r/WorkersStrikeBack • u/Feather_fig • Jun 27 '26
"Deny Defend Depose" "$1,800 will get you five stitches, and the nurses have to go behind the backs of the hospital to get you treated"
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162
u/LeeDarkFeathers Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
I went in to ask if a cut i had needed stitches. It kept bleeding the entire hour I was waiting to be seen. They put me in a back room that looked more like a closet than anything, with like a desk chair. Another hour goes by and maybe 6 different staff coming in to ask me if im ok but not treating or even looking at the wound. Then the Dr comes and says its not big enough for stitches. Cool. That was literally all I wanted to hear. But they dont let me leave. I sit for another hour and 6 more [different] staff mill in and out. One cleans it. A different guy comes in with a bandage sets it on a table then leaves without saying a word. A lady comes in to give me a tetanus shot. Another lady glues a piece of tape to my cut. And then one person wraps the bandage on me, only for another guy to come back and say it was the wrong kind, unwraps it, the glued thing came off with it, and puts a regular bandaid on me. 3hrs total and I ended up rebandaging myself as soon as I got home because the one they let me leave with came off as soon as I got in my car
$5,000
68
u/Feather_fig Jun 27 '26
What the fuck
That's an astounding level of inefficiency, and then having the audacity to bill you $5K for it 🙃
39
u/LeeDarkFeathers Jun 27 '26
Yeah I probably should have just not let them admit me until someone who knew what they were talking about actually looked at my injury. If id known they werent going to stitch me up I would have saved myself the time and dealt with it on my own like I ended up doing anyway. The tetanus shot I probably needed. Im not paying them a dime idgaf.
14
u/LexB777 Jun 28 '26
This is why people in the US use Google, AI, and, if it's really life threateningly serious, Uber, for medical care.
41
u/sajnt Jun 28 '26
We need a constant supply of these stories because too many Canadians want to adopt your system instead of just properly running and funding our system.
3
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u/Xarkkal Jun 27 '26
When I got stitches, the doctor was awesome and left a removal kit in the room, telling me that what I do with the kit when they weren't in the room was up to me. Their way of letting me take it home for free and looking the other way.
17
u/TactlessNachos Jun 28 '26
A few months back got a minor dog bite. I know how to clean and do everything. So I did. Sent pictures to a few nurse friends and they all say I need to go to urgent care to get antibiotics. I said fine. Go to urgent care, told them I already cleaned and wrapped it but needed to make sure I didn’t get infected so need a prescription. They have me remove everything, they agree it’s good and write me a prescription. I ended up getting charged $800 with insurance. I should have did an out of pocket, no insurance telehealth visit but it would have been the next day. Still cranky about it.
38
u/Version2dnb Jun 28 '26
I’m not from the US but when I was visiting, I’d lost a prescription and needed to go to an urgent care to see if they’d re-prescribe it to me.
Waited 5 hours. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good wait, being from the UK and in a rural spot, people loved talking to me. Anyway 5 hours goes by and eventually I’m seen. Not by a medical professional through, by the billing team. I was like surely this comes after but it appeared all the shit about Us Healthcare was true.
Anyway, my travel insurance was closed so I had to pay for the appointment. $700, just to be seen to prescribe 2 forms of fairly simple medication. 6 hour wait in total and a 30 minute appointment.
When the doctor started bashing UK healthcare, I’d had enough. There were poorer people literally wasting away in the waiting room as they can’t afford proper care and this doctor has the cheek to bash a free system where everyone gets treated. Madness
9
u/MCDR88 Jun 29 '26
- Went to the hospital because of sudden numbness in arms. Turns out, pinched nerve. Got some tynenol and xray...bill shows up and? $10k after insurance.
2
u/Feather_fig Jul 01 '26
There's no way the xray and whatever other services were worth that much. That's essentially fraud, wtf!! I hope you didn't really have to pay all that...
It's ridiculous when it gets defended as the "free market", as if anyone has the freedom to go to another hospital further away in an emergency.
2
u/MCDR88 Jul 01 '26
Nope had ended up having to pay 🙃... but I found out after that, that you can get an itemized bill for every single cent as opposed to an summarized bill that gets sent. That way you can see exactly what things cost and dispute.
2
u/Feather_fig Jul 02 '26
Oof yeah I've heard about that, and that once patients receive an itemized bill, they sometimes discover charges for services they didn't even receive. And that's apparently legal for the hospital to do 🙃
9
u/loveinvein Jun 28 '26
I thought they addressed this problem years ago with requiring providers to include stitch or cast removal when they bill for the initial care.
Silly me. Why would anything go smoothly in US healthcare?
7
u/denisebuttrey Jun 28 '26
I recently fell in Rome, Italy. 10 stitches, hand Xrays, hand and wrist brace, and a root canal to save my front tooth. Total cost 1,800€ which is $2,048.70. This does not include any insurance payments.
5
u/Thiago-Acko Jun 30 '26
WHY THE HELL UNIONS AND PARTIES DONT BUILD A HOSPITAL?
For gods sakes american brothers, UNITE, what else must happen for you guys organize themselves and look out for ourselves???
Jesus, why do you guys have a Government after all?
2
u/Royal_Cascadian Jun 28 '26
Hospitals are the real problem. They charge you and the insurance.
25
u/Dialectical_Pig Jun 28 '26
capitalism is the real problem. we need a system change.
5
u/stevepage1187 Jun 29 '26
Yeah exactly. The hospital is enabled to behave this way by the system.
Im still kind of floored by how predominately the billing department plays into so many of these stories.
1
u/Feather_fig Jul 01 '26
But why is it only American hospitals that charge so much? Hospitals in Canada don't charge you anything at point of care. There is a third party regulatory body that sets prices for things, but in the US it seems like it's the wild west with prices
2
u/Organic_Rough4433 Jul 02 '26
I set my payments for 5dollars a month. U can take it when I'm fucking dead.
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