Jeanne Pinder
A friend recently told me about an emergency room visit for a twisted ankle that nearly cost her $3,500 — and how she successfully argued a bill. We’re leaving out the name of the hospital and insurer, and also my friend’s name; the point here is not to name names but to give helpful advice […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Early last year, executives at a small hospital an hour north of Spokane, Wash., started using a company called EmCare to staff and run their emergency room. The hospital had been struggling to find doctors to work in its E.R., and turning to EmCare was something hundreds of other hospitals across the country had done,” […]
Jeanne Pinder
SUMMARY: How much will that cost? It’s a question consumers aren’t used to asking in the health care marketplace. Many of us grew up with the $10 co-pay, but that’s rapidly becoming a thing of the past. With rising deductibles, more out-of-network providers, more uninsured people and more out-of-pocket spending, it’s increasingly a question we […]
Jeanne Pinder
An excellent chart: How much does an emergency-room visit cost? The cost differences were startling. A urinary-tract infection could result in a bill of $50 or a bill of $73,002. A sprain or strain: $4, or $24,110. A kidney stone: $128 or $39408. This is an illustration from a study called “ ‘How Much Will […]
Jeanne Pinder
A man crashes his bike and gets taken to the emergency room. The bill is more than $20,000 for the visit, which lasts a bit over 2 hours. He was taken to the highest level adult trauma center near the site of the crash in the Austin, Texas, area — University Medical Center Brackenridge, […]
