doctor's charges | Arthritis Information

 

 what does your Doctors  cost, do you never look at your insurance statment, I do here and there.

It's way out of control Rusty.  I had 2 pinhole fillings filled and he charged me 0.00.  He didn't even need an assistant!  I am still PO'D about it!   I love the fact that your RA doc spends 20-30 minutes with you. Mine does too, and if more time is needed, he spends the time.  But in general, yeah, it's outrageous what these doctors and hospitals charge. I just had a revision off my total knee replacement, and my hospital bill wit ,000. And that does not include surgeon or anesthesia fee.  Ridiculous! I find these figures that you bring to the table appalling, if not down right disgusting. it  is outrageous,  I'm waiting for the bill for 3 brain surgerys  and three weeks in ICU.  I had doctors of all kinds looking  at me.   I was out didn't see any of  them.  Thank  God for insurance.  My husband went to one with me and the doctor ask him how he was doing,  we got billed as a couple.  SAD.You know if they have to touch you, they charge more. The bill for the jaw surgery(both parts, March and August) totaled over 0,000.  Once again, thank goodness for insurance.  Scary stuff....It's certainly not like the old days when you could give the Doctor a couple of chickens and he'd get out his saw and a bottle of whiskey and cut off the limb that's been dark purple for a few days. Does seem to be out of control though, doesn't it? I remember these large hospitals complaining that they were losing money and yet they were and are constantly buying up all the other smaller hospitals. Doesn't make sense to me to continue to buy losing business but hey, who am I to figure all that out? I guess that many people are going out of country to save 60-94% on their medical care. And of course many find that traveling inside the US can also save money and not hav to pay co-pay. levlarry2010-12-11 08:45:11Reading these posts makes me curious - as I'm Canadian, and so far have not had to pay much for any of my health care....what happens to people in the US who have RA and don't have health insurance? What if they need surgery? And how on earth do they cover the cost of medication? I'm on Humira - weekly - and it costs about 00/month. That's covered (when my deductible is reached) by our private and gov't health insurance. If I didn't have private insurance, it would be covered by gov't health insurance. Is it the same there? [QUOTE=bcgirl62]Reading these posts makes me curious - as I'm Canadian, and so far have not had to pay much for any of my health care....what happens to people in the US who have RA and don't have health insurance? What if they need surgery? And how on earth do they cover the cost of medication? I'm on Humira - weekly - and it costs about 00/month. That's covered (when my deductible is reached) by our private and gov't health insurance. If I didn't have private insurance, it would be covered by gov't health insurance. Is it the same there?[/QUOTE]

I can kind of tell you... if you don't have health insurance you can TRY to see if there is some sort of program with the medicine companies that will pay part or all of your medications (usually only the VERY expensive medicines have some sort of a program with their creators). If you need surgery, some hospitals and doctors (usually church or non-profit medical facilities) will provide them for you and then bill you and some will not do it unless you pay a portion of the money/ or all up front if they know you don't have insurance (because there is a good chance you WON'T be able to pay for any or all of the amount and they don't want to be screwed).

If you are under retirement age in the US (which varies depending on when you were born but I think is currently around age 67 for full retirement and 62 for early retirement and rising) you can not qualify for Medicare (which is our government's version of health coverage). The only exception to this is if you become or are deemed disabled which usually is a very lengthy process and is often abused but also denies THOUSANDS of legitimate cases and very often people have to go through 3 or 4 appeals to get it. Even if they win the appeal, are deemed disabled, and qualify for medical coverage with the government, they still have to pay deductibles, co-pays and several other expenses. So its not a GREAT program but better than nothing.

I am sure this figure is different now but at one time in the US over 60% of bankruptcies were due to medical bills/costs. There is no current government backup or bailout right now in place if you do not have private insurance. Basically you are screwed. This is what the Obama health care bill was trying to change. It was trying to give a government medical option to people who either couldn't afford or were never offered an insurance plan through their employer but it also mandates they have insurance or face penalties because the uninsured in the US actually end up costing the government and the states millions/billions in a trickle down effect.

In short... its a mess... its complicated.... and it sucks... its hard to work when you have RA but you can NOT afford be without medical insurance either so what do you do????
Thanks for the explanation, Abby. That really compounds the trouble for people with RA - no health insurance = Mega stress!!! I haven't been able to return to work in the 18 yrs I've had RA, so I guess in the US, I'd be in dire straits. I'm grateful for our universal coverage here (although it definitely has it's pitfalls too).
I hope the Humira works for you this time.reading more of statment, it list at least 16 doctors,  most over 0.00. each, What is really bad  a 4 mile ambulance ride  1,695.00 but the air ambulance ride 45 miles was 29,624.67 wow.  the hospital don't  have a total  Just stuff they did like put a drain tube in over 1,000 plus Doctor,  mri  of brain  408.00  there is a long list.  I hope the insurance pays most of it. 
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