4 ms·
I had a panic attack in the beginning of the year which lead to severe PVCs in my heart. I freaked out and thought I was about to have a heart attack, so I deci
by cesarbs 13y ago
I had a panic attack in the beginning of the year which lead to severe PVCs in my heart. I freaked out and thought I was about to have a heart attack, so I decided to go to the ER. They hooked me up on an EKG and told me I was OK and that it was just anxiety. After more than an hour of monitoring and a few blood tests, they let me go home.
A few days later a $4K bill came through the mail :(
I'm appalled by the cost of health care in the US. For routine stuff the level of treatment and the expertise of doctors is not different than in Brazil, where I come from, but here I pay orders of magnitude more than I used to pay there. Health care here is so expensive that my wife said the other day that next year she's doing all her medical exams when she goes to Brazil.
What is the reason for such absurd prices in the US?
- johnpowell 13y agoI had a similar experience. EKG and some time and a needle. Similar bill. I just never paid it. My credit is horrible but I manage to get by.
- malyk 13y agoHad the exact same thing happen except my bill was only for $1800 after insurance. The kicker was that when I called the insurance company to ask about the cost they told me that it was unknowable in advance because they have rates negotiated with each hospital individually. When I asked if there was any way to estimate my out of pocket expense of if there was any cap they told me no. So, there's literally no way to know what it's going to cost, at least with blue cross, because the rates are negotiated on a per facility basis and not public. Not really a free market for sure.