Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/remember-remember-the-fifth-of-november

Comment #1414

2009-12-01T00:04:47Z

But then the wise guys will merely get you brass knuckles instead.

Comment #1413

2009-11-30T20:41:48Z

I suspect there will be some wise-guys who think of getting me some eyeglasses, but I do already have goggles, I just never would have thought to wear them when using a wrench...

And as Stephan wrote - I am not 0-1 vs. a wrench like I posted on my Facebook status, but rather, 1567-1, and just don't think about the other thousands of times, so I'm unlikely to call a plumber in a similar sort of situation in the future either.

I will try to remember to push the wrench away from me (and risk smashing my knuckles into a wall) rather than pulling it towards me...

Comment #1412

2009-11-30T19:36:03Z

I concur on wishing Jon well in the healing department. Is someone getting him protective eyewear for Christmas for future projects - as well as a highlighted "plumbers" page of the local phone book?

Comment #1411

2009-11-21T14:00:54Z

Yes, or at least, I've talked to providers and asked, "If I didn't have insurance, how much would I pay". Every dentist I've asked is willing to lower their prices by about 50%, which brings it to about the same price that insurance or our discount plan would pay.

The midwife center and our doctor also have similar policies. (and that doesn't count the folks our doctor sees for free/small based on donations of others).

I've heard that most hospitals will do it, and you are more likely to pay less if you have a high deductible, or no insurance versus having a low deductible, since you can make the argument that a $8000 bill is simply too much, but harder to make that argument if it is only $1500 or something like that.

It is true that there isn't just one price that everyone pays, but all the ones I've seen are within the same ballpark maybe within 10% or so.

Comment #1410

2009-11-21T00:04:41Z

I have never heard of a non-insured person successfully asking for and getting the "negotiated" price. Have you actually done this sometime? One of the reasons the paperwork is so horrendous is that there is no single, negotiated price. When I worked at family medicine in Rochester, NY, there were over 50 insurance plans they accepted, and the negotiated price for many services varied across them.

Comment #1409

2009-11-19T21:00:54Z

Yes, price transparency would be one of the best health care reforms. It would at least make rational choices more possible.

Comment #1408

2009-11-19T19:03:07Z

Got a bill from the insurance today: "congratulations, you have satisfied $1200 of your $1200 deductible". Well, ok, it didn't say "congratulations", but the "satisfied" part made it sound like it was a good thing...

No bill from the first ambulance, but the bill contained all the services I could think of (as well as a couple I'm not sure what they are), so we'll see if we continue to get bills for 6 months, like we did with Isaac. The good news is that our "year" started on November 1st, so anyone have any health care I should get, since I'll only be paying 10% until next November...

(first price is the "provider's charge", second is what I actually owe).

CAT Scan: $1190 -> $281

"imaging" (I think this means burning a CD and putting it on the network): $230 -> $66

Cranberry ER: $1121 -> $222

2nd ambulance: $727 -> $211

UPMC drugs: $8 -> $0

UPMC IV "therapy": $278 -> $142

UPMC ER: $1244 -> $207

UPMC drugs: $113 -> $66

UPMC outpatient care (not sure what this is, since it was part of the ER care that night): $330 -> $14

Drugs: $4 -> $.40

Follow up eye exam: $265 -> $7

Total: $5510 -> $1250

It annoys me that there are these "fake" prices, that everyone with insurance gets automatically, and if you don't have insurance and ask, you'll get them too, so only the people who don't know you can ask for the "negotiated" rate are the ones who pay more. Let's just have everyone get billed the same amount, and do away with huge amounts of paperwork and confusion.

Comment #1407

2009-11-11T19:55:28Z

And for those of you who think you want to see what it looks like, Here it is.

Comment #1406

2009-11-10T20:18:12Z

As for the speed in the ambulance, I suspect by that time (3 hours later) anything that would have required fast attention would have been too late.

Comment #1405

2009-11-10T20:17:12Z

The ER rooms I've been to (which is very few) you come in basically the same door via the ambulance as everyone else. In Pittsburgh, they skip the metal detector, and then asked me if I had any weapons, and presumably judged based on my looks that they didn't need to search me.

The "collapsing" on the floor is somewhat exaggerated, the chairs they had were ones with pretty low backs, and so I figured it would be more comfortable on the floor. I'll admit I did think of the effect when I lay down, and figured that was fine, since it annoyed me that they wouldn't start talking to me until I filled out my name and address.

The waiting room in Cranberry was empty. In Pittsburgh, there were more people around, but I didn't get to see anyone, in terms of if they were there for a "real" emergency or not. The time we went to West Penn there was a "regular" ER visitor, and a lady watching TV, I'm not sure what either of them were there for.

Comment #1404

2009-11-10T14:46:52Z

I'm hoping the proliferation of small clinics -- freestanding and in drug and even grocery stores -- will ease the problem of people taking up emergency room space with non-emergencies.

Our experience with Porter's bicycle accident is that coming in by ambulance gets you seen much faster: you are literally in the back door. Another trick is bleeding profusely and dramatically, though the one time Porter did that, he still had to wait because the guy before him had taken a chain saw to the head and had his brain exposed. Jon's collapsing on the floor seemed to have gotten their attention, even without much blood.

Comment #1403

2009-11-10T13:17:05Z

Here is a question I have (for future reference, although I hope I won't need it).

Is there an advantage to arriving at the hospital by ambulance rather than in a private car? Meaning, are you more likely to be attended to faster coming by ambulance than if you walk in off the street and have to sit in the ER waiting room with everyone else?

Several years ago, we had to take B in for stitches. We had to wait several hours to get him in to be seen. I assume they do some sort of triage, and his condition was not serious, so I was not surprised at the wait. It did appear to me, however, that there were a lot of people there that really didn't have an emergency situation, but rather had no place else to go to get medical treatment.

Comment #1402

2009-11-10T02:36:18Z

Since at least two people have asked me what I meant, I really did mean "god" and not "good". I don't think I can call it (the medical system) "bad" but I definitely won't call it "god."

Comment #1401

2009-11-09T19:30:04Z

whew!

i'm so very glad that, in the end, your eye will be okay. keep resting, jon.

my favorite parts of the story (in case you can't tell, i'm rolling my eyes) are the helpful questions asked of you in the cranberry er, and all the ambulance fiascos.

Comment #1400

2009-11-09T19:05:35Z

Coincidentally, I had my own eye appointment today. I told some of your story to my doctor, who said the reason time is of the essences is that swelling in the wrong place can cause nerve damage. He said too many people try to be tough and wait too long to see the doctor, resulting in permanent damage. As tough as you are, I'm glad you had the sense not to wait. But I wish the sense of urgency had been conveyed to the ambulance driver! I had thought it would be worth waiting for the replacement ambulance because it could go faster than Heather could (legally) -- but apparently they didn't. I do know that ambulance drivers do not like to run "lights and siren" if they can help it, as it's much riskier than normal travel.

Comment #1399

2009-11-09T13:06:36Z

Glad to hear Jon's eye seems to be okay. Very scary.

Comment #1398

2009-11-09T01:40:34Z

Wow, what a story! Glad to hear that Jon's eye is going to be okay!