Boy did I get an education Saturday.

[Thumper]

Nothing I hadn't heard about really, but it's a little different to simply "know" something, than to experience it first hand.

My brother and SIL were in town over the weekend (here for a business conference in Tampa this week). They arrived Friday night and my SIL was feeling pretty poorly. She stayed in bed while my bro and I ran around a bit on Saturday, then had lunch. When we returned home, she was feeling REALLY crappy, so we loaded her in the car and I drove them to a local walk-in clinic. (I won't go into detail, but it appeared it could be really serious) They are both self-employed and pay through the nose for their insurance plans with pricey deductibles. When we went into the clinic, they suggested we take her to the hospital ER instead ... said it could be serious and she should get some tests done at the hospital. So, we loaded her up and took her to the ER. Of course, when she checked in, they grilled her on her insurance plan, co-pay, credit card info, etc. etc. etc. THEN they admitted her to the ER for tests.

My brother and I waited in the lobby until they released her 6 hours later. The whole time there, I was sitting right next to the admissions desk. I could feel my blood pressure rising with every check-in. I don't think I'd be exaggerating one bit to say that 99.9999% of the people who came into that Emergency Room (while I was there) hadn't a lick of insurance. To be honest, I have no clue how this Obamacare thing works, all I know is my SIL was grilled for her financial info when she checked in and all I saw the rest of the day was a bunch of bullshit. People were coming in with the sniffles or a bee sting. One guy came in with a cut finger-tip that I would have simply used a band-aid on. What really surprised me is that the receptionist knew many of these "patients" by their first name. "Hello Zedarius, we haven't seen you since last night ... what's your problem today?" (yes, if you missed it, I'm being a tad racist) The real shocker? Don't have a car? Don't want to pay for a cab? No problem, call an ambulance to have that ingrown toenail looked at! On THIS particular Saturday afternoon, I didn't see ONE ambulance arrive with the siren on. It looked more like a cab service out front. The only real "emergency" I saw was a kid in a baseball uniform who looked like he had a sprained ankle (It was wrapped in an ice pack, so it "could" have been broken, I don't really know)

The last time I was in that ER was 20+ years ago when I took Lynn in one day. She had no insurance at the time (she had just changed jobs and it was something like 12 days before her company insurance took effect), the ONLY time in her life she had no coverage AND (at that time), the ONLY time she'd ever been in a hospital! Luck'o the Irish I guess! There was NO surgery involved and she was never even admitted into the hospital. It turned out to be a blood pressure problem and they ran various tests, then tried various meds to get her BP stabilized. NO hospital admission and NO surgery ... just tests. We were slapped with an $87,000 bill!!! We received bills from people and companies I'd never even heard of. Bills arrived from every direction ... labs, hospital, clinics, elebenty different doctors, supplies, meds and probably a partridge in a pear tree! I personally negotiated the bills down, one by one, to around $30,000 and paid every penny of it.

Sitting in that ER all day made me sick to my stomach. That was no Emergency Room, it was a free clinic for everything from runny noses to a case of the farts ... AND free transportation was included! If you ever want to have a rude awakening ... spend the day hanging around your local ER admissions desk! I expected to see paramedics rushing in pushing gurneys loaded with people with blood and guts spilling out onto the floor. Maybe there was a special entrance for them, I don't know, but I never saw any REAL emergencies while I was there. The only serious bleeding I saw was that place hemorrhaging tax dollars! It was nothing more than a walk-in free-clinic ... IF you knew how to milk the system!

[LJ3]

it's not quite as bad here, but it's most definitely headed that way.

[Hombre]

I kind of picture a florida er as a blue hair retirement social gathering where pacemakers and artificial hips get a tune up

[BarryBobPosthole]

i see. so you're saying those people who were in there with no insurance received their medical care for free? That they'll receive no bill for the care they recieved?

Ps....you're quite a curmudgeon.
BKB

[Hombre]

Getting a bill and paying for service are two different things. Thats not what i took though. I took there are a lot of regulars that treat the ambulance and ER like their personal shuttle and hospital, for minor issues. If thats the case you have to wonder who is paying. ER visits are crazy expensive and at least my HC has stipulations on what it can be used for.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I think about one in five emergency room patients don't have insurance. Emergency rooms are required by federal law to provide service to people regardless of insurance.

BKB

[Nandy]

Been to the ER more times that i care in the last 4 years and I have never witnessed something like that. Or course, I dont sit next to the receptionist to listen to everyone eases bus sines!!! lol!

[Thumper]

Hombre hit it on the nose. I didn't witness ANYTHING that I'd categorize as an emergency, except the kid with a sprained or broken ankle. Call it profiling if you want, but what I SAW was total bullshit. Your quote says it all ...


Emergency rooms are required by federal law to provide service to people regardless of insurance.

People know that and use the ER as their personal boo boo fix-it place. Need a band-aid? Go to the ER. They HAVE to give you one. Too far to walk? Call an ambulance! As for payment. Ha! You can't get blood from a turnip. The key word is "abuse" ... abuse of the system. It's like all the other "systems" we have in place, once someone learns how to "work" the system, they make it their personal servant. I have to admit, I haven't spent much time in a (public) hospital ER before and expected to see accident victims, knife/gun fight victims, heart attacks, misc. broken bones, you name it. NOT some dickhead wandering in off the street with a case of the sniffles and demanding a box of tissues. (and yes, a few of them were arrogant a-holes making demands for immediate service) It was a hospital emergency room, NOT a frigging Salvation Army food pantry. To be honest, I can't imagine what the COUNTY hospital ER must be like.

[Thumper]

Been to the ER more times that i care in the last 4 years and I have never witnessed something like that. Or course, I dont sit next to the receptionist to listen to everyone eases bus sines!!! lol!

Nandy, I've spent quite a bit of time in the VA ER and I never witnessed anything like this there either. I sat there for 6 hours and by time I left, my jaw was dragging the ground. As I said in the title, I got quite the education Saturday.

[DeputyDog]

I had a conversation with one of the ER docs that I know a while back. He told me that he was on the board at the previous hospital he worked at and it was what could be considered an inner-city hospital. He told me that the hospital actually collected only about 20% of what they billed out.

No wonder they take as much as they can from the patients who have insurance and can actually or will actually pay their bill.

[DeputyDog]

I had a conversation with one of the ER docs that I know a while back. He told me that he was on the board at the previous hospital he worked at and it was what could be considered an inner-city hospital. He told me that the hospital actually collected only about 20% of what they billed out.

No wonder they take as much as they can from the patients who have insurance and can actually or will actually pay their bill.

[Thumper]

You can say that again! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Here's something from the BCBS folks on it.

BKB

http://blog.bcbsnc.com/2014/04/5-emergency-room-myths-busted/

[Nandy]

You can say that again! ;)

He already did! lol!

[Buckrub]

Want to ask a real ambulance driver the real story? Or do you want to spit b/s? If you want the real story, call me.

And the real question is.....what percentage of ER visits are paid by anyone?

[Buckrub]

Thump, if you are just now,seeing this, you're not just a curmudgeon, you're pretty much a slow learner!

[Thumper]

Ummm, I really haven't spent much time in the local ER Buckster. The last time was when I took Lynn in about 15 years ago. The time before that was ... well, about 25 years ago. Now that I think about it ... until this weekend, those were the ONLY times I've ever set foot into an ER (other than the VA ... but that's apples and oranges).

[Buckrub]

Me either. But I talk to folks. This is status quo and has been.

[Buckrub]

Me either. But I talk to folks. This is status quo and has been.

[Thumper]

Youse OLD dufes sure repeat yourselves a lot. My mom has started doing that the past few years, but she's in her 80's. :D

To be honest, I don't have much contact with anybody who would have direct ER knowledge/experience, so I don't hear the stories. The closest I come is those (reality) ER type TV shows, but all they show is real emergencies (mostly gunshots and stabbings!). This weekend was simply a bit of an eye-opener. I'd sure like to have Gunther's input here ... I'm sure he'd have flames shooting out of his ears as he typed his response! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

The facts are easy to come by, but its easier to believe what you want to.

Google it noob.

As usual, the sky is falling yet again.

BKB

[Thumper]

Hey Turd-blossom, all I did was to report MY personal experience after spending 6 hours sitting next to the admissions desk at our local (and rather large) hospital. I am no expert as expressed by admitting to my lack of experience watching the comings and goings of the average ER. Sheeesh. Maybe it was just a bad day. I dunno. What are you anyway, some sort of bleeding-heart Liberal? ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Maybe I am and maybe I ain't.

Suit yourself. to paraphrase your experience, the niggers getting their free rides to the ER and free service from the ER are clogging up the whole system with their frivolous visits to the ER. Just ask any ambulance driver, they'll tell you.

What did I miss?

BKB

[Thumper]

Well, you're throwing a few "assumptions" in there ... but you're entitled to your "paraphrasing". Since you're setting the mood here, am I allowed to throw Beaners and White Trash in there too?

The only "ambulance driver" I mentioned was to say I'd like to hear Gunther's opinion. Man, some people mellow with retirement ... and some just seem to become more curmudgeonly ... NOT that there's anything wrong with that of course ... I don't want you to feel like you have to defend the curmudgeons of America! ;)

[LJ3]

Maybe I am and maybe I ain't.

Suit yourself. to paraphrase your experience, the niggers getting their free rides to the ER and free service from the ER are clogging up the whole system with their frivolous visits to the ER. Just ask any ambulance driver, they'll tell you.

What did I miss?

BKB

5731

[BarryBobPosthole]

I know. I think I caught it from you.

BKB

[Thumper]

Time for a bowl or two. ;)

[Buckrub]

I was the one who said I had,an ambulance driver you could call for the real facts.

You can call me,a liar, that's fine. But if you call him one, suggest you eat your Wheaties.

[Buckrub]

Maybe I am and maybe I ain't.

Suit yourself. to paraphrase your experience, the niggers getting their free rides to the ER and free service from the ER are clogging up the whole system with their frivolous visits to the ER. Just ask any ambulance driver, they'll tell you.

What did I miss?

BKB

By the way, you're the only dufe here that uses such language.....on people it appears (?) that you're trying to defend. Your methods erode your argument.

[BarryBobPosthole]

No I'm not. I'm the only one who speaks it plainly. The others who use it, you included, do so in a thinly veiled way, like you'd like to call people the names you use off line, but don't have the balls to do it.

Go ahead and do it. If you think its more impolite to use the overt language instead of double entendre, then I'd say you are just being dishonest.

BKB

[Thumper]

Well, lemme see ... ok, during the time I was there, I saw (not counting hospital staff) prolly 95% niggers, a few wetbacks or spics (not sure, they all look alike anyway), one mixed couple (him black, her white) with 8 (as in EIGHT) little Oreos (or zebras as OJ calls 'em), one totally white trash, redneck honky who came in with no shirt and his zipper down with no underwear underneath ... oh, and one Jap (Lynn).

Then there were the three respectable looking, model citizen type white folk ... my bro, sil and myself. ;)

Feel better now?

[Buckrub]

Well that's twice.

Yours comments are patently ridiculous.

I don't choose to discuss this with those who think I'm lying, can't stand the truth, and dismisses reality. You couldn't be more wrong on this. But my psyche is not going to let me discuss this further with such folks. Your elitist attitude on this is why I decry the liberal view of the world.

Bye

[BarryBobPosthole]

nI really didn't post my personal views. I posted facts from Blue Cross Blue Shield about the five biggest myths about emergency room services. If that's your version of posting liberal lies then you're entitled to your opinion. there's plenty of other data out there from the CDC, other insurance outfits, government Medicare agencies, and so forth. They all pretty much say the same thing. I actually posted it in response to Thumper, not to you to begin with, to let him know that maybe it ain't the same everywhere and maybe his own perception got skewed a little by something or other. Having sat in an emergency room for six hours with pancreatitis TWICE in two weeks, I can relate to how pissed you can get.
In my case, the ER wasn't clogged by the uninsured, or minorities, it was clogged by the process which is rife with dumbassery. (this was in 2006) The front line people in those ERs actually do their best when you finally get care.


BKB

[Thumper]

As stated previously, I have VERY little experience with Emergency Rooms. The ONLY time I related to in my original post was the 1/4 of one day I spent in the ER this past Saturday afternoon. We were lucky, as when we entered, there was hardly anyone there and just a few in the waiting area. My SIL was admitted immediately following their gathering all her insurance info.

I sat down right next to the admissions desk as she and my brother went through the check-in process, then I remained in that seat through the whole afternoon. It seemed really odd to me that the staff already knew half the people who came in ... like they were "regular customers". The rest is just my basic observations from spending just 6 hours there ... so there are another 8760 hours in the year I have not or will not observe. Maybe it was just a bad day ... or a good day ... I'm not sure which.

What it boils down to is, before Saturday, I had no clue whatsoever that you could simply walk into the ER with a hangnail and expect service. I guess I'm pretty naive in that respect. I thought the ER was pretty much for emergencies ... or at minimum, potential emergencies. AND ... I could not help wondering why these people went to the ER instead of a local walk-in clinic (they're all over town) ... but I think I know the answer to that one.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Not sure if you have them there but there are urgent care clnics here that you can walk in without insurance and get service from.

Its pretty screwed up though that people use emergency rooms that way. And frustrating too. One would hope the triage process would get the most seriously hurt treated first.

BKB

[Buckrub]

Well, here's some facts for you.
Post #21 you called me a liar, thinly veiled as you say.
Post #23 you called my son a liar.....and used offensive language....that I NEVER use, online, offline, or ever.
Post 30 you falsely accused me of using offensive laguage, when I never do, but you have done,so here, and often.....and you accused me of lying for the second time, simply because my statements don't match your absurd agenda.
Post #33 you falsely claim that none of your posts contain your personal views.

You and I go back a long ways, but those things are over the line. My back's against the wall maybe, but I'm done with this b/s.

[Buckrub]

And my brother is on medicaid and no one in town will see him other than the hospital er......not the several urgent care facilities. Your info isn't applicable to real people.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Nobody can disagree with you any time without you taking some big offense to it. When it happens you're persecuted or are treated dismissively. And if you don't think you've used covert racist language Maybe I can go back and find some references for you. EVEN THOUGH THIS POST ISN'T ABOUT YOU. In the first two you listed, I was responding to Thumper.

You keep saying you're done and yet you keep posting.

And your brother has absolutely nothing to do with this post. Where did that come from?

I will leave you be.

BKB

[Buckrub]

Disagree is one thing. I've taken that we'll for 15 years. Calling me and my family liars is far different. I brought up a medicaid example to disprove your contention that urgent care clinics would solve the problem that you claimed earlier didn't exist. Your position is untenable, and dismissing me in that elitist way doesn't sit well with me either. Not that that bothers you any.

[Captain]

Wow!
First day out in forever and look what goes on....
I ain't in it, I ain't gonna get in it either.
I'll just say in my 30 plus year of hanging out in ER's in my line of work my observations are MUCH the same as Thumper described. And the Nurses and doctors and EMS peeps in this area would without question second that.
There that's all from me.

[Gunther]

Oh hell no! Everybody pays their own way and obama care is the best thing ever. I had such a high rate of people paying that I semi retired and only work about 50 hours a week now. And ambulance are not used as taxi's silly people, taxi's cost money and ambulances are free. And every once in awhile I actually use the cot. Usually not for the immigrants though.

[Thumper]

Good to see you here Gunth! Why such a stranger?

[Gunther]

Well, that was a waste. I debunked all of the 5 myths and it wouldn't post. Oh well. I'm gonna go hunting.

[Thumper]

Dangit! :crybaby

[BarryBobPosthole]

Yo to the armpit with eyes!

Welcome back, dufus.

BKB