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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cirrus who wrote (199)	9/7/2006 2:02:06 AM
From: Lazarus_Long	Respond to of 10087

cirrus, I can't explain this. I've wondered about it myself. I can tell you that the example I gave are NOT imaginary. They happened to me. The $30,000 charge settled for $6K was a heart attack, angioplasty, and 3 days in the hospital, 2 in the Coronary Care Unit, the equivalent of ICU for heart patients. The 2nd $50K charge settled for $8K was a stroke treated with t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) and also resulting in 3 days in the hospital, 2 of them in the Intensive Care Unit. [Having read about the drug since, I can see why I was im ICU. It kills 10% of the people it's used on. If given within 3 hours of the stroke, it can restore the other 90% to near normalcy. Without it, that other 90% are most likely ruined for the rest of their lives.] I have NO IDEA how there can be such a difference. I believe if you arrive at the hospital with no insurance, the hospital will come after you for the higher amount. Now you can understand why illness and divorce are the leading causes of bankruptcy in the US. BTW, the drug t-PA? A dose costs $5,000! And there is a $3800 charge to administer it, although it is given through an IV tube, just like most drugs are in serious cases in a hospital. And you're right: you have zilch bargaining power in a situation like this. I was asked if they could give the t-PA. I nodded yes. This was at a time when my brain was barely working. However, this was taken as "informed consent".