7 ms·

Good job it wasn't in america, she'd have woken up, seen the bill, and had another heart attack!

by isostatic 7y ago

imdsm 7y ago
This is a great joke but I feel I should point out that cardiac arrests != heart attacks
- acangiano 7y ago
  Indeed. Survival rates: - Cardiac arrest (outside hospitals): < 6% - Cardiac arrest (inside hospitals): < 25% - Heart attack (myocardial infarction): > 90%
  - MS90 7y ago
    Gah the word "infarction" drives me crazy since it's so close to "infraction"
  - toss1 7y ago
    Yup, makes sense because although the phrase "heart attack" generally has a worse connotation, the immediate reality of a full cardiac arrest is actually much worse - the entire heart stops instead of only part of it. "In summary, there is a difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart stops and thus causes a section of the heart muscle to begin to die; whereas a cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating as a whole.Jun 25, 2019" [1] https://www.news-medical.net/health/Heart-attack-and-cardiac-arrest-difference.aspx https://www.news-medical.net/health/Heart-attack-and-cardiac...
- isostatic 7y ago
  Wasn't a joke. I went to the US on business - our corporate insurance means there's a $1000 excess that we pay up front. Went to a hospital for a minor issue. At no point was there any price list shown, at the end I was asked for $390 before been given my prescription. That was the end of it I thought, sickeningly high charge for 2 minutes with a doctor, a 10p tablet, and hours of waiting around. I asked for an itemised bill, but they couldn't give me one. A few weeks later I get another bill through the post for another $390 (slightly different amount), complete with the entire bill. The whole bill was about $2k. The 10p tablet? $250. In fact they originally gave me a 50mg one for $9, then took it off the bill, then gave me 2x25mg ones for $250. I then had a $1100 "uninsured discount" which brought the total price down to just before $800. The bulk of the bill was a single line that was fairly incomprehensible but seemed to cover pointless taking my blood pressure 3 times and the 2 minute consultation with a Doctor who barely spoke to me, and renting the chair for a few hours I guess. edit: see http://imgur.com/ERjjQBil.png http://imgur.com/ERjjQBil.png The U.S. is seriously broken.
  - jotm 7y ago
    Wow, that's a huge discount! Great deal! /s
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    > originally gave me a 50mg one for $9, then took it off the bill, then gave me 2x25mg ones for $250. That sounds like straight up fraud. What the hell.
  - rpiguy 7y ago
    Irrational yes. Broken, no just optimized differently than other systems. The system is optimized to serve those who can afford it and those who are very poor and get it for free, but not those in between. It is optimized to generate profit, but also new treatments. Rich people from all over the world come here for surgery and treatment. The pricing system is intentionally designed to be opaque so that everyone except the consumer benefits. It is not uncommon for a top surgeon to make 500-750K per year, nurses are paid well above the median and can make over 100K with overtime, hospital administrators, insurance companies... the way pricing and billing is handled protects all those interests. Sounds like something you would want to fix, right? Well that too is complicated. Healthcare is one of the only sectors that is growing middle class jobs. A hospital is one of the only places someone with an associates degree and a certification can make 60K per year. Furthermore, it is one of the only growing industries that provides many opportunities for women. Not many women want to move to Montana to frack shale oil. Start socializing medicine and all that job growth and opportunity disappears. It is a tough problem to solve. The utter irrationality of it used to drive me nuts and still does sometimes, but I prefer it to the alternatives.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
      > Furthermore, it is one of the only growing industries that provides many opportunities for women. Not many women want to move to Montana to frack shale oil. Is this supposed to be a good argument to drive desperate people into bankruptcy?
mrarjen 7y ago
This is actually what happens, seen some articles pass by where people simply could not live with the burden.
mysterydip 7y ago
My at the time 8mo daughter was in the ER for breathing issues and had to be life-flighted to a hospital with better facilities to treat her condition. I'm thankful my insurance covered it, because the initial bill was $27,000 for the flight (excluding the hospital and ER visit costs).
- phamjamstudio 7y ago
  Hope your daughter is doing better!
  - mysterydip 7y ago
    She's on a daily breathing treatment (and extra medicine and monitoring when she gets sick), but she is much better, thanks!
dang 7y ago
"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html HN has had countless generic arguments about the US health care system. Turning a thread about something else into one of those is a step in the wrong direction. The major controversies eat up all the smaller topics, but the smaller topics are what actually gratify curiosity.

Good job it wasn't in america, she'd have woken up, seen the bill, and had another heart attack!

imdsm 7y ago

This is a great joke but I feel I should point out that cardiac arrests != heart attacks

acangiano 7y ago
Indeed. Survival rates: - Cardiac arrest (outside hospitals): < 6% - Cardiac arrest (inside hospitals): < 25% - Heart attack (myocardial infarction): > 90%
- MS90 7y ago
  Gah the word "infarction" drives me crazy since it's so close to "infraction"
- toss1 7y ago
  Yup, makes sense because although the phrase "heart attack" generally has a worse connotation, the immediate reality of a full cardiac arrest is actually much worse - the entire heart stops instead of only part of it. "In summary, there is a difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart stops and thus causes a section of the heart muscle to begin to die; whereas a cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating as a whole.Jun 25, 2019" [1] https://www.news-medical.net/health/Heart-attack-and-cardiac-arrest-difference.aspx https://www.news-medical.net/health/Heart-attack-and-cardiac...
isostatic 7y ago
Wasn't a joke. I went to the US on business - our corporate insurance means there's a $1000 excess that we pay up front. Went to a hospital for a minor issue. At no point was there any price list shown, at the end I was asked for $390 before been given my prescription. That was the end of it I thought, sickeningly high charge for 2 minutes with a doctor, a 10p tablet, and hours of waiting around. I asked for an itemised bill, but they couldn't give me one. A few weeks later I get another bill through the post for another $390 (slightly different amount), complete with the entire bill. The whole bill was about $2k. The 10p tablet? $250. In fact they originally gave me a 50mg one for $9, then took it off the bill, then gave me 2x25mg ones for $250. I then had a $1100 "uninsured discount" which brought the total price down to just before $800. The bulk of the bill was a single line that was fairly incomprehensible but seemed to cover pointless taking my blood pressure 3 times and the 2 minute consultation with a Doctor who barely spoke to me, and renting the chair for a few hours I guess. edit: see http://imgur.com/ERjjQBil.png http://imgur.com/ERjjQBil.png The U.S. is seriously broken.
- jotm 7y ago
  Wow, that's a huge discount! Great deal! /s
- 52-6F-62 7y ago
  > originally gave me a 50mg one for $9, then took it off the bill, then gave me 2x25mg ones for $250. That sounds like straight up fraud. What the hell.
- rpiguy 7y ago
  Irrational yes. Broken, no just optimized differently than other systems. The system is optimized to serve those who can afford it and those who are very poor and get it for free, but not those in between. It is optimized to generate profit, but also new treatments. Rich people from all over the world come here for surgery and treatment. The pricing system is intentionally designed to be opaque so that everyone except the consumer benefits. It is not uncommon for a top surgeon to make 500-750K per year, nurses are paid well above the median and can make over 100K with overtime, hospital administrators, insurance companies... the way pricing and billing is handled protects all those interests. Sounds like something you would want to fix, right? Well that too is complicated. Healthcare is one of the only sectors that is growing middle class jobs. A hospital is one of the only places someone with an associates degree and a certification can make 60K per year. Furthermore, it is one of the only growing industries that provides many opportunities for women. Not many women want to move to Montana to frack shale oil. Start socializing medicine and all that job growth and opportunity disappears. It is a tough problem to solve. The utter irrationality of it used to drive me nuts and still does sometimes, but I prefer it to the alternatives.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
    > Furthermore, it is one of the only growing industries that provides many opportunities for women. Not many women want to move to Montana to frack shale oil. Is this supposed to be a good argument to drive desperate people into bankruptcy?

mrarjen 7y ago

This is actually what happens, seen some articles pass by where people simply could not live with the burden.

mysterydip 7y ago

My at the time 8mo daughter was in the ER for breathing issues and had to be life-flighted to a hospital with better facilities to treat her condition. I'm thankful my insurance covered it, because the initial bill was $27,000 for the flight (excluding the hospital and ER visit costs).

phamjamstudio 7y ago
Hope your daughter is doing better!
- mysterydip 7y ago
  She's on a daily breathing treatment (and extra medicine and monitoring when she gets sick), but she is much better, thanks!

dang 7y ago

"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html HN has had countless generic arguments about the US health care system. Turning a thread about something else into one of those is a step in the wrong direction. The major controversies eat up all the smaller topics, but the smaller topics are what actually gratify curiosity.