I can't imagine any surgery that should ever cost $164,000. You can buy an entire house for that amount of money. It is highway robbery, and those that are engaged in this sort of predatory pricing are literally crooks.Heather Waldron and John Hawley are losing their four-bedroom house in the hills above Blacksburg, Virginia. A teenage daughter, one of their five children, sold her clothes for spending money. They worried about paying the electric bill. Financial disaster, they said, contributed to their divorce, finalized in April.
Their money problems began when the University of Virginia Health System pursued the couple with a lawsuit and a lien on their home to recoup $164,000 in charges for Waldron's emergency surgery in 2017.
Sadly, Heather Waldron and John Hawley have a lot of company. Over the past six years, the University of Virginia Health System has sued 36,000 patients...
Yes, the University of Virginia Health System saves lives every single day, but the way that they are running their operation is bringing great shame to the entire state of Virginia.The family has lots of company: Over six years ending in June 2018, the health system and its doctors filed 36,000 lawsuits against patients, seeking a total of more than $106 million, seizing wages and bank accounts, putting liens on property and homes and forcing families into bankruptcy, a Kaiser Health News analysis found.
Of course there are many other hospitals all across the country that are behaving in a similar manner. This next example comes from CNN...
Are you kidding me?When Donna Hernandez had the flu last year, she went to her local emergency room in New Mexico, where she received two IV bags of saline, a dose of antiviral medication and a drug to help with her nausea.
She says after about two and a half hours, she was on her way.
Hernandez recovered from the flu, but still hasn't recovered from the shock of the bill she received afterward. It was for more than $6,000.
Hernandez didn't stay overnight and she didn't have any surgery.
How in the world can that hospital possibly justify a bill for more than $6,000?
Like I said, they are a bunch of crooks.
But their racket is completely legal, and those participating are becoming exceedingly wealthy at our expense. If you can believe it, the University of Virginia Health System has made a profit of $554 million over the past six years, and the CEO brings in an exceedingly bloated salary...
Our "healthcare system" is deeply, deeply broken, and it is destroying lives all across America.UVA Medical Center, the flagship of UVA Health System, earned $554 million in profit over the six years ending in June 2018 and holds stocks, bonds and other investments worth $1 billion, according to financial statements. CEO Sutton-Wallace earns a salary of $750,000, with bonus incentives that could push her annual pay close to $1 million, according to a copy of her employment contract, obtained under public information law.
A single trip to the hospital can ruin you financially for the rest of your life, and one recent survey found that health costs are "the main financial worry" for Americans aged 25 to 45...
And that same survey discovered that a substantial percentage of respondents have actually been avoiding the "healthcare system" because of what it might cost...According to a survey of 1,000 Americans aged 25-45, financial stress and worries are quite literally making people sick. Respondents listed health care as the main financial worry of their lives, and three in four admitted to having a "negative experience" due to financial stress. Ironically, 39% said that financial stress has had a negative impact on their health; indicating a troubling cycle of financial stress brought on by health care costs, which in turn leads to more health problems.
In America today, 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies are related to medical bills, and most of those that go bankrupt actually have health insurance.In fact, three in four surveyed young adults reported taking "risky" actions to save money on medical expenses. More specifically, 33% delayed seeking medical help in the hope that their condition would just go away, 27% considered avoiding medical attention due to high deductibles, and 22% scheduled a medical appointment but never showed after considering the bill.
Those that follow my work regularly know that I have been writing about these things for a long time, and I am deeply frustrated that things just seem to get worse with each passing year.
At one time, the medical profession was a noble path, and those that sacrificed so much to help others were greatly admired.
But now the "healthcare system" in America has become a cesspool of greed, and for many of those that are attracted to it the main goal is to make as much money as possible.
Just because it is currently legal, that does not mean that the predatory behavior of the industry is moral.
The U.S. "healthcare system" accounts for nearly a fifth of our entire economy, and if it was a country it would have the fifth largest GDP on the entire planet.
But at this point it has become a great shame to the entire nation, and it needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt from scratch.
About The Author
Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.
Reader Comments
Which you get to claim on your 2019 tax return. Do you think you can claim the $21 parking fee as well ? I'm not sure, never had to claim that yet.
Results would be about the same but a huge cost savings.
1. NEVER do the autograft!
2. Do the allograft!
3. Make certain you really trust the doctor!!!!
Never put off scope surgery such as meniscus clean up by that good knee specialist orthopod. Otherwise, tears will inrease.
Hard learned lessons.
R.C.
Stem cell therapy: The innovations and potential to help repair and regenerate your body
Kristin Comella,1 named No. 1 on the Academy of Regenerative Practices list of Top 10 stem cell innovators, has been a stem cell researcher for nearly two decades. In this interview, she discusses...From what I understand, it seems to me that soft tissue tears such as in knees and shoulders would be absolutely the best places for that hopefully magical stuff to do its work and actually re-glue you meniscus back together, etc.
Good luck!
R/C/
There's a reason for 'medical tourism'. [Link]
Name any other provider of services who, as part of their business model, do not provide cost and fees for services rendered at the point of the service. Hell, it's even mandated by law in many, e.g. car sales. To be fair, hospitals and medical care providers typically have some information available on hand - whether in print or both print and electronic form; but, asking a direct question with respect cost for one's self and with reference their individual health insurance policy will be met with, "You'd have to speak with billing about that." That the cost of a service can go from $6,000 to $2,000 per scan in the course of an insurance company and hospital negotiating services indicates something about finances and profit margins, not actual health care.
Moreover, profiting from health care wasn't even a thing until the Nixon Administration. The Boomer's would have come of age before or at the time of the shift. They've been adults watching the whole thing unfold. That they aren't up in arms about how it was versus how it is, especially as they age and become more likely to need health care services, is beyond me.
Presently, the insurance racket in the US is a protection scheme. "If you pay us 20% of the till each month, we won't break your legs. But, hey, if we do break your legs, at least we won't have to cut you as deep."
My friend: he paid the bills then was contacted by the insurer's subrogation department, stating they were investigating whether or not they appropriately paid for the services. And, several months later he's still contesting the insurance companies refusal to pay for the radiologist interpreting the images, as if a Board Certified Neurologist can't or he as patient actually had a choice in having his doctor do it rather than the radiologist.
Best state in the nation for debtors.
R,.C.