Universal Health Care would be worse than this?

[Mr. Flopnuts]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27299090/wid/11915773?GT1=31037

Hospital bills woman who never saw a doctor
Nurse checked her vitals during 19-hour wait for treatment of broken leg



DALLAS - A woman says she waited 19 hours at Parkland Memorial Hospital’s emergency department for treatment of a broken leg and never did get to see a doctor — but still got a bill for $162.

Amber Joy Milbrodt, who said she broke a bone in her leg while playing volleyball, received the bill two weeks after her Sept. 24 visit.

Parkland officials say the bill was appropriate because a nurse spent time checking her vital signs to assess her level of need.

But that’s not how Milbrodt sees it. “It should have been more like them paying me for having to sit in the emergency room for 19 hours,” she told The Dallas Morning News.

The assessment by the nurse, which lasted a few minutes, established her place in line that night. By that time, Milbrodt said, she had already been waiting about 3½ hours.

She still had not been called more than 15 hours later, so she gave up and went home. She had an X-ray taken at a chiropractic school where she is a student, and that had already confirmed that she had a fracture.

“She’s not paying for waiting,” says Rick Rhine, the hospital’s vice president in charge of billing. “She’s paying for the assessment she received.”

Milbrodt, 29, who has no insurance, said she does not plan to pay. After leaving the ER, she rested at home for a few days and then put her leg in a brace, which she still wears. It seems to be healing, she said.

A few days before Milbrodt’s visit, a 58-year-old man who went to the ER with stomach pains also waited 19 hours — and then suffered cardiac arrest and died.

Hospital officials say they need more beds to handle the excessive number of patients who need care. A bond measure on the Nov. 4 ballot would provide funds for a new, larger hospital.

Fort Worth’s large public hospital, John Peter Smith, shares Parkland’s policy of charging for a triage assessment. But other hospitals in Dallas, such as Baylor University Medical Center, don’t charge if the person never sees a doctor.





What a piece of shit. PAY YOUR BILL SCUM!!!!!!!!

[HonestChieffan]

it wont stop stupid. Stupid will still live on in government run health care only it will be rewarded.

[KILLER_CLOWN]

I want no part in paying for a system i will not use, if they want to clean up this mess of a system(i'm not holding my breath on that one), then we can discuss such matters.

[nychief]

I want no part in paying for a system i will not use, if they want to clean up this mess of a system(i'm not holding my breath on that one), then we can discuss such matters.

healthy as a horse, huh?

[KILLER_CLOWN]

healthy as a horse, huh?

Yes and when i'm ready to go i'll do it in the privacy of my own home. ;)

[Mr. Flopnuts]

it wont stop stupid. Stupid will still live on in government run health care only it will be rewarded.

I'm not surprised one iota that you would like to "eliminate" all the stupid. LMAO There is some irony in there somewhere. Self loathing? You said it.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Let's all be realistic. The only thing I found outragous about that story was the long wait time. It's pretty obvious that she had a minor non-displaced fracture (probably of the distal fibula) and would have received an X-ray, an air cast or splint, pain meds and a referral to see an orthopod in the next 5 days. She can be as upset as she wants. Her outcome was never in doubt.


Now the story below that... well that's a little different. And I don't think UHC would have made one bit of difference in his care. At that facility. I'd also love to hear the entire story on that patient. To condense it into two sentences is rather ignorant.

[whoman69]

Would you pay if your local garage did this? You take your car in, the guy behind the counter after a few hours goes and checks the milage and puts down place mats but there isn't a mechanic available for several hours so you leave. Would you still pay?

[WilliamTheIrish]

Would you pay if your local garage did this? You take your car in, the guy behind the counter after a few hours goes and checks the milage and puts down place mats but there isn't a mechanic available for several hours so you leave. Would you still pay?

The last time I took my car into my mechanic, he had it for 48 hours.

[Frankie]

There are horror stories for every system. In a lot of cases, to use football terms, it's not the game plan that's bad, It's the excecussion. A lot of you reject any kind of Universal Health notion right off the bat, relying on horror stories. I say if a good Public Health Program is implemented, the next step is to make sure that it is implemented correctly.

[WilliamTheIrish]

There are horror stories for every system. In a lot of cases, to use football terms, it's not the game plan that's bad, It's the excecussion. A lot of you reject any kind of Universal Health notion right off the bat, relying on horror stories. I say if a good Public Health Program is implemented, the next step is to make sure that it is implemented correctly.

Look, UHC is coming. People want it. But I will not be swayed by anecdotal stories of the "Horrors in the ER". For every one case like that, I could present a 5000 that went perfectly right.

In this story, a person waited too long. She didn't have an open fracture of her leg. But the way it's written, you'd think she was in danger of having the goddamn thing amputated.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Look, UHC is coming. People want it. But I will not be swayed by anecdotal stories of the "Horrors in the ER". For every one case like that, I could present a 5000 that went perfectly right.

In this story, a person waited too long. She didn't have an open fracture of her leg. But the way it's written, you'd think she was in danger of having the goddamn thing amputated.

I didn't really get that from the story, but I have zero experience in medicine. I know nothing about it. I was far more concerned with this, near the bottom of the story.

A few days before Milbrodt’s visit, a 58-year-old man who went to the ER with stomach pains also waited 19 hours — and then suffered cardiac arrest and died.

[Frankie]

Look, UHC is coming. People want it. But I will not be swayed by anecdotal stories of the "Horrors in the ER". For every one case like that, I could present a 5000 that went perfectly right.

In this story, a person waited too long. She didn't have an open fracture of her leg. But the way it's written, you'd think she was in danger of having the goddamn thing amputated.

Yup.

[WilliamTheIrish]

I didn't really get that from the story, but I have zero experience in medicine. I know nothing about it. I was far more concerned with this, near the bottom of the story.

A few days before Milbrodt’s visit, a 58-year-old man who went to the ER with stomach pains also waited 19 hours — and then suffered cardiac arrest and died.

I agree with you here Flop. However, his story is condensed into two sentences. I am certain that cases like this DO happen. But I have a hard time discussing the case when I don't know more than :

Man arrived. Waited. Died.

[bluehawkdoc]

In the ER, triage is standard and necessary practice based on the severity of the patient. William is right. To compare this to a mechanic's shop is just silly. If you think the ER system is a mess right now, wait until UHC. People will have even less access because fewer "potential" doctors will enter the field of medicine.

[RJ]

In the ER, triage is standard and necessary practice based on the severity of the patient. William is right. To compare this to a mechanic's shop is just silly. If you think the ER system is a mess right now, wait until UHC. People will have even less access because fewer "potential" doctors will enter the field of medicine.



Why?

I assume you mean because it won't be as lucrative. If so, how much less lucrative would it be?

[WilliamTheIrish]

Why?

I assume you mean because it won't be as lucrative. If so, how much less lucrative would it be?

I feel this one of those scare tactics regarding UHC. Why would the practice not be lucrative? There's no real evidence behind the statement.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Why?

I assume you mean because it won't be as lucrative. If so, how much less lucrative would it be?

It's bullshit.

There are 2.4 doctors/1000 people in the US, 2.2 in Canada, and 3/1000 in France.

[Taco John]

Yes, i believe Universal health care would be worse than that.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

I agree with you here Flop. However, his story is condensed into two sentences. I am certain that cases like this DO happen. But I have a hard time discussing the case when I don't know more than :

Man arrived. Waited. Died.

I guess my question would be, if you're going to write a story about this, why not focus on one where the man died as a result? Rather than the lady who broke a bone and is recovering fine. That doesn't make any sense to me.

[triple]

What the hell?

$162 for a nurse to check on your vitals every few hours sounds normal.

Does she think you can get a broken leg treated for $162? This isn't 1930.

[bluehawkdoc]

Hamas, you are always so inflammatory. Is it to cover your ignorance? I believe the reason physicians numbers will decline is because of the lack of autonomy and the amount of "red tape" that will come with UHC. Great minds will go into career fields with better incentives (money or otherwise).

[WilliamTheIrish]

Hamas, you are always so inflammatory. Is it to cover your ignorance? I believe the reason physicians numbers will decline is because of the lack of autonomy and the amount of "red tape" that will come with UHC. Great minds will go into career fields with better incentives (money or otherwise).

The only dearth I see in the medical field is the number of Americans entering it. Medical schools give out a ton of seats to foreign students. (Or maybe they have expanded their rolls in order to meet a need or to make more money on tuition.)

And Doc, there is red tape galore in the system we have now. So to be honest, I still feel it's one of those uninformed statements that has been passed from talk radio to the masses that has no credible foundation.

[bluehawkdoc]

Why do you think numbers have declined?

[WilliamTheIrish]

Why do you think numbers have declined?

Which numbers?

[bluehawkdoc]

Number of Americans

[banyon]

Number of Americans

Do you find it difficult to maintain this air of objectivity while you completely ignore and dismiss Hamas's point about cross-country comparisons?

[WilliamTheIrish]

Number of Americans

To be honest, I don't have any numbers. I do see greater numbers of foreign students than I did 10 years ago. But I don't have anything evidenciary that I can point to that says there are fewer Americans.

Again, it could be that med schools have increased their enrollment in order to make more money and therefore take in more foreign students. Which could be what I see.

[Frankie]

Hamas, you are always so inflammatory. Is it to cover your ignorance? I believe the reason physicians numbers will decline is because of the lack of autonomy and the amount of "red tape" that will come with UHC. Great minds will go into career fields with better incentives (money or otherwise).

Have you not noticed physicians have lost a lot of their autonomy to insurance companies already?