# Does anything in the law prevent a hospital from charging $10,000 a bandaid?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 22, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942 "2017-09-22T04:35:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942/21 "2017-09-23T10:35:58Z")
In my (foreign) country, they /probably/ can’t just charge ‘anything’, because they would run foul of Fair Trading and Consumer Protection laws.
Case to point: one of the big OTC drug companies got done for overcharging for headache tablets, which they had done by labeling generic drugs as specifically “for headache” or “for muscle pain” or “for some other specific condition”.
So if a hospital here was shown to be overcharging by exploiting consumer ignorance, they’d probably get done.
Apart from that, “reasonable” fees are set by the market participants. If a hospital here charged “unreasonable” fees, that wouldn’t be a recoverable debt (But remember we are talking medicine here: a reasonable fee in the private system could still send you broke).
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942/22 "2017-09-23T13:39:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> A kid got 4 stitches! Dad gets a 14k bill.
>
> I suspect the band-aid wasn’t cheap.
>
> It wasn’t that long ago your Family Doctor routinely sewed up cuts like this and only charged for an office visit. Gave the kid a lollipop too.
>
> That was me in 1974. My mom removed the stitches at home ten days later.
>
> [https://www.google.com/amp/pix11.com/2014/02/25/man-astounded-by-bill-for-4-stitches-at-most-expensive-hospital-in-america/amp/](https://www.google.com/amp/pix11.com/2014/02/25/man-astounded-by-bill-for-4-stitches-at-most-expensive-hospital-in-america/amp/)
I kept sterile suture kits around when I kept sheep, and last cut I had that needed stitches but wasn’t bad enough to need an ER I had mrAru suture me up [7 external, got to thank the Navy for sending him to school to cross train him to work on me, it also allowed him to take a month of and take me home post op instead of me needing to be stuck in hospital for a few weeks. He does wonderful wound care =)]
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Anytime I’ve dealt with a hospital I’ve been aggressively proactive about cost. You do not have to “buy” anything they’re selling. Ask how much you’ll be charged for that bandaid, and if it’s not worth the money to you, decline it, even if it’s AMA (against medical advice). You may be asked to sign a waiver.
>
> When I was being transferred from hospital A to hospital B (8 miles away) to have cardiac angioplasty/stent work done, they were going to load me into an ambulance. I pointed out that I felt fine and would rather drive. They argued (correctly) that I was not stable. So, I called my insurance company. It turned out that the ambulance was going to cost a small fortune and would not be covered. _However_ if I ordered an ambulance from my hometown (50 miles away) my insurance would pay the whole bill. So, I waited patiently for the ambulance instead of using one that was sitting at the curb.
>
> When I was being discharged from hospital B, the nurse brought me my morning dose of medications. I asked about cost, and declined the pills. She argued, but I held fast. On our way home my gf stopped at our pharmacy, got my meds, and I took them. Waiting 90 minutes saved me $85.
I always take all my meds with me, and mrAru sticks with me start to finish and manages my normal meds, the nurses manage the ones ordered in hospital. My seriously malignant blood pressure has a specific regimen of drugs at very specific time [and it has been demonstrated that if I delay one for half an hour, I edge into the danger zone] I also take a box of kleenex, and a tub of wet wipes …
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### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942/23 "2017-09-23T15:41:58Z")
My wife’s grandfather fell on the way into the hospital (taking his wife to a doctor’s appointment) and shattered his hip. he got a hip replacement the same night. He got a serious infection from the operation (he was 85) and so was hospitalized for a much longer period of time. Total cost - zero Canadian dollars. No bills, no arguing, no negotiating. When someone tells you that Canadian health care is a disaster (why do I hear that in Alec Baldwin’s voice) they are wrong. Ask your typical Canadian, not the rich ones who can afford to pay luxury grade American health care out of pocket. Canadian health care has its issues but nobody here would trade it for the horror south of the border. We pay a comparable income tax rate and no health insurance premiums.
But to the OP’s point - in Canada, IIRC, your sheltered savings - pensions and RRSPs (pre-tax retirement funds like a 401K) cannot be taken by a bankruptcy decision. The amount you put into an RRSP per year is limited, but that amount is meant for retirement. It cannot be seized. Of course, any assets you do have can be considered when you are bankrupt, here or the USA. (Note certain exemptions - millionaire business people like Florida because your primary home cannot be seized to pay a judgement, even if, like OJ Simpson, it’s worth tens of millions. But for the average Joe non-Floridian, I assume a legitimate debt could cause you to lose your house and most other assets.
To get to the crux - hyper-over-charging for hospital goods and services. First, running a hospital is expensive. There’s not necessarily a line item on the bill for the accounting department or janitorial services, from what I’ve heard - so these services are figured into the overhead for tangible services. Plus, as others mention, if someone comes in but can’t pay, they still have to treat that patient. The USA doesn’t have socialized medicine, so instead of the government paying for that person, the cost is spread around to all you people (and/or insurance companies) who are hospital patients and \*can _pay. It’s socialized medicine spread over a much smaller social group._ Finally, as others point out, a hospital is like a middle east bazar or a big city hotel. Nobody pays the rack rate or initial asking price unless they don’t know better.
- Recall the police officer in the news a few weeks ago for arresting the Salt Lake City nurse; he was also a part time ambulance diver, and one of his tantrum threats when he was told he couldn’t have his way was that he would bring only indigent and uninsured to their hospital and take paying patients elsewhere…
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anything-in-the-law-prevent-a-hospital-from-charging-10-000-a-bandaid/796942/24 "2017-09-23T15:50:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> The concern for medical lawsuits has drastically changed how medicine is practiced. My mom had malpractice insurance during her career as a CRNA (Nurse Anthestist) and it is very expensive. Mom was lucky that she never got sued throughout her long career.
>
> Your family GP rarely does procedures in the office anymore. Even something as simple as giving a kid four stitches. What if something goes wrong and the wound gets infected or the parents are upset by the scar afterwards? Why should the GP risk a lawsuit?
>
> So the kid gets referred to the ER. Let the hospital and ER assume the liability.
Note, OTOH, that the total cost of malpractice lawsuits is tiny compared to total health care expenditure. It’s often used as a scare tactic in certain places to have an effect on people. Sadly, some of the people affected by this fear are practitioners who altered methods increase prices.
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