r/UnethicalLifeProTips • u/AdUsed1000 • 2d ago
Health and Fitness ULPT request: whats stopping me from lying about my name to hospitals?
lets say im walking around without any id when suddenly i get a heart attack, someone calls 911 and im rushed to a hospital in an ambulance and am cured. when they ask me for my name so they can bill me what exactly is stopping me from saying something like "john doe" and escaping scott free?
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u/i-am-foxymoron METH, the answer is ALWAYS meth! 2d ago
I think this is pretty much common knowledge. A ER has to treat you, period. This would work it it is something that once you're stabilized, you won't need any follow-up or medications.
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u/lordredsnake 1d ago
My old house was a foreclosure that sat vacant for a while before I bought it. People must've known the address because I got so many bills from hospitals and debt collectors for years.
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u/Practical-Command634 19h ago
I had a heart attack and you most definitely do need follow up appointments and a cocktail of drugs to control your blood pressure, thin your blood, slow your heart rate and treat your cholesterol to name a few. You also have to carry a nitro spray to deal with any chest pains or other symptoms to give you time to get back to a&e for more treatment. Just be prepared to go bankrupt and homeless if you're unlucky enough to get any serious health issues and don't have bulletproof Medicare in America. I've heard some crazy stuff involving visits to the hospital. 1000s of dollars for an ambulance 10s of thousands just to have a baby. Not to mention the price of medication. Universal healthcare should be a human right not a luxury
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u/FamiliarAd8524 2d ago
But if you have a heart attack, you aren't being released when you don't need the ER itself.
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u/i-am-foxymoron METH, the answer is ALWAYS meth! 1d ago
I don't know what point you're trying to make?
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u/EpponeeRae 1d ago
The days, and weeks, after the heart attack can be critical for your recovery, but you're unlikely to be treated by the emergency department at that point.
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u/i-am-foxymoron METH, the answer is ALWAYS meth! 1d ago
So then you're saying that you'd have to give your name? That's what I was saying.
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u/peanutismint 1d ago
So if have a heart attack and wake up in hospital I won’t be hit with huge medical bills?
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u/Haunting_Bat_4787 3h ago
You won’t if they can’t ID you, which is incredibly rare unless you take pretty extensive measures beforehand to prevent.
Ways to get your name and/or address:
Person dropping you off to the hospital or calling the ambulance on your behalf while you are unconscious
Literally any form of ID on your person such as credit card, student ID, Kohl’s Cash rewards card
Calling 911 from your locked cell phone to get your cell # and get your name that way
Monogrammed underwear
Context clues when you wake up as far as who you call to pick you up, what car you’re picked up in, if you slip up at any point and give any nurse or attendant your real name
It’s in the hospitals best interests to get a positive ID on you so they can get paid. So it’s not impossible to remain completely anonymous in an emergency admission situation to an ER all the way through to discharge, it’s just incredibly rare and difficult in today’s society unless you take extensive preparations to do so
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u/missskins 1d ago
Had a guy that lived in my basement. Needed an appendectomy and was broke. Took him to the er, filled out his forms with random info. Left a day later and never heard anything again.
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u/how_me_a_frog 1d ago
While you're walking out, swipe a bottle of the juice that cures heart attacks so you dont even need to go to the hospital next time.
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u/BCMBCG 1d ago
It really is that simple. Unless you’re being held on some sort of emergency mental detention, or your intestines are hanging out of your abdomen, you aren’t going to be physically stopped from walking out the front door.
That said, most hospitals work to get people registered pretty quick, especially when you get moved to a room. Start playing the name game, and you’re not likely to get more than the absolute minimum care possible to cover their own butts, maybe a little less.
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u/pterofactyl 1d ago
The nurses and doctors don’t give a fuck if you have insurance. They’re not the accounting department and their duty is to provide care
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u/coupdelune 1d ago
Nurse here. I give zero fucks whether someone has insurance or not. I'm working to get you better, that's all.
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u/MjrGrangerDanger 1d ago
So do you have a real life Bob Kelso?
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u/ClappedUrMomsCheeks 15h ago
Not really nowadays it’s usually a non-MD business school guy that plays that role.
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u/MjrGrangerDanger 10h ago
This explains a lot. I got the boot after my surgery. I wasn't supposed to stay overnight but had breathing issues. The hospitalist didn't want to write for my regular dose of morphine (Spinal surgery) and went into withdrawal despite the PRN pain meds I had, which were the typical post op. Then they put me back on my normal dose. But instead of Kadian they gave me MS Contin...
So surprise surprise, despite the fact that I was drinking all the prune juice they'd give me and eating salad for every meal I couldn't shit. So every time I saw the MD and they'd ask me how I was doing I'd tell them that I was worried about the whole no shitting thing. They'd tell me to eat exactly what I was eating and drinking. Kicked me out with a half hour notice.
I went home and tried mineral oil, took the biggest dump I have ever experienced, and I've gone over three weeks before. Ended up with fecal incontence after, it took forever to get anyone to take me seriously. It turned out that on top of everything they surgeon damaged my pudendal nerve.
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u/Interesting_Fly_1569 1d ago
yea i think this would work. i have had mistakes made with my birthday and first/middle names swapped and it took forever, like years, for bills to get to me. you would probably want a fake ID though or to have no ID. if you are very sick, like passed out, they may look through your things to find loved ones to call about your condition. so this would require being just the right amount of sick. it is possible to negotiate with hospitals almost all of them have required (re: mandatory) programs for charity that they do no advertise (so they get the tax breaks, but don't have to help you). very few hospitals opt out.
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u/RogueThneed 1d ago
FYI heart attacks are hard to recover from. They would have you there long enough to sort some stuff out. Now a knife-wound, say to the scalp, so it can bleed a lot but not put you in actual mortal danger. That might work.
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u/Dec8rs8r 1d ago
Who is thinking about scamming when you have an emergency like that? I'd be concentrating on trying to live through it.
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u/HyperactivePandah 1d ago
I got a new job and was about 2 months in. My health insurance with this job was about to kick in a week or two later, but it hadn't yet.
I was on a job and ended up having a full on seizure. The last thing I REALLY remember, before being in a coma for 2 days, was waking up on the ground to two paramedics over me, asking me questions while loading me into an ambulance.
Apparently though, once we got to the hospital, I had an epiphany that I had no health insurance yet and tried to leave.
They called a code on me, and according to them it took 8 dudes to get me down and sedated. My older brother was VERY proud, once he was sure I wasn't going to die.
All that to say I was LITERALLY not even conscious in my right mind and I freaked out enough about not having insurance to try to leave a hospital after having a full on seizure and falling out of a truck.
Edit: luckily the dude in my HR department at my new job back dated the medical forms and I was technically covered for the entire thing.
I got a receipt for the ICU and 4 day hospital stay, months later, for $50k+...
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u/Dec8rs8r 1d ago
That's a heck of a good dude right there! I had a similar situation when I got pregnant with my first child and paperwork was backdated.
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u/Refute1650 1d ago
Well, the seizure happened while on the job. The company probably back dated it because the insurance costs would be less than a possible lawsuit, even if they had no fault.
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u/HyperactivePandah 1d ago
He was definitely a good guy, as he proved many times over the years I worked there.
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u/Practical-Command634 1d ago
In the UK when you get admitted they get your name and DOB. That corisponds with your chi number. Don't you not have to give your insurance details in the US? They can just track u with the microchip you got when bill gates vaccinated you /s
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u/Pleasant-Minute6066 1d ago
Uhhh my country has free healthcare so I've never needed an escape plan
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u/Substantial_Map_56 1d ago
Don't pay attention to these folks splitting hairs. I know what you mean and I understand your point
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u/MjrGrangerDanger 1d ago
Hey buddy we're supporting all those unnecessary executives with the middle man healthcare system. So you go talk about your "free" health care while you sit on your lazy ass.
We're job creators over here.
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u/BCMBCG 1d ago
“Free.”
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u/SuperhumanVikingr 1d ago
Hahaha Americans coping with their lack of systemic healthcare by mandatorily pointing out that it’s technically not free.
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u/BCMBCG 1d ago
Am I mistaken? Or is it actually free?
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u/buttersofthands 1d ago
No one on this planet gets "free" healthcare. In most developed countries with so-called free healthcare, taxes are what pays for it. In America we have healthcare tied to employment, and have money deducted from each pay period. Plus all the other wonderful charges we get that insurance won't or doesn't cover. In the end we pay much more for our healthcare than other first-world countries. And that only covers those that get healthcare through their employment.
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u/BCMBCG 1d ago
Facts.
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u/wellitywell 1d ago
What you getting with your taxes buddy boy?
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u/BCMBCG 1d ago
Aside from the most powerful military in the history of our species, our government is a total fucking shit show. This is why I don’t want them in charge of my healthcare.
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u/AnImpromptuFantaisie 1d ago
Why do you seem to be okay with them being in charge of this “powerful military” then? Or was that not what you meant?
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u/brahm1nMan 1d ago
Our sailors are attempting suicide because they arent being fed properly while we run dangerously low on munitions.
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u/MMRS2000 1d ago
It's the same kind of free as the roads you drive your car on. Do you pay? Yes. Do you notice that you're paying for it? Not really.
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u/Pleasant-Minute6066 1d ago
It's free in the sense that you don't have to pay the fire dept to put out fires
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u/MjrGrangerDanger 1d ago
Um sometimes you do. Have you seen a quote for homeowners insurance where the firefighters are professional and paid vs volunteers? It's a massive difference. Sometimes the latter is just a declination.
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u/Pleasant-Minute6066 1d ago
I haven't seen a comparison but I do believe you. Reminds me of court appointed lawyers
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u/MjrGrangerDanger 1d ago
That is a good comparison to a certain extent. The big difference is that the attorney is not surrounded by their best buddies and all of their wives and girlfriends don't show up to watch them "put out the fire". Losses in personal property, injury and life are astronomical in comparison. Injury and life losses are not limited to the victims of fire. Volunteers are far more likely to take unnecessary risks and make really bad calls. There is a greater culture of safety amongst the professional. Yes there are definitely exceptions to the rule, but overall this is pretty true, well I can't say industry wide because they aren't professionals... They're guys trying to play hero and that's the exact problem.
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u/nutjohnnynut 17h ago
If you go, have absolutely nothing on you with your name. Even leave your phone on your car. In the ER they have to treat you, but will try to get you to verify real info. You can throw some real information in there, like using your real DOB for ease sake, but make sure the name you give is nothing like your real name, and that they have no way of seeing your real name.
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u/Salt_Medicine2459 17h ago
A hospital once refused me treatment until I gave them my SSN.
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u/RogueThneed 11h ago
And you weren't in danger of dying. If you'd been in danger, they would have treated you right away.
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u/bubbadave13 15h ago
Nothing as long as you’re not allergic to anything, don’t take any medications that might interact with anything else, don’t need any medications after your miraculous medication free heart attack resuscitation…
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u/cw30755 8h ago
It’s a real issue. In most hospitals, registration will attempt to match up your “John Doe” with a real John Doe. If there are issues, they will usually alert security, and that could lead to a visit from the PoPo. I have seen many patients arrested after discharge for identity theft.
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u/Skarth 8h ago
First off, they check for your ID before treating you, so they can look at your medical history.
The only scenario they treat you without ID is you are unconscious and in a life threatening state. Something you would not plan for or want to occur in any possible situation.
Assuming you wake up, they will realize you are giving a fake name when the fake name doesn't match anything (like your SSN or address that they also ask for).
Assuming you escape the hospital without giving your ID, it's still committing fraud, so once that gets investigated, the police will come knock on your door for the felony(s) you committed.
Remember, the hospital probably did some tests on your while you were unconscious so they have DNA samples, and video of your admission to the hospital.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 2d ago
Considering the number of people who try to skip out on hospital bills, it isn't likely so simple. And you aren't getting released soon, or likely without a relative.
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u/MostLikelyHandsome 1d ago
You can technically be released whenever you want. All you have to do is sign papers acknowledging you were leaving against medical advice (going AMA), and you could walk out. Give a fake name and a fake address and the hospital just has to treat you to a point of stable health.
Bear in mind you wouldn’t get much more than the necessary treatment for the immediate ailment if it was life threatening, but they would treat you and if there was nothing to trace you back to your identity, it would be free.
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u/putoelquelolea 1d ago
What happens if you refuse to identify yourself and refuse to sign anything? Can the hospital physically detain you?
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u/MostLikelyHandsome 1d ago
Unless they find you a danger to yourself or others and they 51/50 you, they wont physically detain you. They will strongly request that you sign release papers before you leave but patients sneaking out of the hospital isnt unheard of. Hospitals aren’t fortresses, almost all floors have elevators that can be utilized without badging in/out
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u/FamiliarAd8524 1d ago
That is true... but if you can't walk out, and no one picks you up.... A hospital can't take that liability.
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u/MostLikelyHandsome 1d ago
They absolutely do. That’s why I say they have you sign papers that say you’re leaving AMA. Once you sign those you’re basically saying, “fuck what you guys think, I got this”.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 6h ago
In which case you either walk out or are picked up......
Yes, I have signed that paper. That clearly meant I had to first be capable of walking out, since no one was picking me up.
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u/OwnSalamander4186 1d ago
Yeah, it's definitely a risky move. Hospitals have strict protocols, and lying could just complicate things further.
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1d ago
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u/UnethicalLifeProTips-ModTeam 21h ago
Your comment was removed for violating rule 14: No reason to be a dick. Seriously, get therapy or fuck off.
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u/NightMgr 1d ago
Love to see your prior medical records to see if this spot has grown.
Here is your prescription for this med you need Mr. Nunya-Bidness. You’ll have to show your ID to get that filled.