My husband and daughter left on Wednesday afternoon for a much anticipated camping trip up in Northern California and I left for work immediately thereafter. All went well but I did have a strange headache - nothing at all like the migraines I usually get. I went home and went to sleep that night by 1am.
WELL...I woke up yesterday morning and felt like I had gotten hit by a truck AND a train. Horrible headache, shaky all over. I tried to make myself a cup of coffee, took two sips and threw that up. I can't remember when I've ever felt that bad before. I couldn't move.
So, now here I am in the bathroom in the hallway and I somehow got back into my room and I'm laying there on the floor, no energy to climb back into bed. I finally got back in bed, slept for a few minutes, called work to tell them that there was no way I'd be in that night and tried to call someone to take me to the ER. I couldn't get a hold of anyone. I thought about calling my mom but she's over 5 hours away so I put that idea on hold. (Oh, did I mention that my husband is out of town until Sunday and I really have no way to reach him?)
I got enough energy to get up, unlock the front door and let the dog (part German Shepard, very protective) outside and then called 911. The paramedics showed up and took me to the ER. The dog is of course, throwing a fit in the backyard because she can see through the french doors that there are two men carrying her mommy out of the house. She was not pleased.
I was there at the ER for the better part of the day, waiting mostly. They did a CT scan on my head because they seemed concerned that the headache was so different than what I usually get - that came out negative. The doctor seemed to agree with my self-diagnosis of it being a nasty flu bug. They gave me a shot of some very strong painkillers and something else for my stomach and I stayed there and slept for a few more hours until my best friend came and picked me up and took me home.
I pretty much slept all afternoon and evening yesterday. I'm just curled up in bed relaxing (hooray for laptops). I still feel fairly tragic but nothing like yesterday.
As for the big buiness part...I certinly expected someone to come and ask me for my insurance card which they did but the next thing I know he's asking if I'm going to pay cash, check or charge for my $50 co-pay. I had been laying there in bed over an hour and hadn't seen so much as a nurse and this guy is standing there asking me for money. I was in no shape to argue with him so I handed him my credit card. What happened to the days when they a least had the decency to send you a bill? They had my valid insurance information - it's not like they were going to get stiffed for the bill.
I KNOW that I should be thankful that I have very good health insurance and did not have to hesitate before calling the ambulance but there is a limit to my patience and some guy standing over me with an outstretched hand while I'm lying there half conscious kind of pushes the limits of that patience.
Posted by dave parr (Member # 3868) on :
Wow Kimberly that doesn't sound like much fun at all. What would he have done if you just rolled over and ignored him? Hope you're feeling better soon! Poor pooch, probably scared her. Get plenty of rest.
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
Holy Cow, Kimberly!
We hope that you are feeling better. I would have ignored that rat bastard. I agree that it was pretty damn rude and ignorant.
I would fathom a guess that it is all the non-paying stiffs that make it suck for the rest of us. It still sucks.
Get plenty of sleep. Drink plenty of juice. I have always found that a pizza makes a good get well meal........ yummy!
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
A friend of ours stopped by this evening to see how I was doing and my dog stood right in front of him and growled. He'd lean over and pet her and she'd be fine but as soon as he stood back up she'd growl again. He finally laughed at her and said..."Don't worry, I'm not going to take your mom away". She's been SO overprotective since I got back, she's starting to drive me nuts. I'm tripping over her since she won't let me out of her sight.
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Sorry to hear of your bout with that nasty flue bug. Just think if , in liew of cash, cheque, or Credit Card, he requested that you sign an "organ donor" card....now THAT would be scary! Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
How freaking rude? You were there by yourself, probably scared not knowing what was going on, having been brought in by ambulance unable to find someone to drive you and all he thinks about is a measly $50?
Hope you get to feeling better. When the charge statement comes, you could claim you were delirious and forced to sign it against your will. Posted by Stephen Broughton (Member # 2237) on :
Wow we may complain about it in the UK but thank god for the National Health Service, what a scumbag I know what I would have said it would have begun with F and ended with OFF, hope your feeling better soon.
Posted by Murray MacDonald (Member # 3558) on :
Everytime I hear a healthcare story, I'm so glad I'm Canadian. We pay higher taxes, but no healthcare bill nightmares. I just had a knee replacement in January - 7 days in hospital, many followup app'ts and weeks of physio - all covered by OHIP. Not having to cover the cost of private healthcare takes one of the worries out of being selfemployed.
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I had a similar experience two years ago. I had to have my son run me to the emergency room late one night with what I suspected was kidney stones. If there is a pain worse than that , I hope I never experience it. I was greeted by what may have been the same guy with all the questions. I'm literally writhing on the floor in pain and this jerk is asking a million questions. Now I'm not a big guy nor am I overly violent, but I grabbed him by the collar , pinned him up against the wall and told him he was two seconds away from going to the emergency room himself to get his clipboard removed from his ass. Pain obviously pumps you full of adrenaline
They saw me right away. I'll say this, the doctors and the nurses were all great, nothing like the clown checking you in.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Hope you get well soon Kimberly.
Insurance companies suck, now I see why medical costs are rising in the US and it's all thanks to health insurance red tape, malpractice insurance and people who abuse the system.
My mom is a Massage Therapist and she has a client whose insurance pays for their visits as treatment to help their physical therapy. Well that's all find and dandy except it takes the insurance co. 5-6 MONTHS to process the paperwork and cut her a check! Pretty sad when it's a measely $65 and she has to turn around and give a chunk to her insurance co that protects her liability.. I can only imagine how long doctors have to wait to get *their* money only to have thier own insurance steal it away from them.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Get well soon! I can see your disgust at the money grubbin' for sure. I am glad, however, that the punchline was not as I expected. I just got health insurance, but went for one of the lower coverage plans. I'll have to check, but I would not be surprised if a similar experience for me may result in paying hundreds for the ambulance & god knows what else.
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Yes Doug, I don't mean to whine. I do have GREAT health insurance and believe me, it costs us plenty so I'm not going to hesitate to use it.
Thinking back on the experience, I layed there and saw no one (except for a volunteer who I asked for a blanket from) for well over an hour until this guy showed up and then as soon as he had my credit card, the nurse appeared and started taking care of me. An illness/drug-induced conclusion? I don't think so.
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
Kimberly!!! You poor thing!!!!
Praying for ya to feel good again!
I have to pay my own health insurance, $215 a month...seems like a HUGE amount to me, but everyone else with Kaiser says that's nothing!
Since I moved to WA, the only kaiser is near the OR border so I have to drive 60 miles to the nearest clinic that will handle Kaiser patients.
Just a bit inconvienient.......
The only good thing, unlike Kaiser, Group Health has yet to ever ask or bill me for a single co-payment....and I even asked if I was supossed to pay one!
Honey, YA SHOULDA BARFED ON HIS SHOES!!
A:)
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Hahahahaaaa, kimberly....that ain't nuthin!
When I had a hip replacement in '91, on the 4th day after, the gal from the "Business Office" followed Marty into my room and demanded a check for $12,000.00!!!!!!
Marty looked at her and said "Are the insurance forms all in order?". the gal said "Yes", Marty said "Did you give me the bill yet?", the gal said "It isn't finished yet", so Marty said "Until i see a proper bill, get outta here, and don't bother us!"
[ June 07, 2003, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Si Allen ]
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
Hi, Kimberley, and interested others--
I've been on both sides of that fence when I worked as an RN in the local hospital's ER, so I can relate to what you said.
At that time (84 and before) no one from the Business Office was around to harass the patients since I worked the 11 to 7 shift. However, their billing practices would undo in about 7/8 of a second whatever rapport those of us in the ER had worked like hell to establish with our patient(s). Diplomacy is not the strong suit with the bean counters. And, trust me, the bean counters are very much in charge of the health care system.
Since I was the one who usually saw the patient first, I had to get at least a quick history of the presenting problem. Given what you said, I would have checked for fever the first thing, stiff neck next, and gone on from there. If this had appeared to be an evolving stroke, you can bet you would not have laid around very long before you would have been on your way for a CT scan, X-ray or MRI. You would also been asked about things such as one sided weakness, difficulty speaking, changes in vision, and so on.
Obviously, I could not be the one to order the various tests--that is the doctors territory. On the other hand, we were staffed with interns with resident backup, and attending staff behind them. The point here is, interns are long on new book learning, but short on experience and since they are the first of the doctors to see the patient, they to some extent depend on people like me who had been at it a while to point them in what appears to be the right direction. When interns hit residency-- well, that's a whole 'nother story.
On the business with kidney stones---- been there, done that--- more than once. George, you have my sympathies.
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Thanks for your view from the other side Bill. I must admit that the paramedics gave me a pretty thorough working over including hooking me up to a portable ECG machine. Everything looked normal to them so they probably gave a detailed report to the charge nurse when we arrived.
Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
Interesting post, and an all-to typical story, unfortunately.
I have insurance with a $1000 deductible, which means I pay out of pocket for routine exams, etc. Three years ago I had a physical with a new physician. The office manager paid no attention when I said I'd pay cash, she kept asking for an insurance card, so I gave it to her, explaining that I had a deductible and would be paying out of pocket. A month later I got a bill for over $700 for the visit (a routine annual physical). Several calls to their office finally got a manager on the phone, to whom I explained a few facts.
A. I'm not paying anyone, on earth in this life, $700 for a routine physical. Anyone who thinks I will is sniffing glue. Get over yourself.
B. I have a $1000 deductible. My insurance company isn't going to pay $700 for my physical either. I never expected them to.
C. Now that we are clear about all this, what is the CASH PRICE for a routine physical? $200? Fine! I sent them a check.
In the world of medical insurance, a physician selling a $200 physical needs to charge an extra $500 for the paperwork to deal with an insurance company, then wait six months to get paid. Hey, if I had to fill out hundreds of pages of paperwork and wait six months to be paid, I'd charge $700 for a $200 sign, too. Wouldn't you?
Three annual exams later, I pay as I go, before I leave the office, and they charge me $160. God knows how much they charge insurance companies for the same exam by now. They still take my insurance card, and I still get at least a half-dozen letters, in triplicate, from my insurance company explaining how they aren't going to pay for my physical because I have a $1000 deductible, which we both already knew.
Think about the time and effort that goes into this idiotic paper chase every year, then wonder why health care has become so grossly expensive. Then imagine that all this paperwork is being handled by government bureaucrats - you know, just like the nice helpful folks at the DMV - and then explain to me how much better off we'd be with "socialized" medicine.
This system is broken, no doubt. The only thing worse is the solution.
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
Hi again, all,
Cam's story about his problems with his insurance company reminded me of a funny thing that happened back in the 70s sometime.
One of the major health insurance companies sent in some young squirt---still wet behind the ears and recently weaned---and this dude was going to teach us nurse-types how to PROPERLY chart regarding patient care. The theory being, if it wasn't charted, then it wasn't done. And if it wasn't done, then the company becomes liable. Well, OK, I guess I could understand that.
But real soon, he starts showing a lot of attitude, talking to us as though we were some mother's idiot children, and acting as though the company payouts were coming from his personal pocket, and it was all our fault. Bear in mind that at the time insurance companies were taking a big hit, what with settlements, a declining stock market, and some really bad investments, to say nothing of what the oil embargoes were doing to the economy.
Anyhow, all of us were tired---we'd been up all night, he was peeved 'cause he had to get up early to come in and talk to us, so the environment turned hostile real quick---at least on my part. After putting up with twenty minutes or so of this guy's attitude, I finally let fly with a couple of questions of my own.
"How much money did your company lose last year due to bad investments?" "Well, I don't know--I don't have those figures." "OK, how much money did your company pay out last year in settlements where the validity of the claim was never established in court?" Same answer. "OK, so you come in here to tell us how to do our job, and you can't answer legitimate questions about your company. I doubt you know which side of a bedpan is "up" or which end goes to the front, and yet you're here instructing us in our work. Yeah, right."
"Maybe what your company needs is a few nurse-types looking over your shoulder(s), and giving a few instructions in managing money, it would make about as much sense to me as what you are doing here."
The session ended real soon after that. In those days I had a lot less tolerance for "twerp" types than I do now, and I don't have a lot of tolerance now.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Kim, an advantage to smaller communities is that the human side does happen first! When I go into the hospital, they don't ask when I'm going to pay off my previous balance before they work on me. They just do their stuff and send the bill. The bill often requires years to pay off. They seem cool about it.
So where are Clay and Sam? Are they up this way?
Sure hope you feel better quickly.
[ June 08, 2003, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Rick Sacks ]
Posted by Stephen Broughton (Member # 2237) on :
What a frightening prospect having to pay that much money to listen to the doc complain that he's not getting enough time to play golf this is how it goes in the UK. 1, call doctors surgey to make appointment.
2, go to doctors have examination and listen to him complain about how many hours he/she has to work.
3, go back to work and work more hours than the whining doctor, and guess what its all FREE.
Even when I go to the continent on holiday all I do is get a form from the post office and its all covered, but coming to the states the insurance can cost nearly as much as the holiday .
Posted by Bruce Williams (Member # 691) on :
We are heading for a real crisis in healthcare in the USA. "Crisis" means a turning point. This will occur when a historically-unprecedented number of people "get old" and still vote. That day is not far off, and if it is, it'll only be bucked to the next generation. 100 years ago, most people didn't live beyond age 40. Now they do, or at least hope to. Is this feasible or not?
Back in the '50s Virgil Partch drew a cartoon of a man crawling into the doctor's office with an arrow thru his back and the receptionist demanding "Do you have an appointment?" If that attitude persists, you can imagine St Peter meeting all the erstwhile clip-board flunkeys with his own clipboard
Posted by James Donahue (Member # 3624) on :
I like what Cam said. But it kind of "steals my thunder".
Now what am I gonna do for a blather report? Wait, I know, how about:
OLIVER NORTH FOR PRESIDENT! (with G. Gordon Liddy as vice.)
There you have it folks, today's OFFICIAL right wing blather! Sincerly, Radar (I still say Frank Burns).
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this is how it goes in the UK.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
the insurance can cost nearly as much as the holiday