Would you please tell me what you think of this?

It’s a fact that Hospitals charge much more for services to people with no insurance than they charge to people with. They also charge almost double to people on Medicaid or Medicare. One would think that if you charge $100.00 for a treatment, it would cost $100.00 for anyone and everyone, but that’s not how they bill things. “This” is why we need “Healthcare Reform”.

To them screaming “TORT Reform is the way to fix it":

TORT Reform is only a “talking point” by the Republican Party. If you’ll notice, the Republican Party had full control of Congress, Senate as well as the White House between the years of 2000 and 2006 and did nothing about TORT Reform – Your point might be taken a little more serous if when in power, Republican’s acted upon what they “talk about” during elections or during a heated debate such as Healthcare Reform, but they haven’t and won’t.

If you’ll notice, the vast majority of elected officials are Lawyers (on both sides), they are not going to bite the hand that’s feeding them – ever.

Emergency Rooms are for emergencies not aches and pains. If the person sited had a medical general practitioner it would have cost less then 100.00 dollars for the visit and the medicine to fix the kidney infection. Most people today have no common sense.

Shop around and find a general practitioner, quit using the ER as a minor care facility.

A possible Heart attack is a life threatening possibility, no doubt. That is why WE pay for insurance, it is like Russian Roulette with one bullet in the chamber you hope for the best, plan for the worst.

I personally feel it is the Rules and Regulations in Dealing with Insurance Providers that need to be Reformed.

All the Democrats proposal thus far have been on the Consumer.

I do not want Government telling me what I can and cannot do. I am a reasonable person, not a child who is still learning the facts of life.

I resent the Government's attempted intrusion into my life.

Emergency rooms are for emergencies. A kidney infection could have been treated at an urgent care clinic for around $100. If you can afford $100. a month in hospital payments, you could have afforded a clinic visit. You can't legislate against stupidity. Tort reform, competition between insurers, and Medicare fraud elimination are what needs to be implemented before we even think about nationalized health care.

ER's are not clinics, and you seem to think they are. Get a primary physician and make appointments. ER's are designed for just that EMERGENCIES, if you haven't learned that by now you soon will, when you continue to get billed through the nose for services rendered.

The disparity in costs has to do with the discounts afforded patience through insurance negotiations between themselves and hospitals. A patient without insurance has no bargaining power therefore gets no discounts.

A kidney infection is not a life threatening condition, therefore it doesn't warrant a trip to the ER. The 4.5 hour wait isn't unreasonable considering there are patients who truly are in life or death situations who should be treated first. The cost didn't have to be 10K, as there are other options. I was uninsured and had a urinary tract infection. I called a local urgent care clinic to find out if I could be seen on the cheap. It cost me a total of $75 out of pocket, medication and all.

I have one better. VA care. I had an umbilical hernia that had been infected. It took the government 6 months to get around to seeing me and the aftercare was non existant.

Government care is never the answer. Us Vets are stuck with it and it never is timely. You want to talk about unnecessary tests? Do you have a MD? Do you know what tests are unnecessary? At the VA they throw medication at us instead of tests hoping it'll either kill us or make us go away.

My mother has ADVANTRA (the Republicans health plan bill they passed in 2003, which they never made a way to pay for it, even until this day).

She was admitted to the hospital for 2 days, THE INSURANCE PAID, $300. HER PREMIUMS ARE THAT ABOUT 2/3 OF THAT.

I went to the doctors, had 4 of them, United Health has yet to pay a dime for ANYTHING!

SOMETHING ABOUT HOW IT WAS CODED.

The last time I had that problem, I ended up paying the WHOLE doctor & lab bills.

I think if you get government regulation out of the way and limit liability in frivolous lawsuit cases against doctors and hospitals, you would see greater competition in the medical field along with lower insurance premiums making health care more affordable. But that's too easy.

Why would you go to an ER for a kidney infection? There are non-emergency care facilities everywhere (UgentOne Care, ImmediMed, etc) that have reasonable wait times, pricing, and payment plans. I went with a non-emergency ailment. I was in and out in an hour and a half, and my bill was $125.

It's not my fault if you choose the most expensive (and often least effective) way to treat non-emergencies.

EDIT - if you want to blame someone, look to the people who abuse the system. The millions of poor and illegals who have abused the ER system, to the point of bankrupting many hospitals. You know why your bill is so high? Because they assume you won't pay it, and they can just write it off at the end of the year. No, it's not right for them to charge you 10 grand for a kidney infection. But it's also not right for people to receive free health care from hardworking people (doctors and nurses) who still have to pay their bills.

I think that the first person should have continued paying the premiums on the policy. Current law allows for that after seperation from an employer. It would have been cheaper in the long run.