Man Charged 89,000 for Snakebite when the antivenom is 750 dollars. USA Sucks

[The True Adonis]

http://news.yahoo.com/snake-bite-89000-162515519.html


Snakebite victim charged $89,000 for 18-hour hospital stay
Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News 6 hours ago Yahoo News

Laura and Eric Ferguson
.

View gallery
Laura and Eric Ferguson. (Courtesy Eric Ferguson)

A snakebite victim who was treated at a North Carolina hospital came away with more than just fang marks when he received an $89,227 bill for an 18-hour stay.

Eric Ferguson, 54, from Mooresville, N.C., was taking out the trash at his home last August when he was bitten on the foot by a snake. He drove himself to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, where he was treated with anti-venom medicine.

According to his bill, the hospital charged $81,000 for a four-vial dose of the medication.

Shocked at the price tag, Ferguson told the Charlotte Observer he and his wife found the same vials online for retail prices as low as $750.

Ferguson, who is insured, said his care was "beyond phenomenal."

"It was just the sticker shock," he said.
View gallery
MD005166
A Southern Copperhead snake. (Photo by Joe McDonald/Corbis)

Because the hospital has a contract with Ferguson's insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, it reduced the total bill to $20,227. According to the Observer, the couple paid $5,400 out of pocket to cover their deductible and co-pay.

The hospital defended its prices, saying it has to charge prices higher than retail because of the various discounts it is required to give insurers.

"We are required to give Medicare one level of discount from list price, Medicaid another, and private insurers negotiate for still others," officials told the newspaper. "If we did not start with the list prices we have, we would not end up with enough revenue to remain in operation."

The hospital added: "Our costs for providing uncompensated care are partially covered by higher bills for other patients."

The Fergusons' case is, of course, not unique. A 2013 cover story by Steven Brill in Time magazine ("Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us") detailed the "outrageous pricing and egregious profits" destroying the U.S. health care system, noting that Americans were expected to spend an estimated $2.8 trillion on health care last year.

[The True Adonis]

[headhuntersix]

If he was a mexican he would have gotten it for free.....you voted for the guy don't blame me.

[galeniko]

no problemo, thats only 10 thousand hours of work at minimum wage, or uhm, 20 years trying to put away some spare money


so a snakebite treatment of 1 day costs more than a house in florida

[Nomad]

Does Obamacare cover snakebites?

[Parker]

His wife should have gone old school: make an "X" between the fang marks, and suck the venom out. Then wait it out. If he lived, he would have saved money. If he died, she'd get insurance money. So, at least one of them would make out.

[wes]

I`d file that hospital bill in the circular file,ie.,my trash can.

[The True Adonis]

If he was a mexican he would have gotten it for free.....you voted for the guy don't blame me.

Obamacare is basically the same thing we have always had, insurance companies at the forefront with a few changes such as people cannot be denied insurance.  A miniscule improvement and not really an improvement.  Republicans, such as yourself, want to do NOTHING.  So yes, you and the Republicans are WORSE when it comes to healthcare.

Oh and I do blame people like you for screaming at the top of your lungs how "bad" true Universal Healthcare is.  This is stupidity at a whole new level and your ilk are front and center to blame.

Obama, ideally, always said he wanted true Single Payer Healthcare, like the rest of the Civilized world has, but with a nation of morons, its not going to happen.  So yes, you are to blame.

[The True Adonis]

Does Obamacare cover snakebites?

There really is no such thing as Obamacare.  Its basically the same as I have noted above with a few minor changes that are actually improvements. (not that it will change anything much, still the same shit system Republicans LOVE)

[The True Adonis]

Obamacare doesn't prevent insurance companies from screwing over the public for profit.

[headhuntersix]

Single payer for 360 million people...run by this government? That shit works to a degree in very small countries. We're not Norway. You fix out of control law suits...guys like that assbag Edwards (lib dem) and a few other things and our system would work for us. Obamacare has made things worse and it hasn't all hit yet.

[galeniko]

Single payer for 360 million people...run by this government? That shit works to a degree in very small countries. We're not Norway. You fix out of control law suits...guys like that assbag Edwards (lib dem) and a few other things and our system would work for us. Obamacare has made things worse and it hasn't all hit yet.

comeon lol, it works in the whole of europe,or the eu.

500million ppl.

thats like saying democracy is no good for large population nations.lol

[Nomad]

Obamacare is basically the same thing we have always had, insurance companies at the forefront with a few changes such as people cannot be denied insurance.  A miniscule improvement and not really an improvement.  Republicans, such as yourself, want to do NOTHING.  So yes, you and the Republicans are WORSE when it comes to healthcare.

Oh and I do blame people like you for screaming at the top of your lungs how "bad" true Universal Healthcare is.  This is stupidity at a whole new level and your ilk are front and center to blame.

Obama, ideally, always said he wanted true Single Payer Healthcare, like the rest of the Civilized world has, but with a nation of morons, its not going to happen.  So yes, you are to blame.

The fed government can't even get the website running properly and you expect them to handle a truly single payer system?!?!

imo, what this country really needs is either a repeal or a huge huge modification to medicare and medicaid since they are heavily responsible for driving the costs up for everyone.

[temple_of_dis]

sounds like something that Obama should fix with an executive order

[headhuntersix]

Its all managed differently. We're not Europe..I'm not paying for the somebody who can't produce. The tax rates in various European countries are different. Funding is different and it certainly isn't a massive block of 500 million all in the same system.

[The True Adonis]

Single payer for 360 million people...run by this government? That shit works to a degree in very small countries. We're not Norway. You fix out of control law suits...guys like that assbag Edwards (lib dem) and a few other things and our system would work for us. Obamacare has made things worse and it hasn't all hit yet.

Uh, Medical error and misdiagnosis, iatrogenesis constitutes the third-leading cause of death in the United States.  You need protection to sue and they aren`t sued enough.  If they were, it wouldn`t be the third, (some studies put it at the leading cause of death) leading cause of death in America.  Medical Lawsuits are a good thing.

Furthermore, I can pull a study that shows even if this were tightened, it would have zero bearing on current costs.  Your reasoning is pure shit.  Hope this helps.

[The True Adonis]

comeon lol, it works in the whole of europe,or the eu.

500million ppl.

thats like saying democracy is no good for large population nations.lol

X 1000000000000

[The True Adonis]

The fed government can't even get the website running properly and you expect them to handle a truly single payer system?!?!

imo, what this country really needs is either a repeal or a huge huge modification to medicare and medicaid since they are heavily responsible for driving the costs up for everyone.

Not true.  Insurance companies at the forefront and the for profit system is the reason for costs going up.

Ask Galeniko how much he pays in medical bills.

[headhuntersix]

Uh, Medical error and misdiagnosis, iatrogenesis constitutes the third-leading cause of death in the United States.  You need protection to sue and they aren`t sued enough.  If they were, it wouldn`t be the third, (some studies put it at the leading cause of death) leading cause of death in America.  Medical Lawsuits are a good thing.

Furthermore, I can pull a study that shows even if this were tightened, it would have zero bearing on current costs.  Your reasoning is pure shit.  Hope this helps.

I can can pull tons of the same thing saying your full of shit....I know you can cut and paste with the best of them. It comes down to simple math..we can't friggen afford it and because your messiah chooses to allow half the population to go untaxed and unproductive, things are only getting worse. I know your heart doesn't bleed for the huddled masses..ur just another full of shit lib douche.

That should help..idiot.

[The True Adonis]

I can can pull tons of the same thing saying your full of shit....I know you can cut and paste with the best of them. It comes down to simple math..we can't friggen afford it and because your messiah chooses to allow half the population to go untaxed and unproductive, things are only getting worse. I know your heart doesn't bleed for the huddled masses..ur just another full of shit lib douche.

That should help..idiot.

No you can`t.  Do it.  Let me see those "studies".  Please give me a link.  I would rather you copy and paste them than make up bullshit off the top of your head.  Do you prefer making up bullshit of the top of your head instead of Sourced material?  Why would you want to do that?  

Hopefully you can post the studies before we all die.

[Nomad]

Not true.  Insurance companies at the forefront and the for profit system is the reason for costs going up.

Ask Galeniko how much he pays in medical bills.

I know the insurance companies are to blame. Part of the reason (edit) is the government programs which the insurance companies abuse because they know the government will pony up the money.

[The True Adonis]

Its all managed differently. We're not Europe..I'm not paying for the somebody who can't produce. The tax rates in various European countries are different. Funding is different and it certainly isn't a massive block of 500 million all in the same system.

ROFLMAO says the man with tax payer funded free healthcare.  LOLZERS!!!

[galeniko]

I know the insurance companies are to blame. Part of the blame is the government programs which the insurance companies abuse because they know the government will pony up the money.

they all are to blame, not just the insurance companies.

all are in on it.the govt, the pharma companies, the doctors,the insurances, the hospitals, everyone.

maybe the ones who deliver food to the hospitals arent, but yeah.

adam said it right, its an entire system, its no coincidence.

Not true.  Insurance companies at the forefront and the for profit system is the reason for costs going up.

Ask Galeniko how much he pays in medical bills.

200usd monthly go, whether something happens or not, that fine by me,.if nothing happens, those 200 are used in afund and can help someone else i dont know i never met.who cares,the system as a whole im fine with.

the upcoming shoulder surgery will cost ,everything included, the hospital, anaestesist, the doc, the nurses, the rehab, itll be something close to 50-80k  usd all things counted.

the gyno surgery was 15k usd+, not counting recovery meetings etc.

every day theres someone out there having heart surgery, cancer treatment etc, im happy to pay them my 200usd month.absolutely no problemo.

[headhuntersix]

ROFLMAO says the man with tax payer funded free healthcare.  LOLZERS!!!

Yeah....except nothing is free. I pay taxes just like you do. Part of my job benefits is the heathcare and pension, otherwise good luck satisfying that Constitutional requirement. Besides..I've earned every penny. When I retire I'll pay just like everybody else..smaller maybe but just the same. I think we''ve had the same friggen waste of time thread on the politics board a million times...oddly you started this here instead. I'm not willing to be taxed at 37%...the average in Europe according to a Forbes article. I'm not willing give a single cent to anybody who sits on their ass and doesn't work. I'm not willing to put any faith in a government that can't manage the medical system it has now. You buy into this shit...u actually though Obama knew what he was doing, any argument on any subject after that fact is ridiculous.

[The True Adonis]

Yeah....except nothing is free. I pay taxes just like you do. Part of my job benefits is the heathcare and pension, otherwise good luck satisfying that Constitutional requirement. Besides..I've earned every penny. When I retire I'll pay just like everybody else..smaller maybe but just the same. I think we''ve had the same friggen waste of time thread on the politics board a million times...oddly you started this here instead. I'm not willing to be taxed at 37%...the average in Europe according to a Forbes article. I'm not willing give a single cent to anybody who sits on their ass and doesn't work. I'm not willing to put any faith in a government that can't manage the medical system it has now. You buy into this shit...u actually though Obama knew what he was doing, any argument on any subject after that fact is ridiculous.

The Republicans didn`t even want to do anything.  That is even worse.