BACK SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I was in a small town hospital for acute dehydration. It was a matter of getting IV fluids for a day or two, then out. I brought my meds with me from home. I could have gotten them from the hospital, of course, but they would have billed me far more than I had paid for them myself. We hear a lot about the incredible costs of pharmaceuticals, but much less about the raging costs of hospitalization. According to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), “hospital prices have increased at a faster pace [than drugs] and will continue to do so through most of the next decade.” In any event, a nurse discovered that I’d brought my own pills and informed the hospital pharmacist. He ordered her to return to my room and confiscate my pills. She claimed that the reason was so that he could “see what I was taking.” I refused to give them up. I told her to tell the pharmacist to come to my room himself and explain to me why he needed to confiscate my meds. He never showed up and I continued with my own pills. There is nothing you will get in the hospital that you’re not charged for, and sometimes you will be charged for things that you don’t get (in my case, it was a pair of pressure socks that I refused to wear). When you’re a hospital patient, you'd be surprised what goes onto your tab. I recently saw an item about a woman finding on the itemization of her hospital bill a charge of $40 for them consoling her while she cried. Like drinking water or air for your tires, human sympathy now comes with a charge.
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The irony is Henry, if you are lucky enough to afford private health insurance, you are more than likely to be charged more!
I know this for a fact.
Let's all stay away from hospitals if we can.
V.J.
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Far out, that's unreal. Good on you, Henry, for not giving up your meds to the nurse and requesting the pharmacist to come tell you.
And how many people just pay without questioning anything? When I was just about ready to start my chemotherapy pills, I called the online pharmacy I had to use through my insurance. I asked how much the pills were for each 14-day cycle I was going to do with my copay. They came back with a price of 1056. Then, on another call, 1018. Guess I won't be taking these very long cause I'm a cheap ass. So, I called my insurance and asked and they said that there were no pills that had a copay that high. WTF? The lady called back the next day and confirmed my copay was 10 for each 14-day supply. Come to find out the pharmacy had a billing error on those pills but how many people just pay things and never question it? I know at all my wound appointments they would open a gauze packet and use 1 or 2. I'd always take the rest cause my insurance was being billed for it and I could use it at home instead of buying more. Anyone need gauze pads or abdominal pads, I have an excess?