r/HealthInsurance • u/leDanielx2 • Jun 22 '25
Individual/Marketplace Insurance 5 min ER visit cost 1300$
My wife is expecting. A few months ago, the baby stopped kicking and we got worried. It was hospital after hours, so only the ER was open. After 5 minutes of being in the checkup room baby starts kicking. So altogether a 15 min visit. Cost us 1350. And this is WITH insurance. Our medical system is so freaking broken I don’t understand how we put up with it as a country. What an absolute scam
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u/shaylak Jun 22 '25 edited Jun 23 '25
I somewhat see your point. It’s too bad your OB didn’t have another option besides the ER, but better safe than sorry. On a positive note, if your plan is a calendar year and your wife is expecting in 2025, you probably will hit your OOPM regardless so perhaps it will all even out. Best wishes to y’all for a healthy pregnancy. :)
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 22 '25
Luckily she’s due soon, so it will factor into oopm.
Thank you :)
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u/Urban-Paradox Jun 23 '25
On our second child we figured out from the first that we would hit our out of pocket max pretty easily. Ended up having the second child early in the year so the rest of the year was pretty nice. She had a toe nail that always wanted to get ingrown or cause her issues. They basically cut it straight and put a deadener to make it grow right. With insurance they wanted like 1200 for one toe...
Well shit let's wait a bit and get it all done in the same year. Felt like we were living somewhere with useful insurance still was out of pocket 5500. But not 5500+ 2400 (2 toes) then random other stuff. But next year they still got us and their money back
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u/Hot_Preparation2059 Jun 23 '25
I would recommend doing allllll the stuff your insurance will pay for now. I ate up my entire out of pocket max before the baby was born and owed exactly $0 for a somewhat complicated birth. It was actually nice not to have to worry about any kind of medical bills while I was out on (mostly unpaid) maternity leave.
One thing I did to eat into it was twice-weekly chiropractor visits.
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u/NeoMississippiensis Jun 23 '25
Lmao fuck chiropractic. Literally anything else. Massage therapy would be better, or PT. I get that insurance covers it, but there’s so many other options with less straight up charlatanism.
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u/MonkeyKing01 Jun 23 '25
Chiropractory, AKA, renamed Chinese Bonecrackers. Since that is who Palmer stole the techniques from.
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u/Hot_Preparation2059 Jun 23 '25
Eh, I felt like it helped some. I can't do massages, but a little 10 minute relaxing session wasn't the worst.
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u/_Dapper_Dragonfly Jun 23 '25
I wouldn't have gotten through my 2nd pregnancy without chiropractic. But then, I'm 5' tall and had an 11 lb, 2 ft long baby.
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u/Hot-Document-7823 Jun 23 '25
lmao you seem insufferable
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u/NeoMississippiensis Jun 23 '25
I don’t like when people who couldn’t get into medical school end up harming people who don’t know any better.
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u/Berchanhimez PharmD - Pharmacist Jun 22 '25
An ER is the most expensive place to get care, because you're paying for the fact they have doctors on site 24/7, not just general emergency doctors but often a dozen or more specialists at least on call 24/7 to come in at the drop of a pin. And you're paying for the fact that they have an on site lab to run tests, various equipment like MRI/CT/etc.
So yes, all other things being equal (such as what was actually done, how long it took, etc), a visit to an ER is going to cost a lot more than that same visit would at an urgent care, an OB/Gyn office, or a primary care doctor. This isn't unique to the US either.
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u/evan938 Jun 23 '25
Yep. A while back I had a piece of steak get lodged right above my stomach and wouldn't pass, and I couldn't cough it up. Went to ED at ~7pm on a Sunday evening. They had GI team ready to go, do endoscopy and get it out and I was on my way home by 9. Costs money to keep those professionals ready to go at a moments notice.
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u/ita_Sammann Jun 23 '25
If that ever happens again, buy a bottle of diet coke. One time a piece of steak got lodged in my throat like you described, I could breathe but not swallow. My wife found the diet coke trick online so we stopped at the store on the way to the ER. Took one sip, it got stuck in my throat, fizzed so much it literally expanded my throat and the steak just popped through. Much easier bill to swallow than the ER would have been, pun intended lol.
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u/evan938 Jun 23 '25
Tried that numerous times and it didn't help. It was there 24 hours before I went to ED. Not like it was a quick decision. GI doc said if it ever happened again and didn't pass within an hour or two, not to wait because it can cause an ulcer and that would be much worse.
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u/Mountain-Arm6558951 Moderator Jun 22 '25
Also another thing that makes it more expensive is that the hospital must treat anyone who shows up at the door and they may have no insurance or be underinsured.
Ultimately, that cost gets past on to others.
Indeed a broken system... I rather see people to get treatment then get turned away.
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u/prefix_code_16309 Jun 23 '25
Something like 50% of care given at the ER where I work is unreimbursed. Unfortunately, prices therefore go up for the other half to compensate. If you ran the average grocery store using our business model, they'd be closed in a week. Thank you to the legislators who passed EMTALA with no funding mandate.
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Jun 23 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AllTheShadyStuff Jun 23 '25
Go ahead, then they’ll close the rural hospitals first, and the big hospitals farther away will be more busy and some people may die
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u/sat_ops Jun 23 '25
That happened where I live. The local public hospital closed because the county was already poor, then the only big factory closed. No one paid their bills, so the utilities got turned off and they went bankrupt.
So then everyone went to the public hospital in the next county, who sold itself to a big Catholic health system to avoid the obligations of a public hospital. Now the public hospital in the county on the OTHER side is about to collapse.
There are spots where the nearest cardiologist is a 45-60 minute ambulance ride away, and the nearest neurosurgeon is well over an hour away by road. Then, since the towns can't afford more than one ambulance crew (if they aren't volunteers), the town is left with no EMS coverage for three hours while they run the first guy to the hospital.
My town always has two ambulance crews (county seat), but when I woke up paralyzed in one leg a couple of months ago and needed to get to the ER, I drug myself through the house and laid down in the back of my car and had my SO drive because I didn't want to take away a crew at rush hour to get me to the specific hospital my doctor wanted me to go to.
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u/prefix_code_16309 Jun 23 '25
Fair enough, as long as they aren't expecting care at 3am for that pesky left sided facial droop.
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Jun 23 '25
[deleted]
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u/Virtual-Tonight-4220 Jun 23 '25
If nobody paid their hospital bills the pharma companies would have to lobby for socialized Healthcare. Some people may die, but don't they already die all the time from insurance companies not authorizing claims? America is the richest company in the world but we can't figure out how to provide health care to all of it's citizens? Not buying it bud.
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u/Hot-Document-7823 Jun 23 '25
the porblem is, if you need meidcal attention immediately for pregnancy, the only place they send you is the ER
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Jun 23 '25
60 euros to take my uninsured son to the ER in Germany.
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u/xploreetng Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 23 '25
That (in Europe )comes from close to 50% tax and less appreciating salary. Number of specialists per capita is also on the lower side.
Insurance and healthcare funding is broken in US. BUT The quality of specialists and care is simply incomparable. It's very impressive, unfortunately not available at affordable price.
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u/MakionGarvinus Jun 23 '25
A statistic I read a while ago went something like 'The US has one of the highest level of care, with the hardest barrier of entry in the world.'
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u/elb21277 Jun 23 '25
we live 4 yrs shorter in America than pple in other wealthy countries. we also have the highest infant mortality rate and the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation.
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u/UTPharm2012 Jun 24 '25
Those numbers are brought down by the lower socioeconomic class. If you focus on people who can afford it, it is pretty even to high income countries. It is sad that money is a factor in survival
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u/elb21277 Jun 24 '25
not sure what you are trying to say here. that the lives of 60% of Americans shouldn’t count?
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u/UTPharm2012 Jun 24 '25
No, it means…
A) We have excellent health care
B) We should do better at making it accessible to all Americans
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u/elb21277 Jun 24 '25
only in America does anyone try to make that distinction. and either way, you are incorrect about the quality because the corporate of practice of medicine affects everyone here regardless of socioeconomic status.
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u/elb21277 Jun 23 '25
$600 billion/yr wasted bc of corporatization/financialization of medicine. that’s money extracted from the healthcare system by middlemen.
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u/Vybo Jun 24 '25
No, it's not even close to 50 %, you're simply spreading false information. Income tax is around 15 % if you don't count nordic countries and on top of that, it's maybe around 15 % for the insurance/contribution. So, more like 30 %. Can be even less if you care about optimizing your income. Even if the "tax" as you call it would be higher, there are no people who go into debt because of health issues and anyone can get help.
I can't talk about quality by personal experience with US healthcare, but with EU one, I didn't need to wait for any checkups and I was never neglected, I have always received proper care whenever I needed it, without having to think about money at all or pay anything.
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u/Mountain-Arm6558951 Moderator Jun 22 '25
Lack of info.
Was the provider in network?
What is your copay, deductible, co insurance and out of pocket for ER visit?
What does the EOB say?
ER billing is not based on length of time. When they start doing vitals and the triage process then the billing clock starts and you are charged for those services.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 22 '25
Fair enough . provider is in network, what we’re paying is co-pay. I’m just ranting. I just find it crazy that’s all
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u/Mountain-Arm6558951 Moderator Jun 22 '25
Unfortunately, the ER is the most expensive place as they have to be staffed 24/7 and have life saving equipment that cost millions.
Another reason that the ER is expensive that they have to get the most money out of everyone as by law they must treat anyone who shows up regardless if they have insurance. A person that has no insurance can cost the hospital million in medical care and they will never see a penny of it.
While its not a scam, its just a broken system.....
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u/Independent-Low-5303 Jun 23 '25
1300 copay? Most er copay visits are 250 or 500. 1300 is not a copay. It's likely copay plus a coinsurance toward your deductible is my guess. I also don't believe you were only there for 15 minutes. No er would spend 15 minutes on a pregnant woman who thinks she lost her baby. What tests did you do?
As an aside, one reason ers are.so expensive is because they work with thousands of patients who have zero insurance so those who are insured end up subsidizing them.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
It was . As soon as she sat down on the exam table baby started kicking. Nurse left after 15 min.
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u/Independent-Low-5303 Jun 23 '25
Wow. No other tests? Do you have a high deductible plan? Glad you're all healthy and I can relate to your frustration.
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u/GlitterTomahawk Jun 23 '25
My husbands employer coverage (best plan they offer) has a $650 copay for ER visits. I would assume that for lower tier plans that number just goes up. $1300 seems high, but not unbelievable, imo.
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u/Independent-Low-5303 Jun 23 '25
Generally it's a set amount...not one with cents at the end..hence my presumption that it's coinsurance in addition to a copay or something like that.
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u/Awesome_mama Jun 23 '25
Depends on the plan. We have a HDHP and ours is 100% deductible first, not handled via co-pay. So we paythe entire visit cost (last year and ER visit costs us around $5500.00) and it goes towards our deductible.
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u/Independent-Low-5303 Jun 23 '25
Makes sense. You pay deductible then the co pay
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u/Awesome_mama Jun 23 '25
Ours doesn't have any co-pays. It's deductible first, then coinsurance up to the OOPM. We always pay either the full cost of care or a portion of the cost (coinsurance). We essentially have to self-insure via our HSAs since we never know how much any visit will cost ahead of time.
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u/Assmaster_4000 Jun 23 '25
Tell us you haven’t even been to an emergency room without telling us you’ve never been to an emergency room.
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u/Independent-Low-5303 Jun 23 '25
? I've been to the ER numerous times unfortunately. Never had a 15 minute visit. Additionally, you can't do any advanced tests in 15 minutes so..no...1300 is not a copay
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u/SpicyMarmots Jun 23 '25
What advanced tests were indicated in the situation OP describes? Their concern was 'baby not kicking,' which changed to 'baby is in fact kicking' while they were there. What are you going to test with no symptoms or complaint?
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u/Assmaster_4000 Jun 23 '25
I’m glad you received the OP’s explanation of benefits so you can share this information with us.
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u/cssndr73 Jun 23 '25
This sub normalizes astronomuch pricing too much.
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u/allthingsmustpass9 Jun 23 '25
Right. I love how people are just throwing their hands up like "what can ya do ahyuck!"
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u/SeriousBrindle Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 23 '25
That’s crazy that you had to go to the ER. Here, after 20 weeks you go to labor and delivery. My last pregnancy, an emergency NST for failed kick counts was $40 in L&D.
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u/Superb_Jaguar6872 Jun 23 '25
For the two hospitals I gave birth at its ER first and after 20w its immediate transfer to L&D as an emergency patient.
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u/SeriousBrindle Jun 23 '25
Do you go through the ER for spontaneous labor as well?
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u/Superb_Jaguar6872 Jun 23 '25
Yes. Check in at ER, then transfer to L&D as a triage patient. This is in Western WA at 2 of the bigger regional hospitals.
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u/SeriousBrindle Jun 23 '25
Wow, do you get billed for any ER services then? Our L&D and Adult ER aren’t even in the same building. There’s a skywalk that connects them, but it’s a very long trip.
The hospital also has a separate children’s ER and triages for urgent care or emergency services at both ER intakes during daytime hours, to save resources and costs.
This is a smaller hospital system, but has a level III NICU.
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u/Superb_Jaguar6872 Jun 23 '25
For early stuff, yes. All three of mine - 12 week ultrasound, 20 week, and 33 week visits were ER. My 37 week scheduled c section was not ER for this pregnancy. I didn't have any ER visits that weren't scheduled for my first (IE my 38 week c section).
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u/Top-Opportunity5643 Jun 23 '25
I have Kaiser and they do the same! If it is after hours, we go to emergency but when we tell them it's for pregnancy, they transfer you to L&D.
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u/cclifedecisions Jun 24 '25
FWIW you can always walk directly to the L&D unit and be checked in. You don’t have to go through the ER first.
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u/Imtalia Jun 23 '25
Where are the protests? It's the leading cause of death, disability, bankruptcy, poverty, so much trauma. But we just bend over and take it, beg for some more, and are told to be grateful.
I'm so sorry. And glad your baby is well.
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u/tw1080 Jun 23 '25
So Americans seem to have a similar mentality about ER visits and ambulances that they have to plumbers and electricians.
Think this through. You’re paying for a very costly facility staffed by specially trained and licensed professionals.
I’m not saying you did the wrong thing. But ER visits aren’t based on TIME. It’s not a per-minute billing. You were checked in to the Emergency Room. You were evaluated by a triage nurse. You were placed in an exam room. You were, I assume, then evaluated and discharged. This could have taken several hours had the hospital been very busy, in which case most would be complaining about their wait time. The charge would be the same. Instead they got you back on your way with the reassurance that nothing is wrong with your baby, and didn’t make you wait 3-5 hours.
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u/Emotional_Beautiful8 Jun 23 '25
Thank goodness she and the baby were okay.
But what is the right price? Because, remember, you went there because something was WRONG! They do the same tests to figure that out.
The best option is to make sure you always have your max out of pocket saved in an easily accessible account. It takes the stress away for situations like this.
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u/NewIndependence Jun 23 '25
Why did you go to the ER? You should go to labour and delivery.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Only ER was open at our hospital
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u/NewIndependence Jun 23 '25
But you dont go to the ER because they dont have the equipment or the OBGYNs you need if theres something wrong with baby. Only labour and delivery have that. You also need to still get checked out even if baby started moving again- your wife should be doing kick counts every day.
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u/LovYouLongTime Jun 23 '25
Be thankful you had the 24/7 care to be able to go to the ER and receive world class medical care.
Let’s flip this scenario, let’s say something did happen, let’s say something was wrong and they saved your new baby for the low cost of $1,345, would you still be complaining?
Costs are there, be thankful for the care and availability of care.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Forsure Im glad that it was just a scare and nothing more. This was more of a rant. We are much too eager to subsidize war in this country but not healthcare and childcare
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u/LovYouLongTime Jun 23 '25
Those are completely different things.
Pay the money and move on. That’s about it.
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u/International-Mix326 Jun 23 '25
Lol, we arenot in a third world country. ERs in America are shit and overpriced. I waited hours and hours in an er.
If something did happen OP would have waited 6 hours to be seen
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u/CrackedandPopped Jun 23 '25
Holy shit the comments are full of unsympathetic assholes. Sorry you have to deal with this OP! Healthcare should be affordable just like in every other country. Frankly this is bullshit
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u/rtaisoaa Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 23 '25
Consider yourself lucky if this is simply a coinsurance. For many patients who end up in the ER they are either uninsured or underinsured on a high deductible health plan.
What’s even worse is that there are patients on high deductible health plans that choose that plan because it’s the most cost-effective upfront. Then, unfortunately when something happens and they end up in the ER, they struggle to understand why they have thousands of dollars worth of bills to pay out-of-pocket when they have insurance. Then they complain that “insurance is a scam“. Insurance isn’t a scam, you just didn’t know what you were signing up for.
I wish there was more of a focus on patient Education with regard to how insurance works when it comes time for patients to pick insurance plans whether it’s through the marketplace, a broker, or your employer. We see it in this sub often. People just don’t know enough about what they’re looking at to discern whether a plan is going to be a good fit for them or not and often times they get saddled with one that is not a good fit for them.
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Jun 23 '25
I mean, the negotiated rate with the insurance might be extremely high (it's 14x higher than fair market price for my insurance).
Insurance quite literally is a scam.
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u/rtaisoaa Jun 23 '25
You said in another comment you’re trying to negotiate a $4,000 bill down for a similar visit.
Being bitter because the contracted in-network rate processed to your deductible and coinsurance is a bad look my dude.
Like I explained to someone else: People don’t always read what they’re signing up for, and I agree that lack of proper patient education on how billing works is what causes frustrated patients like yourself to cry about insurance being a scam.
Fwiw: If your insurance processed the claim properly at the in network rate, then I would reach out to the financial assistance portion of the hospital. That’s your best shot to try to get the bill reduced. Even if you think you make too much, you’re not in any worse off position for having submitted your information.
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u/Brendalalala Jun 23 '25
That's not fair. That might be the best plan his employer offers.
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u/rtaisoaa Jun 23 '25
Could be. Depends on if he’s with a large employer or a small employer. But then you either pay for the awful plan they have or negotiate an increase in pay to cover your expenses on the marketplace for one of those plans. Or you find another job with better insurance.
But there is no “Fair market Price” as the guy above seems to think there is. Healthcare isn’t a car and you generally can’t haggle the prices down.
There’s the billed amount and the negotiated rate per his insurance company. That’s typically it.
Now, can a clinic group or provider offer a discount to cash-pay patients? Yes. But, generally, if you have insurance it goes against the hospitals agreement with the insurance companies to not bill them if they’re in-network.
Being upset because insurance doesn’t work how you think it should doesn’t mean it’s a scam.
A lot of us in here want to be helpful to patients about insurance. Healthcare is hard enough to navigate on your own. But, coming into a sub, leaving one comment painting insurances with the broad strokes of “Scam” isn’t at all truthful or helpful. It just makes people sound bitter and angry that they got saddled with a shitty plan. We’re happy to try to help guide people within these awful plans, to give advice, but at the end of the day it’s up to the commenters and posters to be their own advocate and research plans and know their plans inside and out.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Yeah see plan I’m on is not exactly cheap. Of course, it’s money I owe it is what it is. Any plan that’s “cost effective” has 9-10k deductibles and crazy copays. There’s a reason some people go without the care they need. I just find the costs crazy
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u/rtaisoaa Jun 23 '25
Any plan that’s “cost effective” has 9-10k deductibles and crazy copays.
It depends on the plan your job is offering you or whether or not you’re on marketplace. But even then, Marketplace plans even with a HDHP aren’t all awful but you have to read what the plan actually covers. Believe it or not, they do tell you what the plans cover before you sign up for them.
Also depends on whether or not you’re contributing to an HSA and if your work is contributing too. It’s worth noting that HDHPs that are HSA eligible, if you don’t spend the funds, they roll over to the next plan year. It’s why in this sub you’ll see them recommended more often so long as you’re contributing to the HSA.
Even still, there have been tax subsidies for people to receive better plans than what they may have typically qualified for. My mom has a marketplace plan until she is on Medicare this year. She is on a mid-range plan ($35/mo or something) with expensive meds. Her expensive meds means she hits her OOPM early in the year and often the meds also come with a copay card so she pays little to nothing. Maybe $1,000 herself out of pocket for her meds before she’s actually met everything.
Also. Crazy co-pays? The max copay I’ve seen on a HDHP is $100. Most HDHP plans don’t have copays. Very few do or they’re attached to the plans that don’t have the $9,000 Deductible/Max Out of Pocket.
Also, any plan can have a “crazy” co-pay. I’m on a “good” plan by your definition and an advanced imaging copay for me for an MRI is $210. I don’t have a HDHP. I have a $750/$3,000. Go figure. But again, that’s part of the plan I’ve signed up for through my job.
Anyone signing up for a plan that has a $9,000 deductible/max OOPM is gambling that they won’t have anything serious happen to them. It’s also in the event that something serious does happen, where they need thousands of dollars worth of treatment, the most they’ll end up paying is $9,000. Better $9,000 than 20, 30, or even $50,000.
That’s really what insurance is. It’s a gamble. But you also get what you pay for.
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u/Prodiq Jun 23 '25
laughs in european
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
My wife is Finnish. When we lived in Finland, private insurance for me ran 300 a YEAR. Maybe it’s time to move back
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u/Prodiq Jun 23 '25
Emergency help often in Europe is free or has only symbolic payments even without insurance. Like its meant to be - we pay taxes, so we get at least the bare minimum support.
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u/slavetothemachine- Jun 23 '25
Setting aside that healthcare in the U.S. is an insanely expensive due to lack of public-funding, surely you lot understand that cost of healthcare is not measured in minutes/time they way it is for say a taxi?
The lack of health literacy is insane.
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u/Superb_Jaguar6872 Jun 23 '25
Are you my husband?
Same situation a few months ago. Sucks.
But be prepared to go back. This is a good sign to get your hospital bag ready, plans for pets and older kids in place, and know your route to the hospital.
Congrats on the pregnancy, hope you and your growing family are healthy and you have all the support and love from family you could possibly want.
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u/sandracinggorilla Jun 23 '25
It’s insane. Americans avoid care because they know this is what will happen. So many personal bankruptcies because of unexpected, exorbitant health bills. This is actually somewhat reasonable for an ER bill, could be way more tbh. But still, crazy. We let the problem get way too out of hand and I’m not sure how it’s fixable
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u/_splug Jun 23 '25
I would gladly pay that for a 5min ER visit vs paying the same amount for a 6 hr wait and hold.
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u/Mandalore-44 Jun 23 '25
Check your insurance plan and details.
There’s a good chance that quite a bit of that cost is an ER deductible (ie: 500 bucks just for walking in the door due to your insurance plan).
And let’s just say you met your plans deductible for the year, coinsurance will then kick in. My plan has an 80/20 coinsurance situation. … that means that once my deductible is met for the year, my insurance plan will pay 80% of the remaining cost and I will be responsible for 20%…
So if you’ve met your plans deductible for the year, it’s still not a free ride until you reach your out-of-pocket maximum!
I don’t know the details your plan. But ER visits are typically very expensive even if very little is done.
I’m a physician and I agree that the system absolutely sucks!
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u/PharaohOfParrots Jun 23 '25
You might could get financial assistance from the hospital to reduce this bill down if you need the assistance.
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u/SwimmingAway2041 Jun 23 '25
The insurance companies are the real scam artists. Did your insurance cover that bill? I would think a bill that big for such a short visit they would try and weasel their way out of paying it
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u/swap26 Jun 24 '25
yep hospitals are def responsible for the huge bills as well! Not just insurance companies. People dont get it easily.
Had a 8 k bill for a 10 min scheduled ear tube procedre for my toddler. like 8 k for total of 1 hour visit during which they handled him for 10 mins. 4 k was handling chrge to store and serve the anesthesia to the doctor to be used on my kid. another 2500 for the actual anesthesia lol!
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u/Friendly_Bank_7487 Jun 24 '25
Did you have to pay the full bill up front or is this after the services and after the EOB was delivered?
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u/Rocket_89P13 Jun 25 '25
Yea. Went to an urgent care about a month ago. They gave me a strep and flu test, that’s it. $380 after insurance
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Jun 25 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jun 25 '25
What do you suggest people do when they're having a medical emergency? Lack of fetal movement is the kind of thing that ERs are meant for.
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u/Pale_Marionberry_570 Jun 25 '25
Show me the emergency?
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Jun 25 '25
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u/Powwerrs Jun 23 '25
So dumb, I got a 6,000+ bill from the hospital , all they did was check my ear and give me ear drops. That’s it.
Didn’t even get to the root of the problem or anything.
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u/altacc59926960 Jun 23 '25
There is a lack of compassion in these comments no matter what way you look at it this is crazy.
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Jun 23 '25
That's cute.
I'm currently trying to negotiate down a $4000 charge (which in full was billed to instance at $9000) for a similar stint in an ER.
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u/IcyChampionship3067 Jun 23 '25
You're paying to cover all those who can't or don't pay because I (an emergency medicine physician) am required to treat everyone regardless.
The cuts to Medicaid mean your prices will go up or the hospital will go under because those patients will continue to roll in regardless.
Ronald Regan created the first medical mandate by signing EMTALA. I can't not treat anyone.
BTW, you absolutely did the right thing by coming in. Good job dad!
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u/LivingGhost371 Jun 23 '25
Emergency Rooms are expensive. Story at 11.
It's been many years since I've seen a claim for under $1000 from an ER for anything.
Mods should lock this thread as a rant there's no actual question that I can tell is being asked.
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u/Susiepeterson Jun 23 '25
Too bad you are not an illegal immigrant living in the state of MN....if so, your health care is 100% covered.
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u/Hokiewa5244 Jun 23 '25
Oh ffs. Undocumented would go through the same process, nothing different. You’ll both be sent to collections Jethro. Keep licking that boot worm
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u/LizNYC90 Jun 23 '25
Actually when it comes to pregnancy care that's true for all states, not just MN.
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u/Some_Specialist5792 Jun 23 '25
If your low income most major medical hospitals provide financial assistance
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u/Just_Deal6122 Jun 23 '25
I assume you haven't met your deductible yet, which is why the patient's portion is high. However, this amount is significantly less than what you would owe without insurance, thanks to the discounted rate negotiated between your insurance and the hospital.
Without insurance, you would owe much more because hospitals always charge exorbitantly high rates, while insurance companies significantly adjust these charges. The system is broken like you said, with hospitals overcharging and insurance companies not wanting to pay.
I hope your payment applies toward your annual deductible, which would reduce your portion for any future care this year.
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u/Hokiewa5244 Jun 23 '25
Not entire true. Cash payers usually start with a 40% reduction and that’s simply from walking in the door. You can then attempt to negotiate further or look into various forms of aid
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u/bkrs33 Jun 23 '25
Look on the bright side, you’re closer to meeting your deductible for the delivery.
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Jun 24 '25
[deleted]
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 24 '25
You should probably inform yourself a little before commenting
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Jun 24 '25
[deleted]
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Jun 22 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bruton___Gaster Jun 23 '25
This is a bananas take. For someone who is feeling a baby kick frequently, if it stops long enough to notice, go to the ED and check in… it very well could be an emergency. Of the bullshit reasons people go to the ED, not feeling your baby kick isn’t one of them. (Even though, yes, as time goes on it may be felt less noticeably, etc). No way an office visit would work, or an UC. Maybe a call to the OBGYN emergency line would have gotten in touch with a physician, but if it’s nursing or other triage they would have said to go to the ER. Sometimes the ED is where you go. The price can still suck.
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u/wackogirl Jun 23 '25
You're both wrong and an asshole for this comment.
Reduced/no feral movement is absolutely a valid reason to seek emergency medical care. To be fair it should have been at a hospital with an L&D unit for appropriate assessment and monitoring there, not in an ED, but you are 100% wrong in claiming this didn't require medical care and if someone actually listened to your terrible, wrong claim it could result in their unborn baby suffering brain damage or death. No that is not an exaggeration. Reduced feral movement can be a sign of hypoxia in the fetus which can result in brain damage or even fetal death. Monitoring can asses if the fetus is possibly or definitely in distress and emergency delivery can be performed if needed. Pregnant women are specifically told to seek medical care for this. I've literally seen full term still births resulting from pregnant women not coming into the hospital for this for a few days because they thought it was no big deal.
Source - L&D nurse for over a decade.
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Wow thank you. I was going to delete this post until I saw your comment. Thank you for your amazing explanation
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u/wackogirl Jun 23 '25
I'm sorry some asshat who clearly knows literally nothing about pregnancy and appropriate prenatal care made you feel bad for this post. I'm also sorry about the bill, it's sadly a valid one but it sucks that we live in a country with a system where people have to worry about bills like this (and also sorry that whoever you or your wife spoke to from the office didn't clarify to go to a hospital with an OB department, since a hospital without OB can't really do the appropriate feral monitoring that your wife should have gotten even after she started feeling movements again).
I'm glad everything was OK with your baby though and congrats (whether already born or just in advance)!
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Its one thing if that person wants to be a know it all its another that they put out dangerous info like that. Thank you so much! she will be here any day now
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u/skydreamer303 Jun 23 '25
I don't know why but people on Reddit will defend insurance costs like they personally work for United healthcare. Hell maybe they do. I'm sorry you had to pay so much money just for a quick check. In a civilized country it would have been free or very cheap around $50. People need to stop normalizing this insanity
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 22 '25
Funny, we called the nurse line and they strongly advised us to go to the ER. Babies should kick a few times an hour, if not something MAY be wrong.
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u/Fluffydoggie Jun 23 '25
There are literally pre-natal advertisements and education called “Count the Kicks”. OP went to the ER because it was after business hours. Had the fetus not kicked while in there, they would have been hooked up to a fetal monitor and had an ultrasound to determine it there is complications which may have ended up with an emergency C-section in an attempt to save its life.
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u/bevespi Jun 23 '25
This is incorrect. Decreased FM, as described, can be an emergency and thus patients are often advised to go to the ED for decreased FM and will often be taken upstairs to L&D triage.
-A physician
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u/HealthInsurance-ModTeam Jun 23 '25
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u/Theawokenhunter777 Jun 23 '25
That’s because you went for an emergency over your own paranoia. I get it though with yalls circumstances, I totally do, but there’s a reason for an ER being an EMERGENCY
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u/leDanielx2 Jun 23 '25
Yeah, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Also, only the ER was open at our hospital. They directed us to the ER.
•
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