[el chupacabra]

… .

[Uncle Skeleton]

So what was the prognosis with your bean? Any damage? Any hallucinations? Do you see these spiders everywhere, or just occasionally? Do they talk?



j/k I agree with you, medicine is big business and it needs to be treated like a business

[BadKosh]

Actually, as a 'bug person' I am amazed at the ignorance people have about them(spiders, insects, multilegged etc) and for a "Doctor" not to know about the Recluse is shocking. I would have yelled as loud as I could in the Dr. ear about it. I woulds also threaten the hospital with a lawsuit for having incompetent folks on staff unless they fired that quack right away. No prisoners. Sorry, I have no respect for anyone with advanced degrees, so they need to perform or quit. Same for any 'professional.'

[andi*pandi]

I wouldn't expect the ambulance driver to know how much things cost, they don't handle sales. Although I do agree prices are very arbitrary.

Doctors treat patients like hypochondriacs sometimes. "Brown recluse? nah. She means house spider."

[el chupacabra]

… .

[Athens]

Its stories like this that make me defend my less then perfect medical system. The one time I got rear ended, it went like this. Fire department arrived first and started checking on the medical conditions of me and the dude who hit me. A few minutes later the first of a few ambulances arrived. The dude who hit me was in worse shape so he was taken buy this ambulance. The 2 other ones arrived a few minutes later and I was taken by one of them to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital vitals are checked again, im waiting maybe 10 minutes max before im rolled for a CT scan or xray, cant remember but they where checking my neck and head even though I didn't hit my head and my neck was a little sore (which became more sore in following days) and after about 6 hours was discharged. Most of that was just observation time. Total Cost. $2.50 in transit fair to get home. Never had to worry about any bills or any costs related to this.

While it sucks when I have to wait 4 hours to get my broken arm looked at I accept this because I know the most hurt and the ones in most need which one day can be me are getting looked at first. I don't mind a priority based system on the medical priority vs the economic priority of who can pay the most to get the best care.

[hyteckit]

Why would the ER allow you to drive if he thinks you might have a concussion?

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I wouldn't expect the ambulance driver to know how much things cost, they don't handle sales. Although I do agree prices are very arbitrary.

Having driven an ambulance for a private company in Chicago I can say that this is my experience as well. Only after a few months of working there did I learn that we charge $17/mile on top of some huge base fee that goes up depending on the services provided (like oxygen, etc.).

When I was a volunteer on a public ambulance things were even worse. I don't think a single person had a clue as to what anything would cost the patient. Every circumstance was different so there was no easy way to keep track.

[CollinG3G4]

Originally Posted by Athens 

While it sucks when I have to wait 4 hours to get my broken arm looked at I accept this because I know the most hurt and the ones in most need which one day can be me are getting looked at first.

Or 4 months for an anticancer drug that would have saved your life, but you were stuck on a list and now its spread. Look on the bright side, it only cost a few bucks out of pocket.

[Athens]

Right, propaganda. Most people diagnosed with Cancer are front of the line and are not waiting. The few that fall between the cracks are human errors and someone screwing up, not the system itself. I hope your not refering to that stupid woman that had a cyst on her brain that was not life threatening? The fake propaganda story paid for by US companies fighting Obama care?

A little insight on wait time and cares.

http://www.cihi.ca/cihi-ext-portal/i...elease_21mar11

If you live in a remote location in Canada chances are your not going to get the same kind of care as in major urban areas.
Things like cancer treatment 98% get treatment right away while some things like Knee Surgery only 80% get care quickly. But it depends if you live in Vancouver, major urban location of 2 million people vs Bear Lake thousands of KM from a major urban location and only a population of 170 people...

[mduell]

If you can haggle about the price, you probably don't need the ride.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Which means it can't be capitalist, so it must be socialist?

it's the obion county fire thread all over again!

[Doofy]

Bizarre thing is, you pay more FICA than we pay NI (same thing).
I still want to know how that works.

[el chupacabra]

… .

[ghporter]

I am not surprised about the driver not knowing the cost, even for the ambulance ride. I'm further not surprised by whomever screened the lady with the spider bite disregarding her report that it was a brown recluse-not many medical people (sadly) believe the lay public has a clue about anything-though the number of doctors who can actually do anything practical out of their field is amazingly small.

Sorry about your accident, and I hope your noggin is only slightly bruised. Same for your neck and so on... But our health care system has been allowed to grow without supervision for so long that without some radical, society-changing changes, it will continue to support hi costs for everything without real accountability for providing efficient, excellent care.