I just talked with his sister.
He's still in ICU. Has a trach tube. I've been sick and can't get into ICU anyway.
Hey, the helicopter ride was $30,000 to go less than 30 miles.
What has our system come to? How can medicare pay bills like this and remain viable?
Medi-cal states the state of California is required to come after your assets/estate when you die.
Are we to become the ones, individuals who end up paying who knows what amount of overinflated bills after were dead with money that should have gone to our kids for crappy medical care that was delayed to the point of being ineffective?
If that's the case, how can these service providers charge 20 times what it cost to provide the service? Why can't they be forced to charge reasonable amounts. Their high rates are what make this whole system unaffordable. No one can afford the bills so they are turned over to society. Then our kids get ripped off after we're gone.
Example:
There was a woman who needed a cat scan after a surgery due to unexpected residual pain.
The hospital charged her insurance company $6800. The insurance company paid an agreed upon amount and told her she had to pay an additional $2300 out of pocket.
After she did some research, she found out she could have paid 10 cents on the dollar ($680) if she had paid cash and not even needed the insurance. Think about all those years of premiums.
Is there something wrong here?
As soon as I'm well enough so I have some energy and am not contagious and Steve is out of ICU. I'm taking my guitar and paying a visit.
