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As Rand Paul said it was a completely legitimate bill for those procedures.

we are ****ed either way

Nope.

The reason for outrageous ER visits and doctor care in general is primarily due to two things: The uninsured and malpractice insurance.

Our society has become so litigious that if you have a malpractice insurance in Haiti but treat someone in Peru, your malpractice insurance will cover you in the event of being sued.

But the United States is the only country in the world that does not recognize malpractice insurance from any other sovereign nation. If you practice medicine in any capacity in America, you must have American malpractice insurance.

Furthermore, the reason why an Advil is $200 dollars (or whatever) in an ER is to cover the cost of all of the uninsured people. Doctors have to treat patients by law, regardless of insurance coverage (or the lack thereof). Because millions are uninsured and will never pay for their ER visits (and more), the burden is pushed to the insured.

It's a ****ed up system and most people hardly know how it works.

It was a fuggin broken metatarsal that required no resetting and no surgery. $1700 is asinine. I don't give a shit about malpractice and uninsured issues. When a doctor bill is twice as much as the ER bill and the ER did all the treatment something is very, very wrong with the system.

I'm insured and feel completely ****ed over by the system.

Yeah Dude, it's all ****ed.

I had the same thing happen to me when I broke both my elbows. (bike accident) If you have an orthopedic surgeon look at the injury they will charge it on the bill like it was a surgery. All he did was look at the ****ing x-rays from the E.R. It is ****ing ridiculous the system is beyond broken.

:eek: JFC It may be futile but I'll be a thorn in their side for as long as I can and when I start to pay they will get $10 per month.

Dude, this is why there needs to be serious health care reform in this country.

No offense to you whatsoever, but most Americans that have insurance don't think there's a problem with the system until they actually need to use their insurance for a surgery or unfortunately, an ER visit.

Just think about the 30 million plus that are uninsured.

Could it be a mistake? I know DR's are outrageous but why would they list surgery when they didn't do it? Call them up be nice....if they don't fix it have your lawyer right them a nice ltter explaining that your not paying for a surgery that they didn't perform.....if all else fails key that dicks car!

Nobody is debating the fact that the insurance system is part of the problem. The fact that tons of people use the ER like it is a ****ing clinic is beyond ridiculous. Thats not the point for me though. I expected the $850 ER bill. I didn't expect a $1700 doctor bill for an office visit that took place 5 days AFTER the ER visit and the doctor didn't do shit other than literally look at a foot.

The way the system is now, the uninsured seem to get off easier than the insured do. They just don't pay the bill. I don't mean it to sound like I consider all uninsured people deadbeats because I know a good majority of them do their best to pay their debts but there are plenty that abuse the system too.

Either way, the doctors shouldn't get paid for doing nothing.

Keep in mind, I'm actually getting insurance help paying for this and I'm still pissed off because these bills are too damned high. My insurance shouldn't have to pay these ridiculous inflated fees anymore than the uninsured person should.

I don't think its an error.....I had my thumb shattered playing football, and went to an ortho, all I got was an xray and a cast and my bill was over 2k.

casts are not covered by insurance, at least not mine and I have good insurance being a diabetic.

Just watch, the insurance payout will be much less than 1700 bucks.

The face price of bills are much higher than what insurance actually pays. Your co pay will probably be relatively small.

The nominal price of a bill is really a fictional number. They just have it high so that when you have an uninsured patient that can actually pay, it makes up for all the uninsured who never pay.

That's why you're totally screwed if you don't have insurance. That also explains why so many personal bankrupcies are medically driven.

When your insurance pays, you will usually get a notice that shows what they actually paid the doctor's office.

But those people never pay anyways, their the ones reaping the rewards for nothing.

I'm hoping for a nice surprise when insurance gets done with the bill but expecting the worst. The $875 ER bill dropped down to $181 after insurance but it is not subject to my policy deductible. This doctors bill is going to be much more painful with a $500 deductible.