r/HospitalBills May 10 '25

Hospital-Emergency $1995 ER Bill for 4 stitches in my toe

Cut my toe pretty bad, tried going to urgent care but they were all closed (6:45pm on Sunday) so I ended up just going to the ER. Got 4 stitches and a nice hefty bill. Crazy to me.

47 Upvotes

357 comments sorted by

36

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

Complains about cost of medical bills... suggests not paying medical bills... which is the reason medical bills are so high.

Peak America.

3

u/[deleted] May 10 '25

[deleted]

9

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

Yes.

8

u/nrappaportrn May 10 '25

đŸ€ŁđŸ˜‚đŸ€Ł

3

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

đŸ€ŁđŸ˜‚đŸ€Ł

2

u/justhp May 10 '25

My system currently has $10 million in collections. We aren’t a big system. $10 million worth of services we performed but the patient refused to pay.

That alone would make our system profitable

2

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

People think all hospitals just print money. They don't realize that almost half lose money or have to be propped by grants and local taxes. Those of use who work in Healthcare finance know different. There are exceptions, of course, some large systems do well. But that's not the norm.

4

u/Legitimate_Catch_626 May 12 '25

The hospital I work for has its first positive quarter in a decade. We were in the black by $10,000. We’re still projected to have a loss for the year but with cuts-both to staff and provided services, we have gone from 60million in the hole to a projected 2 million in the hole. Only very large healthcare system are making money. Small and rural hospitals are hanging on by their fingernails.

1

u/DCRBftw May 12 '25

People don't understand this. They just assume that because prices are so expensive, everyone must be getting rich. They don't realize that many hospitals struggle to make payroll.

1

u/justhp May 11 '25

yeah, im in admin but on the clinical side and still get roped into meetings about finance. I don't understand all of it, but I see every month how much in the red we are

1

u/Sweets_0822 May 14 '25

Super rural town. One small hospital that's a non-profit healthcare system and then they run several primary care / specialists too (nothing crazy but like PT).

$9 MILLION deficit last year.

I have no idea what the collections are since I don't work there but if it's anything like yours, yup.

I used to work in healthcare, unrelated to the hospital. Our reimbursements were disgusting. They didn't even pay for the provider's time, much less the nursing staff, administrative staff (not even the "big wigs" - talking about the folks who check you in), building rent, or pharmaceuticals. There is no money in healthcare, for the most part. It's so so so broken.

0

u/Asleep-Jackfruit-837 May 11 '25

Stop treating illegals

Change the law

4

u/Legitimate_Catch_626 May 12 '25

Next time you’re brought in by an ambulance do you want the medical staff to just sit around and wait for someone to bring in proof of citizenship, or do you want your life saved?

3

u/justhp May 11 '25

99% of our patient panel is legal.

The majority of people who don’t pay are middle aged white people who refuse to believe their insurance doesn’t cover 100%

1

u/GroinFlutter May 13 '25

LOL you think citizens are paying their bills??

1

u/Sweets_0822 May 14 '25

So you're having a heart attack. Time is of the essence. You want to wait for the overworked medical and administrative staff to wait around on your citizenship papers? GTFO.

Also, I ran a program working with folks who were migrants, some of them undocumented. Guess who ALWAYS paid their bills? Those folks.

1

u/Atticus413 May 14 '25

That's not the problem.

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1

u/The_Dude_2U May 13 '25

wrong

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

It's not. I've worked with this for a long time. But thanks for replying.

1

u/The_Dude_2U May 13 '25

So you’re saying the sole reason that medical care is expensive is because of non payment? Thats it? No other reasons, like insurance deals, Pharma etc
Nothing? Just non payment? Patient compliance? Anything else?

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

Nope.

I mean I didn't think I'd need to spell out that doctors and MRI machines cost money, but apparently common sense is gone. Of course it's not the sole reason. Doctors make 200K a year on average. Nurses make 70-80K on average. Equipment is expensive. I assumed people had enough common sense to understand this. I was wrong.

1

u/The_Dude_2U May 13 '25

You were wrong.

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

Nope. But I know that you have no idea what you're talking about. You just want to disagree and argue.

1

u/The_Dude_2U May 13 '25

No I don’t. I’m just aware that it takes more than 1 variable to inflate medical care costs to the point where we are today. The staff doesn’t set the prices or control them.

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1

u/Ooohitsdash May 13 '25

You’re on drugs son.

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

Sure thing.

1

u/Ooohitsdash May 13 '25

Do you even work billing at a hospital? Can you pull up how much money is provided by other companies/gov to hospitals who have too many people not pay bills? Do you know what’s their min/max tax write off?

Son you’re on drugs. It’s more than lowering prices, but I’m sure you own a hospital, do billing, and take care of a whole floor on your own. đŸ€Ł

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

I worked in billing when I first started out of college. I'm now over the department that does insurance contracts and provider credentialing. I also spent 7 years as an analyst for pricing and bad debt outsourcing.

But please, tell me what you do for a living.

1

u/Ooohitsdash May 13 '25

So then you for sure know, that lowering the price won’t do shit. I actually worked as a nurse and with someone who does billing.

Which is fine, but just doing what you’re doing doesn’t validate the make shit cheaper and people will pay.

Now I stay at home and sell collectibles. :D

I only go to a nasty ass hospital when myself or someone around me is sick.

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

Lowering the price would lower the price lol. It's not meant to do anything else.

I don't know what "doesn't validate the make shit cheaper and people will pay" means.

Most people only go to hospitals when they're sick.

1

u/GroinFlutter May 13 '25

Ah yes. Nurses. The all knowledgeable role in the revenue cycle.

1

u/Ooohitsdash May 13 '25

I know cause you’re doing damn near everything for everyone. See most of the prices and everything minus actual insurance break down
 yeah nurses make the hospitals run kiddo.

1

u/lonestar659 May 13 '25

Lol
 what copium are you smoking? I want some.

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

You're too late to the party. All the idiots have already come and gone.

1

u/lonestar659 May 13 '25

Nope, I’m here!

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

Well you might as well get to the punch and tell me what career you have that doesn't qualify you to speak on this situation. We've had an electrician and a trading card salesman so far today. I forget yesterday... one had a bunch of porn posted, so that was interesting.

1

u/lonestar659 May 13 '25

Was it at least good porn?

1

u/DCRBftw May 13 '25

It wasn't bad... but it did lead me to a group of people that were commenting about women with penises. And while I'm all for everyone having their fun, I prefer my women penisless in general.

1

u/jackzander May 14 '25

Clown shit.

1

u/DCRBftw May 14 '25

I'm sure you know a lot about it.

0

u/Hippo-Crates May 10 '25

lol, it would not

Seriously y'all, I'm an er doctor, the largely private groups won't charge less, they'd just make more. The hospital won't say no to more money either.

6

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

I've been in hospital finance for 23 years. No one said anything about saying no to more money. Come back when you understand how the bills are paid.

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u/Feelisoffical May 11 '25

Factually, yes.

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1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

Yea, not because billionaires have 5 yachts, 7 airplanes, nuclear proof bunkers and 9 mansions. Riiiighhhtt. You’re telling me you’re OK with billionaires being that rich, while working class people can’t afford medical services? Instead of taxing those billionaires and funding those medical services? All the while your hard earned tax dollars are going to bombing Palestinians? Distopian.

1

u/DCRBftw May 14 '25

Huh? I didn't say anything about anything you just said lol. I dunno wtf you're talking about.

1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25

I’m saying that people not paying their medical bills is not the reason why medical bills are so high. It’s because the government is robbing you of your hard earned tax and ultimately corrupt.

1

u/DCRBftw May 14 '25

The government doesn't profit from hospitals. I mean I hate the government as much as anyone, but outside of Medicare and medicaid being tax funded, which actually gives millions of people health insurance, I dont see the connection you're making.

1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

I’m saying that we could remove profit motive from the medical sector completely, and fund medical services with our tax dollars. And the reason why that’s not happening is because our government is corrupt and owned by billionaires who pay a historically low tax rate, and profit in an exploitative and extortionist manner from our need for healthcare. And THATS why the bill for four stitches is $2000 instead of $25. And not simply because of the cost of infrastructure and medical services. I am refuting your statement that people not paying medical bills is the reason why medical bills are so expensive. That’s what you said right? That’s the reason why medical bills are so expensive is because people don’t pay them? No it’s because you’re being robbed blind by your government that is run by puppets controlled by billionaires.

1

u/DCRBftw May 14 '25

I mean, saying that a different system would be better isn't a reason why current bills are so high. I'm guessing you don't work in hospital finance and you've never done a budget for a medical system. We have the system we have. Whether a different system would be better is irrelevant to what currently causes bills to be so high. I don't think you understand the impact unpaid bills have or why prices keep rising because of them. I don't think you're qualified to speak on it, honestly.

1

u/GenderDysphoriaa May 10 '25

Hell yeah man, America sucks. People are so stingy with their money, I would pay the shit out of a 50k bill for an ambulance ride and antibiotics. Bunch of losers

1

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

Has nothing to do with America sucking. Has everything to do with people being clueless as to why a problem exists. Solid comprehension from you.

2

u/[deleted] May 10 '25

Medical bills are not high exclusively because people are not paying. We have a bunch of slimy bastards that run our shit.

2

u/DCRBftw May 10 '25

No one ever said that was the exclusive reason.

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u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 May 11 '25

This is literally not the major reason why medical bills are so high lmao

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

Where do you see words that say "this is the main reason medical bills are so high"?.

Learn how to read.

Lmao.

1

u/zerozaro7 May 12 '25

Broski it's cool to be catty when you're right but you did say "this is THE reason." Basic comprehension of the English language would lead people to assume that you're saying that it is the (primary) reason. You would've had a case if you had said "a reason" because it would've implied one (of many) reasons. Chill out and don't expect people to read your mind.

1

u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 May 11 '25

When you say, “the reason”, it indicates it is a singular reason. I’m not sure it’s valid to tell me to “learn how to read”. Maybe it might be more fitting for you to brush up on plurality and grammar overall.

I hope you have the day you deserve. Cheers.

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

So no one said it was the major reason? Cool.

I'm sure you would have preferred me to say "a reason", but sadly, I can't see into the future and know that someone would be dumb enough to think that one single factor goes into making anything expensive, particularly medical bills. I mean... everyone knows there's overhead, right? Equipment, salaries, etc? That goes without saying... right? In the future I'll do my best to spell out every single thing that goes into making something expensive so one asshole doesn't come along and want to be a douchebag.

1

u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 May 11 '25

I appreciate your commitment to doing better in the future. Hopefully, you can achieve.

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u/empressadraca May 11 '25

Dude, you said "the reason".

1

u/PandemicPandaBear May 11 '25

Medical bills not being paid are not the reason why medical bills are so high. 😂

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

It's a big part of it. I'm not sure why this is understood by so many people, but not by you.

2

u/SpookyGeist01 May 11 '25

It is a tiny part of it. 95% of the cost of medical bills is due to insurance driving up the cost + lawsuits against medical professionals.

People don't pay BECAUSE it is so expensive. It idnt the other way around.

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

You just made up a number lol. You have zero knowledge about medical malpractice relative to unpaid medical bills. You're talking out of your ass.

1

u/SpookyGeist01 May 11 '25

Okay, what's your number and where did you get it from?

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

What number? I didn't give a number. I just said that you pulled one out of your ass and it's painfully obvious. The cost of malpractice insurance is a drop in the bucket compared to unpaid medical bills. Use the internet and educate yourself.

1

u/SpookyGeist01 May 11 '25

Right, which is why I'm asking for your number. You said my number is wrong, so you must know the correct number in order to be able to say that with such confidence.

1

u/DCRBftw May 11 '25

No lol. I'm not here to discuss malpractice insurance with someone who obviously doesn't know what they're talking about.

I know your number is wrong because you said 95% and the context of your reply proved that this isn't something you're an expert on. I'll give you a hint. What our hospital pays in malpractice insurance is less than 10% of what we write off to bad debt (people not paying bills). You obviously don't work with these situations or numbers and you made things up just to have a point.

1

u/SpookyGeist01 May 11 '25

Cool, so you're making an appeal to credentials logical fallacy instead of addressing my actual argument, proving that you have zero evidence to the contrary so instead of proving me wrong you make personal attacks against me to try and avoid presenting proof.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Pie9653 May 10 '25

Better said you got 4 stitches placed by a person who college educated themselves 8+ years and then 3-4 yr residency at least, probably already 40 by the time started making money, in a hospital cared for by nurses and received a numbing agent and wound thoroughly cleaned all when everyone else had gone home from work hours ago and no longer available. You received this in a sterile environment using sterile technique with sterile stitches and equipment.

This isn't I got four stitches made of horse hair thread by Pedro Pascal with a rusty nail while taking shots of rum after getting bit by a zombie in a cow pasture.

3

u/100mgSTFU May 10 '25

Point taken, but I’ll just add that whomever did the stitching is not getting much of that. They’re on an hourly wage and probably got less than $200-300 of this.

Most of it goes to the many many hands that are in that pie. All the supplies are stupidly expensive.

3

u/HopefulCat3558 May 10 '25

There’s also a building that has to be paid for and all of the equipment and furnishings as well as the costs and people to run the place.

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u/EM_CCM May 11 '25

The idea that an ER doctor is making $200-300 for putting 4 stitches in your toe is downright laughable. If that were the case they would be making a million dollars a year, rather than a quarter of that. It’s not the doctors making the money, nor setting the prices, nor billing you. 

1

u/100mgSTFU May 11 '25

I kinda assumed that they would be making roughly $300-$350/hr and that between intake, assessment, set-up, suturing, teaching, discharge, clean-up, and charting that one would be getting near the 45 min mark in time spent on that patient. Clearly not spending 45 min doing 4 sutures.

But I don’t work in the ED. My broader point, which I think you’d agree with, is that those providing care are not driving the obscene costs.

1

u/Ticklemextreme May 13 '25

Laughs at the 550k surgeon salary and 450k anesthesiologist salary. Yup doctor’s salaries have 0 effect in this right????? lol

1

u/Macduffer May 13 '25

Doctor salaries are about 10% of the total healthcare system cost. Including inflation, they've actually been going down for about 25 years. So, not really.

1

u/BlueLanternKitty May 12 '25

The amount billed to insurance, the amount insurance supposed to pay, and what the provider/hospital receives can be three completely different numbers.

1

u/BottleNearby339 May 12 '25

Your argument can be applied to almost any other country minus the $1000+ bill

1

u/KovyJackson May 12 '25

The person that did the stitches are not doing 8+ years and residency.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Pie9653 May 13 '25

You don't know what you are talking about. Occasionally you get a doc like me. Not always a mid-level. Yeah, it's 8+ years and five of residency.

1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25

Yea, not because billionaires have 5 yachts, 7 airplanes, nuclear proof bunkers and 9 mansions. Riiiighhhtt. You’re telling me you’re OK with billionaires being that rich, while working class people can’t afford medical services? Instead of taxing those billionaires and funding those medical services?. We all pay a considerable portion of our wage in taxes, it’s ridiculous that our economy can afford billionaires to live like literal emperors, while working class people struggle just to get their feet stitched. Distopian. Also price gouging by insurances in the medical sector is well documented. It’s common for something to cost 80 times the value of production. That’s just pure evil, it’s like they’re saying “I know you need this to live and you can’t get this anywhere else so I’m gonna charge you 80 times what it cost me to make it, because I know you’ll pay it or die.” Absolutely distopian. And the the largest corporations, who also own the media and our politicians, have convinced us, and you, that this is all normal.

1

u/lifelong1250 May 10 '25

Fair. But I had similar care in a hospital in Vietnam by a doctor trained in France and the total was about 150 bucks.

2

u/Virtual_Ad1704 May 11 '25

But that building in Vietnam costs the same as the electric bill of any major hospital in the US. Anyone in Vietnam doesn't have 24/7 access to majors hospitals, newest imaging, or most specialized care like trauma surgery or burns hospitals. Not only that but they dont get to sue for millions if they feel wronged or something goes poorly.

1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25

All of that could be funded by your tax dollars and cost you nothing, we are getting robbed blind of our hard earned tax money and it’s being used to bomb Palestinians.

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u/Virtual_Ad1704 May 14 '25

Tell that to trump voters who want tax cuts for billionaires and cuts to Medicaid. Shit is about to get a whole lot more expensive for the average person

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u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25

Yeah, I agree. It’s pretty insane. America is just so gaslit.

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u/ailema00 May 10 '25

That's a pretty good bill for the Er...

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u/AmbassadorSad1157 May 10 '25

why would insurance not pay anything? Hadn't met deductible? Sunday afternoon and no urgent care requires emergency treatment for suturing.

4

u/noachy May 10 '25

Deductible would be my guess.

2

u/pseudoseizure May 10 '25

Or out of network.

2

u/swellloko May 11 '25

The no surprises act protects against anything higher than your in network cost sharing amount when seeing an out of network provider. See you are protected from balance billing.

1

u/NYanae555 May 11 '25

Insurance probably has an existing agreement with the hospital system that this type of service is worth $691.14 and that's all they're obligated to pay. But either OP signed a balance billing agreement or balance billing is legal in their state. And now they're stuck with a $1,995 bill for stitches in a toe when no other medical care was available.

1

u/Shitp0st_Supreme May 13 '25

Not exactly, it’s just a reduction in the bill, a fee the hospital waives in exchange for being in-network with the insurance. It’s negotiated when they do credentialing and they have contracts.

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u/DoritosDewItRight May 10 '25

OP do you have a question for us?

3

u/horseproofbonkin May 10 '25

Oh, I read this as "1995 ER Bill".

1

u/StrangeButSweet May 10 '25

Dang, they’re gonna be sending you to collections soon, my man

3

u/MNrunner19 May 11 '25

Vast amount of people have no idea how the billing for ER works or how their insurance coverage works. ER is obviously the most expensive route of care. In the ER you will have both the doctors professional charges and a hospital facility charge. That pays for the building, overhead, staff etc so the ER exists when you happen to need it. Then if the facility is contracted with your insurance and the ER charges more than the contacted rate, the difference between the billed amount and the contact amount is adjusted off by the facility as a contracted adjustment amount. Lots of people think this means their insurance paid. No, they did not. If you have a high deductible plan and most people do that allowed amount goes towards meeting your deductible and you pay that. Most people these days never meet their deductible or out of pocket max amount.

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u/Jrugger9 May 12 '25

I mean you are paying for emergent care. That being said the doc gets like 70-100 bucks for that at most. The hospital is also up charging you, you’re also paying the emergency premium for an ED to be staffed and stocked.

1995 is steep but there is also reason for that

6

u/Secure-Solution4312 May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25

The ER isn’t just a walk in clinic for stitches. Its a place where the CT scanner and MRI are ready and warmed up in case you have a stroke. The Vascular Surgeon, Cardiologist, Urologist, Neurosurgeon, Orthopedist and so forth are paid to be on call at any hour of the day. Teams are trained and on standby to resuscitate you if your heart stops. There is a blood bank to give you a transfusion should you need it and even a little antivenin stored heaven forbid you get bit by a snake. They can deliver your baby. They can surgically remove your baby if you die and resuscitate the infant. They can crack your chest and massage your heart to keep you alive. That stuff costs money. Yes, they do stitches too. But the cost to keep the lights on is quite a lot more than your local Doctor’s office

I’m happy you tried urgent care first. Maybe the hospital has a payment plan they can put you on. Our local hospital will do that at 0% interest.

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u/Ken-Popcorn May 10 '25

This needed to be said, and you did it well

1

u/moneymarkmoney May 11 '25

Not every hospital has even close to all these services/teams/surgeons/equipment/ability that you just listed. For all we know they could have gone to their local small hospital, which for anything other than those stitches wudda sent them out to another more advanced and able hospital, meaning they are not paying for any of that. If you can make assumptions, so can I.

1

u/NYanae555 May 11 '25

^ THIS. Its bizarre that people think the average emergency department has all this available if needed. They don't. At best they'll stabilize you and tell you to go make an appointment with a specialist ( who won't be available for days, weeks, or months ). OR. They'll have you stay without officially admitting you because the MRI or CAT isn't available for a few days.

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u/[deleted] May 10 '25

Honestly I'd expect a higher bill than that if I went to the ER for anything. 

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u/jag-engr May 10 '25

That sounds cheap for the ER. Are you sure all the bills have come in?

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u/Former_Bill_1126 May 12 '25

Damn that’s pretty cheap for an American ER visit.

3

u/xxPipeDaddyxx May 10 '25

To anyone refusing to pay medical bills, do you not think the doctors, nurses, techs, etc. deserve to get paid? Should they take care of your entitled asses for free?

Nobody likes the cost of healthcare. Everybody knows insurance companies suck. Most people realize hospitals are in business to make money (yes, even the "not for profit" ones). But you should pay what you can. If you can't pay that's one thing. Failing to pay just to "make a point" though? Cmon... nobody is falling for that.

The irony is that in an effort to stick it to the system, you are paying your premiums and rewarding the biggest instigator of our healthcare mess. And instead you make everyone else pay more, and the hospitals charge more, because of your actions.

Entitled people suck.

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u/Still_Owl2314 May 10 '25

Hi. This isn’t how the system works. I can’t enlighten you because there are hundreds of variables at play. I can say without a doubt that your reasoning here is not one that would solve the issue of the medical industrial complex greed or bring costs down. I would be interested to hear your thoughts once you’ve looked into medical facility pricing, separate from insurance involvement. Whatever anyone thinks about how much insurance companies suck, know that the medical facilities are even worse.

2

u/xxPipeDaddyxx May 10 '25

It wont affect the cost for people with insurance because those rates are basically set by negotiating with insurance companies. So it affects the folks that can least afford it - those without insurance that do try to pay their bills.

Its all evolving though. There is consolidation of the market by insurance companies (many areas only have one or two payers) making "negotiating" with them impossible.

But there is also a trend of consolidation by the hospital systems as they buy out practices, thus increasing their negotiating power.

Lost in all of it is the idea of patients as anything but numbers, and that's the real damn shame.

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u/[deleted] May 10 '25

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u/MoreRamenPls May 10 '25

I would like to think it would but I also this Big Insurance would think “Hey, they can pay their bills. Let’s find the sweet spot to where they can’t pay their bills and I get a bonus!!”

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u/wildcat105 May 10 '25

The rest of us pay for the people who don't.

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u/xxPipeDaddyxx May 10 '25

It's all baked in. Do you think that hospitals are just going to eat the 5 percent of bad debt? Or do you think they will charge self pay people more to try to make up for it? They definitely track bad debt and factor it in when setting prices.

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u/saltyclover May 10 '25

I’m a nurse and I don’t get paid based off of people paying their bills. My company pays me. Same with the physicians, techs, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, environmental, ancillary, etc I work with. If we only got paid based on people paying their hospital bills no one would get paid ?

6

u/SnooBananas7072 May 10 '25

I also work in Healthcare as well, and technically we do. That's how the hospital has money to pay us. It's just delayed and not in real-time. But if they don't get any reimbursement, they won't have money to pay us. That's how all companies basically work, Healthcare or otherwise. (This comment is for the US, obviously).

3

u/usernametaken2024 May 10 '25

and now you know why we have so much federal debt. Not just because a few working age able people don’t pay their bills, but mostly because taxpayer picks up medicare and medicaid bills for unprecedented numbers of aging ill longest living population by borrowing from other (China) countries.

so yes, we are paid by a giant credit card with an enormous balance

2

u/wildcat105 May 10 '25

This. It blows my mind that people don't know this. Thank you for educating people as to where their paycheck comes from if people aren't paying their company for services rendered.

3

u/PortlyPorcupine May 10 '25

This may be true for your group but it’s not universal. I’m an ER doc and I only make money if a patient (or insurance) pays their bill.

2

u/saltyclover May 10 '25

That sucks. Especially in the ER. I’m in the ER too, a lot of families yell at me that they’re not gonna pay their bill and I said ok I literally do not have anything to do with your bill nor do I know what will be covered under your insurance plan 😬

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u/xxPipeDaddyxx May 10 '25

What? Where do you think the money comes from for the company to pay you?

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u/saltyclover May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25

I work for the largest health system in the mid Atlantic region of the US. Theres a lot of non-payers. I still get my raise every year along with all of the other 140k+ employees. Do you think hospitals are only funded by paid medical bills?

ETA: we also don’t get reimbursed for bounce backs (patients returning to the ER following discharge within a certain time frame) and let me tell you after doing this for a decade of my life you cannot prevent bounce backs. It’s so much more in depth than just “if you don’t pay your bill the staff won’t get paid”.

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u/ApprehensiveApalca May 10 '25

You have a high deductible, meaning your health insurance will really only save you money if you have some kind of catastrophic event

2

u/EmZee2022 May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25

HDHP plans are, I've alrways said, fantastic if you're disgustingly healthy (rarely meet your deductible) or have a lot of issues (blow through your deductible and OOP fast every year). If you are on the healthy side, maxing out your HSA can be great in preparing for future years. If you are on the sicker side, paying a much out of pocket - vs using HSA funds - can also be good as much as you can manage.

That's just my rambling though, not relevant for the OP.

2K for a few stitches does seem high, even at ER prices.

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u/ApprehensiveApalca May 10 '25

I agree. Assuming you make financially sound decisions. However, most people choose a HDHP because is cheap, don't contribute to their HSA, and don't save for medical emergencies

1

u/Turbulent-Pay1150 May 10 '25

Agree HDHP is the way of you have high or low utilization - you come out ahead. The HSA puts you much further ahead tax wise as well. 

If you are in the middle on use every time I’ve modeled it the cost swings about 500-1000 one way or the other over the year sometimes the HDHP is cheaper, sometimes a deductible plan is cheaper. I still model it annually when making the choice but looking at my HSA balance now I don’t think I’d switch until the math changes much more solidly to the deductible bills favor. Saving 500-1000 a month in premium for me outweighs the very modest annual risk of 500-1000 in actual money out of pocket worst case scenario  

1

u/EmZee2022 May 10 '25

For me, the HDHP is better. I hit my OOP every year. Not so much for my husband. We're both covered through his job since theirs is better than my job's coverage.

I haven't redone that modeling in several years but you are right to do so, as the balance can change quite a bit.

Next year we will probably switch to a more traditional plan, as it's quite likely one or both of us will be on Medicare and you can't contribute to an HSA. That's actually why I haven't signed up for part A yet even though I'm 65 (we won't have a penalty because we have work coverage).

1

u/Turbulent-Pay1150 May 10 '25

And every month in the premium you aren’t paying which can be significantly less. 

1

u/PatriciaTorbed May 10 '25

My bill for 4 stitches and an x-ray of my thumb was much lower at an urgent care. Sorry you got stuck with a high bill, but try to only use the ER when there is no other choice or you might actually die. If this happened at night then I know the urgent care might be closed. I wish there were some open late at night, but there aren't by me.

1

u/jprata May 10 '25

I wonder what the cash price would have been? Hospitals usually charge less if you tell them you don’t have insurance. Insurance jacks up the price on us and we’re stuck with the bill. 

Can you tell them you don’t have insurance at first, see the price and then get insurance involved? 

1

u/Icy_Pass2220 May 10 '25

Yeah, thats called fraud. 

The consequences of this are that should you develop complications for your cash pay injury, you’re now stuck paying cash for any care related to that. 

1

u/TeHamilton May 13 '25

Insurance negotiated a lower price you can see that.

1

u/Fluffydoggie May 10 '25

Why is it saying your insurance hasn’t paid anything? You might have this adjusted once the insurance covers their portion. You’ll be stuck paying your deductible and/or ER co-pay, if any of those apply.

1

u/TeHamilton May 13 '25

Because insurance doesnt pay any until deductible is met

1

u/katcat55 May 10 '25

Did the hospital submit to your insurance?

1

u/CaryWhit May 10 '25

Well I can assure you that the farm and ranch method is pretty unpleasant but you get beer!

1

u/Difficult-Way-9563 May 10 '25

At that rate, I’d probably just buy a pack of 3-0 or 4-0 nylon/silk and close with 4 sutures myself. Even if you had to pay $20 for a pack.

1

u/OriginalOmbre May 11 '25

Looks like ya got a vaccine there too. I bet they were administered by highly trained personnel in a clean environment!

1

u/DefinitelyNotWendi May 12 '25

Tetanus shot. Standard procedure if you don’t know when your last one was.

1

u/OriginalOmbre May 12 '25

Absolutely! The title says they only got 4 stitches.

1

u/4ofheartz May 11 '25

What are your benefits for an ER visit. Copay/coinsurance? A few years my er copay with health insurance was a set amount.

1

u/Local-Programmer790 May 11 '25

Was the hospital in network with your insurance?

1

u/Adventurous_Ad7442 May 11 '25

I'm surprised that it's not more than that. So glad that you're okay.

1

u/motaboat May 12 '25

It’s unfortunate that your injury happened at a time that no urgent care facilities were open. But this required you to have medical care at an emergency room. While you may feel that the services you received or minor, you have to realize that the costs bill to you are the costs associated with maintaining a roomthat can provide much more extensive services than your four stitches. Consequently, your costs reflect that higher medical technology.

1

u/Bitchfaceblond May 12 '25

Id ask the billing team why insurance denied it. Or call insurance.(Source: myself. I was a medical biller. I cleared up denied claims)

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u/g0d_Lys1strata May 13 '25

Insurance didn't deny it. It was adjusted to the contracted price with his insurer. The final amount due is likely because he has not yet met his deductible.

1

u/Bitchfaceblond May 13 '25

This is considered a denial because insurance didn't pay, regardless of the reason. Id have to go back and rework this claim if I were at my old job. Typically if it is a deductible it should say so on the bill, but that doesn't always happen. But we won't know until we see this person's explanation of benefits.

1

u/g0d_Lys1strata May 13 '25

I've never had a single bill from a provider reflect that the balance due was due to my remaining deductible or coinsurance. I've only seen deductible balance mentioned on EOBs.

1

u/Bitchfaceblond May 13 '25

Sometimes they will. Depends on the provider. I think they should all do it.

1

u/MoJoCreatior May 12 '25

That's insane,

I had a laceration from glass in my foot pad,

Around 10-12mm long 3-5 mm deep,

I cleaned it, and did 4 stitches myself at home,

Cost me~5$ worth of medical supplies, And 15 minutes of time.

It's healed perfectly at this point.

Idgaf what other people are saying, Stitches are not brain surgery. It should never cost 2 grand for four stitches.

1

u/yulbrynnersmokes May 12 '25

Learn how to sew đŸȘĄ

1

u/Old_Draft_5288 May 13 '25

ER fees cover having emergency doctors and nursery available, they are high because it’s expensive as fuck to run.

1

u/moosemoose214 May 13 '25

And for emergencies- not four stitches that urgent care can do.

1

u/Old_Draft_5288 May 14 '25

Many urgent cares will not do stitches, they send you to the ER

1

u/moosemoose214 May 14 '25

Other than the 96+% that do. What they don’t do is complicated stitches but yes - urgent care does stitches

1

u/TexasPete_Sauce May 13 '25

Don’t pay it. It won’t go on your credit.

1

u/TeHamilton May 13 '25

I think anything over 500 can and will

1

u/TexasPete_Sauce May 13 '25

Must depend on your state I’m in AL and just finished filing for bankruptcy I have years of hospital bills none where on my credit report

1

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

Unless it's the middle of the night or you are actively bleeding out, never go to the ER for stitches, go to urgent care. It's vastly cheaper and you aren't bogging up the ER for ACTUAL emergencies.

1

u/moosemoose214 May 13 '25

You went to the er for four stitches in your toe - more urgent than emergency

1

u/TeHamilton May 13 '25

Yea dont go to er unless its an emergency you coulda wrapped your toe and went to urgent care in the am

1

u/Typical-Walrus-9474 May 13 '25

As a former e.r nurse I just use superglue these days if I need stitches. Because they charge 200$ for a Tylenol.. and 20$ for a pair of gloves.. America is crazy work. I'm so sorry.

1

u/Southern_Body_4381 May 13 '25

Urgent care is the place to go for that. Not the ER.

1

u/TortoisePDX May 13 '25

Yes it is. That's why I went there first only to be turned away because they were closed.

1

u/Southern_Body_4381 May 13 '25

That sucks. I would've super glued my stuff shut for a day before I step foot in an ER. I better be dying to pay those prices I'm sorry

1

u/SafeLongjumping2712 May 13 '25

The cost of a service depends on a negotiated rate. If you met your deductible your costs go down

This is a generalization..so please dont correct specifics.

The problem the rates depend on the negotiated rates and not the realistic actual cost.

Imagine buying a shirt and the amount you pay depends on what group you are a part of. Example. Teacher, Mormon, lawmaker, unemployed, retire, teenager, etc

1

u/Dog-Chick May 13 '25

This is Capitalism and for profit healthcare.

1

u/Gold_Telephone_7192 May 13 '25

You need to figure out why your insurance didn't cover any of it. Ask for an itemized bill from the hospital and call them and confirm that they billed your insurance and if so, ask why it was rejected. Then call your insurance to confirm they received the bill and if so, why they rejected payment. Don't pay this bill until you get your insurance to pay their portion. You are in no hurry to pay. It sucks that our system is like this, but you need to fight to make sure there wasn't a mistake in the process.

1

u/ragdollxkitn May 13 '25

I don’t pay if I already paid upwards of $2,000 like if it’s a procedure and they decide to bill me an extra 2k I am not paying that.

1

u/SkyLow4356 May 13 '25

U can thank the “affordable” care act. here

Findings

Distribution of expenses for emergency room visits In 2003, the average total payment from all sources (e.g., private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, out-of-pocket payments, and other miscellaneous sources) for an emergency room visit was $560 (figure 1). However, there was substantial variation across visits in emergency room expenses. For example, expenses for about 10 percent of visits were less than $42 (10th percentile) while, at the other extreme, expenses for the top 10 percent of visits were greater than $1,246 (90th percentile). The highest expenditure visits have a disproportionate impact on the average. Consequently, the median expense for an emergency room visit of $299 was nearly 50 percent lower than the average expense ($560)

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u/Rule12-b-6 May 14 '25

You could have traveled to find an urgent care clinic that wasn't closed. Even an Uber ride for a couple of hours there and back would be way cheaper than the ER for 4 stitches.

1

u/Remarkable-Round-227 May 14 '25

That’s why I bought a medical grade staple gun for $50. I’m not paying thousands for a few stitches, no way.

1

u/sunflower280105 May 14 '25

Cheapest ER bill I’ve ever seen!

1

u/JoNarwhal May 14 '25

I'd be relieved if I went to the ER and the bill was only 2600 pre-insurance. 

1

u/foxspirituzumaki May 14 '25

Seems like a reasonable ER bill honestly.

1

u/pogmathoin May 14 '25

All the more reason for single payer in America. Healthcare insurance time has passed, just like the buggy whip.

1

u/Cocosmil3 May 14 '25

Ridiculous amount for stitches.

1

u/Cuberasnap May 14 '25

I don’t think that makes sense. How can the type of system that we have be irrelevant to the price of a bill, when the parameters of said system are specifically what determines the price of the bill to begin with? Your argument is utterly unconvincing tbh. The specifics of a healthcare system are actually crucial to the explanation for the cost of a bill. And I get what you’re saying I probably don’t know the specific costs of medical services, but I don’t think that matters as much as the very well documented price gouging. almost every medical service and product in the US undergoes price gouging and it’s really easy to research and find out that medicines that cost cents to produce are regularly sold for $800. Mind you this is incredibly illegal in the majority of western nations, the United States being an outlier. So unless you independently researched the cost of production for medicines and supplies, separate from your employment in the health field, unless you address the elephant in the room of price gouging, I think you’re incredibly underprepared to talk about this subject. And either way, if you would have researched price gouging in the medical sector, you would probably just agree with me: bills are so high because we are being robbed by billionaires who own the means of production in the medical sector, while corrupt politicians lining their pockets, allow them to do it.

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u/Secondhand-Drunk May 14 '25

Damn son. I got an xray and like 20 stitches.. wow... 15 years ago or some shit. Damn.

1

u/NaiomiXLT May 15 '25

This is why I like Kaiser. UC is 24/7 and waaaay cheaper than an ER. $30 for a breathing treatment after insurance. Insurance paid just under $500. most was physician fee. if I had to pay a deductible like op, still 4x cheaper.

1

u/Bro-what-r-u-sayin May 15 '25

The real problem is all the bureaucracy and overhead costs of staffing all the other people than the nurses and doctors

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u/dirtymoose408 May 15 '25

This comment section makes me sad for our county. Our healthcare system needs to be better.

1

u/Specialist_Dig2613 May 17 '25

Under the No Surprises Act, it can't be balance billed unless it was within your deductible.

1

u/HamIsntKosher May 10 '25

That's cheap. Call the hospitals billing dept and start negotiating down. Most of that could be wrote off if you are persistent enough.

You can Google search some good tips on how to negotiate a medical bill. OHSU and Providence are typically much easier to deal with than Legacy. Kaiser can kick bricks. They will get blood from a turnip.

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u/WhereSoDreamsGo May 11 '25

Ask for an itemized receipt of costs

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u/Odd_Theory4945 May 10 '25

Healthcare and health insurance here in the US is ridiculous. We pay premiums for the insurance, then we have a super high deductible, then we have to pay the coinsurance. I'm a conservative, but definitely feel we need single payer healthcare. Allowing for profit companies to run health insurance is nothing more than a scam

0

u/PandemicPandaBear May 11 '25

Curious to know if you the $400 pharmacy bill you received was for Tylenol, ibuprofen, or 1 dose of actual narcotic pain medicine.

Please, do tell.

1

u/TortoisePDX May 11 '25

The only medicine I received was lidocaine. I got a TDAP shot but that's listed separately.

1

u/PandemicPandaBear May 11 '25

Fuckkkkk. Who would have thought some lidocaine cost $400 nowadays?

I'm sorry for the loss of your hard earned money if you choose to pay the bill.

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