I don’t know if people were trying to suggest that the OP should have gone to an urgent care center instead or were just making a general observation, but I almost never see IV infusion billed in an outpatient setting, so they probably would have been told to go to the hospital anyway.
As far as the bill, as I said my opinion is that overall it is not unreasonable for an ER visit in the US. It’s hard to tell because it’s not really an “itemized bill” of the kind of detail I’m used to seeing. I don’t know what they’re trying to bill with “VISIT ER IV W”. IV infusion and the base E/M fee are always billed separate, and it’s looks like there’s a separate line for the infusion at any rate. E/M billing is based on how complex the case is, unless they did all kinds of other work to rule out other things a case of food poisoning seems fairly routine, so that might be kind of high if they’re only billing the institutional component of the base evaluation fee.
The “Compreh Meha” assuming they mean comprehensive metabolic panel, assuming they’re billing for that, 80053, alone and not lumping in some other lab services does strike me as on the high side, but not totally unreasonable.
Hospital bills are somewhat like buying cars in the dealer hopes someone walks in and pays sticker price, but that’s not the “real” price for most people. The 20% discount they apparently gave automatically is along the lines of what most people get when they ask, so they might give a further discount if the OP asks, especially if they can pay it in full so the hospital doesn’t have the expensive of keeping it on the books during a payment plan.
The Steven Brill article I linked to in the OP is worth reading for anyone interested in how e get billed for health care. As he stated, and as I can attest to, when you are in the middle of an emergency, you can’t shop around for the best prices.
I’ve made a mental note of the idea of urgent care centers.
Just making a general observation- but parents- do make a note of where and what hours the local Urgent Care centers have. Often 8am to 8pm, sometimes longer, and sometimes a flat fee for un-insured.
Doctors are quick to suggest a visit to the ER but I would never go unless it is indeed an emergency.
15 years ago or so my grandfather was in the hospital for a week or two and got a long and lengthy bill. He was on medicare but called their billing department and they discussed every charge. Turns out they liberally sprinkled charges on the bill, he found there were many things that they could not justify or verify, and they were quick to remove charges when pressed. For example, they listed medications on the bill in dosages that would have been harmful, and listed medications that he did not receive. I can’t remember all the details but he stayed on them for days and got the bill (and the government’s bill) reduced significantly.
The IV in VISIT ER IV W is likely not a reference to IV drugs, but to a Level IV (that is, 4 in Roman numerals) visit. Given the risk of liability, ERs are more likely to overinvestigate their patients than risk discharging them, which leads to what is likely a higher level of care than otherwise might be necessary for simple food poisoning.
As there have been plenty of answers given to the OP, permit me a hijack:
Given that paying $2000-$3000 for a brief hospital visit seems to be the norm, why is America seemingly so opposed to any form of universal health insurance cover (“Obamacare”)? I can’t get my head around the objections to it. Here in Britain I can go to a hospital and, yes, I might have to queue for a while (but probably not nearly as long as the media would have you believe) but I will get reasonably efficient (and usually excellent, in my experience) treatment without handing over a penny.
(At the time, of course - I have contributed to the cost through tax and national insurance.)
In what way is this not better than being bilked for a couple of grand when I’m already ill?
We’re not. American is solidly in favor of universal health insurance. There’s two problems- one political party is opposed to anything coming from the President. And many others are confused over the plan (and it’s very confusing even to it’s supporters) or don’t like some detail or other. It’s a BIG plan, and it tries to do a lot without costing a lot, so there were compromises.
That being said, generally “political” issues don’t belong in GQ, and even tho I tried very hard for a non-political & unbiased answer, it’s really impossible to get into this without crossing the line into GD territory.
Because I’ve never needed emergency services so therefore I’m not ever going to need them.
I don’t want to pay for that lazy welfare bum to go and get healthcare. I’d rather pay more for my own care than subsidize the lazy bums who just want something for nothing. They should have made arrangements. It’s their own fault. That kid with leukemia can hold a spaghetti fundraiser or something. Everyone for themselves. I don’t care if some poor person has no health care - doesn’t affect me.
Also, generally only people without insurance are charged that much. I’ve gone to the ER a few times, and after my $1-200 co-pay insurance covered the rest of the bill. And they have the muscle and contracts to talk the hospitals down to a more reasonable fee.