Man bitten by snake is charged by Hospital $89,000 for Anti-venom found online for $750
A snakebite victim who was treated at a North Carolina hospital came away with more than just fang marks when he received an $89,227 bill for an 18-hour stay.
Eric Ferguson, 54, from Mooresville, N.C., was taking out the trash at his home last August when he was bitten on the foot by a snake. He drove himself to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, where he was treated with anti-venom medicine.
According to his bill, the hospital charged $81,000 for a four-vial dose of the medication.
Shocked at the price tag, Ferguson told the Charlotte Observer he and his wife found the same vials online for retail prices as low as $750.
Ferguson, who is insured, said his care was “beyond phenomenal.”
“It was just the sticker shock,” he said.
Because the hospital has a contract with Ferguson’s insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, it reduced the total bill to $20,227. According to the Observer, the couple paid $5,400 out of pocket to cover their deductible and co-pay.
The hospital defended its prices, saying it has to charge prices higher than retail because of the various discounts it is required to give insurers.
“We are required to give Medicare one level of discount from list price, Medicaid another, and private insurers negotiate for still others,” officials told the newspaper. “If we did not start with the list prices we have, we would not end up with enough revenue to remain in operation.”
Source: http://truthisscary.com/2014/01/man-bitten-by-snake-is-charged-by-hospital-89000-for-anti-venom-found-online-for-750/
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
Being from the uk I’m not to up on how your system works or worked before Barry got his hands on it, I have a few questions I’d like to ask.
1, what if he didn’t have insurance?
2, what if he couldn’t afford the short fall?
3, will he be covered again under his insurance, or would they penalise him for his previous claim?
Hope you can enlighten me.
1. Hospitals will still treat an emergency situation regardless of insurance..you will just get a bill in the mail.
2. It doesn’t really matter what you can afford. If you don’t pay it you get sued and possibly get your paychecks docked.
3. I don’t believe so, but then again I’m a self pay
I was charged $400.00 for what appeared to be a package of gauze once! I ask for an itemized list of charges and usually that leads to a significant reduction of the bill. This article doesn’t surprise me a bit.
Thanks.. Wow, so a series of illnesses, unless your a millionaire your better off dead, as the worry will probably take you there anyway, what a crazy system. We don’t appreciate our Nhs over here, you might have to wait a bit but everything is free.
The real snake is the medical profession and the hospitals for overcharging on everything. I had my appendix taken out and they charged me $25 a pill for a pain medication that caused me to bloat and have more pain. I awoke from my surgery and the nurse had a pill and a glass of water and said take this. I figured they knew what they were doing so I took the pill. I laid in the bed in pain for three days thinking it was from the surgery and they gave me those pills the whole time until the 3rd day I said no more pills or anything! Eight hours later I was up and felt fine! I got dressed and was pissed off while leaving that hospital. The doctor visited me once for about 30 seconds. Man was I fuming! Here I thought I was in good care! Today I do everything to stay healthy so I will never have to go to a hospital again!!!