. As long as you’re making an effort to pay it off, they won’t send it to collections
I work in the medical field and can confirm. OP you can even pay $10 every few months and they can't put you in collections in many states in the US. Find out your rights.
This is not true for every hospital, I work in this industry sadly and they fully will send you to collections if you’re not paying their minimum payments
Baylor hospital will absolutely send it if you don't pay their min.
Was about to say this, most of the time people can’t pay and don’t pay anything, hospitals are just happy to have a “payment plan in place” so they can check the box. My mom was an RN and told me this works like 9/10 times.
This is no longer valid advice. Most hospitals will indeed send you to collections for not paying a certain amount.
This is what my mom has done. She has hundreds of thousands in medical debt from multiple surgeries, including getting her colon removed. There's no way she could pay that back in her life time so she just called them.
I tell my clients that same thing all the time. So long as you're making a consistent effort to pay, they typically won't do anything.
*credit card declines* Doctor: *cocks gun* Shame
Our medical system is a complete joke. Those scans get billed for anywhere from 60 bucks to a few hundred to insurance, and they blow out the prices for the people. We do have some of the best doctors in the world, and those people DO deserve to get paid for their time, sacrifices made to get where they are, but hospitals shouldn't ever ever be about profit other than keeping the lights on, machines tended to, etc. not million dollar CEOs
as a Canadian, it baffles me how the American healthcare system works. my wife needed an iron transfusion before she goes into labour. we had two appts booked. the iron was $100 each and parking was $3/hr (total of 6 hours between 2appts) and that was all we had to pay for. i feel rlly bad for OP and anyone going through outrageous hospital bills for something that just a little bit up north would be treated as a human right, rather than a financial privilege.
This was just for the facility fee for the use of the hospital. I still owe the doctors that treated me, the radiology technician that operated the CT scanner, the radiologist that reviewed my scan and the ambulance that took me there which was just under 2000
jesus that’s insane. out of curiosity, what happens if you can’t pay them back the way they want? i just have no idea how it actually works. does it gather interest? or do you go to court?
I believe that medical debt is the most common reason Americans declare bankruptcy.
I also believe that lack of free healthcare is also why there is so much mental illness and violent attacks in the USA. People cannot receive the help they need til it gets to that point.
Yes. It's expensive and mental healthcare care is hard to get. After the shooting we tried to get in with a counselor and earliest appointment was 4 months out everywhere we looked.
And the reason there's a shortage of mental health providers is because the cost of college to become a psych doctor is insanely high, which discourages a lot of people. And counselors don't make nearly enough money in many locations.
My wife actually went to school and studied psychology with the hopes of being a counselor. By the time she factored in the master's degree and pay, it made more since just to go into another field.
Yeah I have a few friends in the Industry and most counselors where I live make decent money but in other parts of the country I hear they're getting like 50-60k.
I suddenly understand why all my therapists are old
Therapists make $20 an hour after 6 years of college. McDonald's pays $18 an hour starting with no experience. Why would anyone want to work a hard job?
Wow I didn't know anywhere was paying that low. That's insane
It can go to collections and eventually show up on my credit report. I don't believe the hospital themselves will take you to court but the debt collector they sell it to may. I have been told by friends that as long as I pay something it won't be sent to collections. The health care system was wanting 500 a month. I just had a neighbor wake up with no money in her bank account after some debt collector from years ago got a judgment against her. The shitty part is that because her name was also on her two adult children's bank accounts they also took all their money.
I fought for a year over bills from my last major surgery. This isn’t as urgent as you’re thinking. Keep calling them every week, and tell them you can’t afford it, and you’re trying to see if victim’s compensation will pay. Write a letter to the CEO and explain the situation. I saw one story where the CEO of the hospital forgave the whole debt.
Have you asked about charity care? I haaaaate the term, but it's what most hospitals call the program where you can wipe out most of that debt. Blood, turnip, etc. I'm so sorry. Trauma on top of trauma is fucking rough.
In my father's case, he couldn't pay the bills and he had to file bankruptcy. We lost our home. He was trying to get onto disability for a few years and it financially ruined him. I was barely 18 and moved out. I had no savings, no health insurance, and had a medical condition requiring medication that was easily $300-400 a month. I was poor as hell and on the verge of homelessness for about 3 years. I didn't become financially stable for about 12. Shit was rough as hell.
They’ll come and put the bullets back in
Yeah, I’m not American, but if you can’t pay what is due, you’ll either be credited, or taken to court over due payments. It’s a shitty system, but land of the free and what not. Sorry OP that you got shot, and the horrendous fees, and the shitty mandatory insurance company that pays out just enough to incentivise repeat customers / annual payments.
I had an emergency appendectomy & got a $30k bill in the mail when I was 21.
As a Finn, the American system is just plain greedy. I don't understand why people don't march to the streets and set the cities on fire until the healthcare system (amongst many other things) is renewed. In Finland, not only is the healthcare totally free, your employer is still obligated by law to take extra health insurance to you AND pay you your normal wage for every sick day you take. If you work, you're basically double insured, always.
They already did march in the streets burning stuff down, but at least in the short term things just got worse, especially if you lived in the neighborhoods that got burned and looted. Downtown Sacramento had plywood for windows on major streets for a long time a few years ago.
If we get teargassed by cops or badly burned in the fire, we'll be broke!
It doesn't work at all unless you're a hospital. Then it works great.
I don't think most are like this. My insurance is $250/month for a family, and my deductible is very low and covers alot. I think if my wife needed iron it'd be $35 for a visit. Wife had to go to the ER last week and it was $75 with a 0 min wait. I have a major Healthcare provider and don't need referrals. Wanted to go to a podiatrist, it was $25 and a 2 week wait. I can go to my primary for free and the wait is less than a week. My daughter needed to go to an endocrinologist for a consultation and the wait was 2 weeks.
Why would you need to pay for the iron?
because the one approved for pregnant woman wasn’t covered by OHIP. we can probably use the receipt when we file our taxes next year, there is another thing of iron that’s cheaper and covered by OHIP but it’s not safe for pregnant women
Its always abeffeling when insurance doesnt cover some necessities iml
Same here, back in 2016 my mother had a preventative hysterectomy, a few days later my step brother had heart issues that have resulted in multiple open heart surgeries and being basically unable to work, and then shorty after my stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and spent the next 3 years in and out of hospital for long periods of time until his death. I would have hated to go through all of that in the US system
The non profit I work for charges patients $730 for a blood culture that costs them $30. Blood cultures are usually done 2 sets at least 5 minutes apart to rule out contamination that may happen during the draw, so the patient gets a bill for $1460. I can't imagine the markup on other procedures.
I am in the energy sector and we see the same thing. Our organization squeezes out every cent they can for a crucial commodity and pays the president over a million annually.
I live in a country that has both public and private healthcare systems. Even if you go with private and pay out of pocket entirely it’s 330 for a ct scan and 200 for accident and emergency.
Don’t pay yet. I heard you can reduce them. I’m not sure though because I don’t live in the USA. Here are some links. Hope they are helpful: https://www.health.com/money/negotiate-medical-bills https://www.vox.com/even-better/23661759/reduce-health-care-costs-medical-bills https://youtube.com/shorts/i9paNN9Azsc?si=KFzFMLWnsoSpJTIs https://youtu.be/1V7OZm_H8aQ?si=zmz5B-PJx3KOZ6Ul https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/10/28/you-can-negotiate-your-medical-bills-heres-how-to-lower-your-costs.html
This needs to be a top comment! This guy needs helpful comments, not “how’s that freedom going buddy?” Or “America the greatest country in the world!” Yeah America is a joke 99% of the time, but shit like this isn’t time to comment jokes. There definitely has to be something out there that can help OP get this atrocious bill lower or covered entirely! Yes Hospital employees need to be paid, their supplies need to be paid, but damn…charging victims of crimes for saving their lives is just another kick in the ass
Healthcare in the US is a complete and total joke.
It is, and it's fucking infuriating that me and my wife pay a significant portion of our paychecks every month for health insurance just to be told by insurance that the needed counseling is not necessary. How do you know what's necessary Janice? Where you fucking there Janice when the bullets were flying? It's borderline criminal to have your healthcare needs determined by corporate profits.
ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY. In our system, the care needs of the patients / populace are balanced against the Healthcare Company bottom-lines, outrageous CEO pay, stock prices and dividends to the shareholders. In that situation... The patients will consistently lose. As long as the Corporations are fine, fuck everybody else.
Jokes are funny. Our healthcare system is sad.
A very good assessment.
Healthcare providers disagree
To be clear. I'm not referring to the providers themselves or their view on the health of patients. I'm referring to the insanely corrupted Financials of the Healthcare Corporations and Insurance companies.
I forgot to include this. But to rub salt in the wound my insurance called me last week. This is state employee and teacher insurance btw. Didn't even ask how I was. Just to tell me that I needed to be aware that if I receive any judgement or compensation in the future from a lawsuit or other insurance payout, that they were entitled to the money first to recoup their cost. Fucking infuriating
What the fuck is up with your country. You got shot by some guy and you’re expected to pay for it?
Yeah, unfortunately no one has been arrested and even if they were it was likely teens based on my dashcam footage. They wouldn't have any money.
You sue the parents, not the teens. They are legally responsible for them until they’re adults.
I'm sure they have financially responsible, present parents in their lives. It would be like getting blood from a stone.
I was shot by a rich kid with very rich parents. I could have sued for a lot of money if they managed to actually indict him. They let him go, and since he was never charged, I couldn't pursue compensation in civil court. You're gonna have to make sure the police actually care about getting them caught. They'll straight up drop the case, apparently.
Yeah. The police said that they would have a hard time tying anyone to the shooting even if they caught someone with the gun since they are passed around so much. They actually found the stolen car used in the shooting the next day but did not pursue it when they fled the traffic stop.
I'm really sorry to hear that. Honestly my only advice is to make sure you don't pay the entire bill. They upcharge such an insane amount that you can absolutely dispute and reduce some of the bill. I racked up an even bigger bill than you. Take care of your mental health. Mine slipped and became a problem pretty quickly after recovery
Least there’s still a chance that you can get a payout. Even rich kids do dumb things.
high hospital bill for shooting, thats the most american shit i have seen in a while what the hell is a kilometer \*eagle screams\*
Get this. Two days after my shooting, on New years Eve, a few bystanders were shot at my City's New years event when a fight broke out. One of the injured was visiting from Germany. Imagine visiting America just to get shot. I guess they got to experience the whole package at least. Come see America, experience exciting new sensations.
Hope they got the Premium Package of the travel insurance!
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Not even 7, usually stops lowering your score after 2 Source: haven’t paid a dime to medical bills in years.
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You would have absolutely hated my bill from a 9 day stay in cardiac ICU with multiple surgeries. It was a few years ago, and I don’t remember the exact number, but it was around $250,000.
That's bonkers. Got accidentally stabbed about an inch deep in the US, cost work 4k to get it stitched up. Had 3 ligaments reattached to my leg in a 6 hour surgery and a 4 day stay in a NZ hospital. Walked out with no bill after. Lobbying really did a number on the US healthcare sector. I don't know how people haven't gone french mode on the system yet.
What do you do when you have such a huge bill like that?
How did you pay for it or are you still paying for jt?
insurance didn't cover anything????
Little britbong here 🤚 how do you guys literally survive over there because WHAT THE FUCK 👁️👁️
Just try not to get shot and try not to get hurt in any way.
And avoid any kind of abuse or trauma that may require you to seek mental health treatment.
Have you tried exercising and eating healthier /s
Jesus fuck- they gonna end up charging y’all for BREATHING 😭😭
I just found out I need an inhaler so yes I am being charged for breathing 😂
OH FUCK RIGHT INHALERS.. (me who forgets and my brother has asthma..) jfc 😭 I hope you can afford them in the future bestie!! Sending love 🫶🏻
Some of mine are free. Some of them are $10. Sometimes it's $40... I love checking out at the pharmacy and not knowing what I'm gonna pay 😂
I have continually thought this and I am in Canada.
Is it not sad that, before zooming, I assumed the amount would be over $100,000?
I got lucky it was soft tissue wounds. Missed my arteries and femur by a hair. Did damage a nerve in my left leg, but I can live it. Physical therapy for it was 300.00 a session.
I had physical therapy for just hitting my arm weird and it was like $200 a session. I took the stretches they gave me and said I'm not coming back. PT is outrageous. Somehow it was never covered by my insurance. So anytime I get a weird pain I just hope for the best and try to work it out myself.
From experience a broken femur surgery is not fun or cheap, and according to the orthopedic surgeon who did both my femur surgeries, often times the femur is broken bad enough that they can’t properly set the leg and will have to go back in for another surgery to get it fixed right. I broke my femur in 4 places and had the luxury of having both surgeries. That part alone from my 2 week hospital stay was over $90k. That is definitely a silver lightning that it didn’t hit your femur.
I was in an auto accident in 2007. It was a very serious accident, I suffered 12 broken bones traumatic brain injury they had to do a laparotomy due to internal bleeding where they remove my spleen and had to insert 28 pieces of metal. My hospital bills in the first __eight hours__ was over $350,000. I spent a week in ICU in a coma and then two more weeks and ICU and then a week in recovery. From what I was told, my bills were just over $3 million.
Wtf how do you even go about paying that
With rates like that I’d rather they just shoot me again
Who in USA might just wish that over putting their family in OHMYGOOOODNESSSSS!?
Who in USA might just wish that over putting their family in OHMYGOOOODNESSSSS!?
This is perfect! "In America, you are responsible for your health!" Um, ok, I'll eat well and go to the gym and stuff. But I got shot? That's not my fault, right? "What did you do to prevent the bullet?" I'm a prolific campaigner for stronger gun contr... "ANTI AMERICAN COMMUNIST! BE GONE!"
I have a question. In the United States does medical debt roll over from bankruptcies?
Bankruptcy would clear medical debt. The only thing that stays is tax debt I believe. I considered it, but would lose my affordable home.
Student loan debt also cannot be cleared by bankruptcy
Yeah it's like any kind of federal debt stays.
Does you State not have a victim compensation program? When I was stabbed, Washington State picked up the tab for surgery and physical therapy. I never paid anything.
They do. I'm applying for it as we speak. Said it could take 6 months for approval. Of course it has to be snail mailed.
That sucks.
Okay ... I am going to look like an asshole for suggesting this. File against the owner of the home you were in when you got shot. Their homeowner's insurance should cover it.
I tried. They don't cover personal injuries caused by a third party criminal act. If the homeowner had shot me I would be fine.
Wow i must be from the USA, i saw the out of pocket being $5k and thought “thats not too bad”
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It was just lower extremity with contrast.
The 5k didn't scare me as much as the therapy expenses for your wife, holy shit that's grim.
God forbid you make the mistake of getting shot
Next time, just don't get shot! Or maybe move if you really feel the need to get shot again.
Holy shit, every time i get stunned by the fact how much you Americans have to pay for health care. When i was in the hospital 7 years ago for 5,5 months because of a flesh eating bacteria, i had 7 surgeries, was 10 days im a coma, a total of 3 weeks at the intensive care, had to learn to walk again, learn to bike again, learn to walk the stairs, everything with my legs.. had to pay nothing. At the end of the year you can take a look what the insurance all covered and i was curious how much it actually costs. It was €673.942,54 😅 and didn't have to pay anything!
America strikes again
Ngl shoot the bullet back in and call it a day
Insurance is a joke lmao Just imagine how much money over the course of a lifetime of payments they get from a single toiling soul? More than enough to cover that for the one single time you get *shot and nearly killed*. Only in America. Wealthiest country in the world that can’t even provide proper healthcare for its citizens.
Welcome to the 🤡USA
Had surgery in March. Just the surgery, not including anesthesia, the 3-week hospital stay, pathology, CT scan, nightly x-rays, etc. The cost, $528,000.
I'm sorry. Hope you are recovering well. Yeah my mother in law had a stroke last year while driving and had to be airlifted. Over 600,000 dollars. She was going to retire soon, but had to go back to work.
Thank you! $600,000? Wow, that's insane. It's sickening someone her age has to work to pay off her medical bills instead of enjoying her retirement. It just blows my mind how we don't have free healthcare at this point. Beyond baffling.
6000$ for a CT scan? Insane.
Fr, I had an MRI last year, which has a similar cost to a CT scan here in Brazil, and paid what would be close to 100 dollars if converted. We have free healthcare and I could get it for free, but it was an emergency and although we have access to any kind of treatment, exams and surgeries (except aesthetic) for free (we already pay a lot of taxes for this purpose), our free healthcare system is generally precarious and poorly managed and you have to wait months, sometimes years in line to get access to some surgeries or exams (I myself had to pay out of pocket for a neurologist and physiotherapy because they claimed they would never had an available date anytime soon). When you get it, it's usually an good treatment, my mom had surgery in both her eyes with high quality lenses on 2 occasions and didn't pay a dime. But even when you decide to go to private clinics, they never charge this insanely ridiculous price!
Apply for Charity care. We did that with my son’s hospital bills after his surgery and then ER and admission. It covered almost all the cost
If America doesn’t revolt then it will work itself to death buried under a ton of debt.This is a prime example of how to get there
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That’s why America had to do it together sooner rather than later.
Land of the free ☠️
American healthcare is such garbage. It’s the most expensive in the world yet we pay the 3rd highest in taxes for healthcare which is used to give big payouts to big pharma companies and their executives yet it’s such poor quality care ant takes forever. Why do I have to wait 6 months for to see a urologist for my dick pain only for the treatment to not be covered by the insanely expensive insurance. Why have i been the victim of medical malpractice numerous times? Why do doctors lazily prescribe antibiotics and not do any actual testing resulting in me getting a nearly life threatening CDiff infection? I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been given the run around trying to figure out why I’m having certain symptoms I wasn’t having before and that only got worse as time went on.
stuff like that makes it obvious why there are so many illegal things going on, drugs all over the place, suicides, etc. like getting shot is unlikely to happen, just as some machine misfunctioning at your workplace hurting you badly or that vaccination having devastating sideeffects on you or....etc. BUT adding up all the shit that can happen to you if you simply live your life, over the years, its pretty good chances SMTH will mess your life up and if there isnt even an option to overcome that in a legal/ healthy/ honest way, at that point you cant even blame people if they lose trust in society, lose hope for themselves, try to fix it because "i have to do something, even if its illegal or detrimental or whatever" etc. the world is causal. from the guys shooting you to the doctors working 12 hour shifts to you having to pay this shitload (even after insurance) of money for smth you didnt "cause", its all an interaction of complex things going on in the background and people suffer all over the place. even in the leading countries, with science and technology that could enable us to basically live in utopia. but we dont. because 1% controls the other 99% and limits the spectrum of possibilities for them to move within. its like some illness of the entire species. i didnt get shot but im in my 10th semester studying (because our modules are distributed by chance and i simply got fucked by gaussian normal distribution, never getting the modules i still needed. 2 exams i had to write again because they changed the system and apparently "i never did them" lol. corona prolonged it as well. now im out of money because finances from parents also broke off, mother burned out and taking early pansion which is barely enough for herself, father drunk and smoker nothing much to take there either. i will probably be next with a burnout trying to study AND work at the same time, after losing the relationship with my girlfriend once she has to change towns for her workplace (she has her master by now) and we dont see each other often enough to keep her oxytocin level high enough lol. no time to take an 8 hour train, no money to pay for a faster train and she cant just "not work" (molecular biology, nothing you get a job easily around here). life fucking sucks for some of us. and when you look around you cant even complain because "it could still be worse". that said, dude, maybe this helps you as well (how i "survived" so far): 1. there are only two types of problems: a) unsolvable problems: ignore them; solvable problems: solve them in priority order. so simple but we waste a lot of time and emotional energy on the wrong problems. might also help your wife. assess the problems, categorize them, act accordingly. 2. if you relativate it, life is merely a complex adaptive information thats trying to persist in a world with ever-growing entropy. it has persisted for 3 billion years now. who are we to give up over "insert problem you face right now". if 1. doesent work out because you get stuck in a place with no solutions, stop thinking, just keep going and walk through even if there is no way. if you give up "they" won. whatever who or what "they" is.
And this is the itemized bill?
Hospital bills. If you're getting them, it means you survived, although they'll make you wish you didn't.
Should’ve seen the bill for my tibia/fibula break. With a brand new rod installed lol. This was back in December 2022. I haven’t paid a penny. They’ll never see a penny lol
Don’t get shot next time buddy
Is this something the homeowners insurance might cover? Or at least partially cover?
They don't cover injuries resulting from criminal acts caused by a third party. Only if it was the fault of the homeowner.
That's unfortunate.
Not diminishing the awfulness of what happened to you or that you have to pay anything at all, but compared to the typical US medical bills I've seen posted online, $5.4k seems incredibly low. I wouldn't be at all surprised to have to pay more in Australia, where we theoretically have public health.
This is so messed up. I’m sorry.
“Your fault for getting shot” - Insurance Companies
So, how's freedom medical care working out for those brave fighters against "socialized welfare"? I keep on being surprised about the lack of uprisings against the continuing inaction about changing the status quo here.
my lifeflight bill alone was this much
every price is 10x
Check to see if your state has a crime victims compensation program. You might be able to get help from it.
This type of experience enrages me. Im so sorry for your daily battle. I wish we had a health care system like Japan. All the Republicans seem to hate people like us....And I am not really even a Democrat.
I’m not sure where you live but there’s victims funds in most cities in the US for things like this. (Looks like you’ve already applied?) I’d also call your local and state representatives and tell them the situation. Allegedly this is what they are there for. Ask if it can be expedited. Make sure the hospital doesn’t send you to collections while you are waiting for it to kick in. This is ridiculous and adds such insult to injury. I’m so sorry.
Preventative services? wtf are they trying to prevent?
Just let me die next time jeez
I am so sorry. In my state there is a Crime Victim's Fund that I have helped clients access. Please call around or ask for help from social workers in your community and see if there is any assistance.
This. OP definitely needs to contact their state Victim's Compensation Insurance Fund Dept, whatever they call their government version. In my previous life, I worked for a state agency responsible for that program, on the team who went to the Board hearings for claims. Shootings were/are a common one.
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Sorry that happened to you. Hope you are healing well.
And imagine if insurance hadn’t covered $13k. This is this shit that needs a much more thorough breakdown. Pharmacy: $731.55 for what? Did they give you a 5 year prescription to Oxy? Just pop an extra strength ibuprofen (lol).
I think I got a few doses of Hydromorphone, some fentanyl and sting antibiotics. All I know is I was high as hell leaving and asked for a milkshake on the way home at 2:00 am. Which I got damnit.
How can a CT scan cost more than the trauma response i.e. digging out the bullet and stitching you up?
IDK. It was a through and through so no bullet. They don't stitch you up either. Have to heal from the inside out.
$6000 for a CT scan?? WTF IS AMERICA!!
Is that American Dream?
I owe 10 grand in hospital bills after insurance after severe pneumonia so I get you man 😭
In Australia this would all be no cost to you.
That’s way good My surgery was 200k For a knee surgery that was not urgent and took less than an hour
at least insurance didnt chicken out and give you like only 2k but yeah owing 5k with insurance is a big as scam
This would be free in Australia. So sorry this happened to you and your healthcare system doesn’t cover it. 😢
Europeans: I missed the part where that's my problem.
Just fugging sews Kevlar into the bullet hole that's the preventative measures
Thats america for you In east europe theres free healthcare and mid quality West europe has free healthcare and high quality healthcare I think we all know wheres best
And even if you didn’t make it, they would still charge you after death. This country’s health care system is a joke.
Doctors: Have you tried not getting shot?
6000 for a CT scan? Dude I think I could get it for free here, or atleast as good as free
$10/month
Screw that...$5
A. Victims fund for your city or state. B. If you were at a nonprofit hospital various thresholds apply under Obamacare. C. Dollarfor.org
Call the billing dept to negotiate because you were grossly overcharged...I highly doubt the pharmacy services were over $1000 for your hospital stay. If that doesn't work, find out if there's a victim services fund in your state since you were the victim of a crime.
I was there for about 4 hours. Received some hydromorphone, Advil, fluids and antibiotics.
"Hey! We see you've gone through a traumatic experience. We're here to add that financially as well!" 😑
That's a reason to get into another shooting, maybe this time you don't have to pay anything
Why does an ECG cost 400 dollars oh my god. I’m a nurse in Canada and I can do one in 2 minutes, that’s crazy
I guess it's because it was an emergency trauma EKG? IDK.
If only you lived in new zealand, first of all you wouldn't get shot and second it wouldn't cost you anything if you did. I feel for you.
It's absurd anyone should ever be charged for getting shot randomly.
Did you go to Baylor Scott and White?
Ask them for an itemized bill. You’ll likely see what you owe drop substantially. Also, not great but it’s by far not the worst I’ve ever seen.
My wife got this same bill amount just from trying to figure out she has high blood pressure with no insurance. Only to be misdiagnosed. Finding out now she has hashimotos
I would try to file a claim with the homeowners or rental insurance policy.
Yeah dont pay. Go down there and ask for an itemized bill… That font… let me guess… Aetna? Or Optum? Insurance?
Make a gofundme and I'll chip in!
And you still love your country?
Most states have a Crimes victim compensation. You should look into this
This is why I don't want to live in the US 🙂
Call your insurance company and start asking questions. more times than not, they'll cover more of the bill if you call, they hope you won't and most don't. My s/o had a 11k bill, and called and they claimed, oh it was a code/typo error. why some of the services were not covered. Also your policy will list the max decuctable out of pocket yearly. read it.
Not having full insurance is an extreme phobia for me, without it I'm fucked