Thursday, May 18, 2006

mid-afternoon

I Give Up

Every day there’s a new bill.  One for the hospital, one for the surgery center, one for the pre-op doctor, one for the pain injection doctor, one for the lab, one for the surgeon (which I haven’t gotten yet) I’m sure.  Hell, why don’t all of you send me a bill just for reading this, because that would make as much sense as all of the double-billing going on here.  My suggestion if you have a large disc herniation, skip the damned $7,000 injections.  It’s a waste of your whole day, it doesn’t do much good (yet they manage to set you up for a series of three right away...at $7000/each), the doctor doesn’t give a shit if they help (I haven’t heard one word from that doctor’s office - Pain Institute of Nevada , in case you were wondering), and you’ll end up having surgery anyway.

I’m so damned tired of getting bills with ridiculous charges.  Fine, if you want to screw my crappy insurance company, go ahead.  I, personally, don’t have the money to pay the $500 markup on $12 stockings.  Or the five billion percent markup on Percocet or Valium.  The insurance paid a lot of your stupidly outrageous charges, leave me alone.  Also, if you don’t have the final charges, quit sending partial bills that don’t make ANY sense.  I went to college, my IQ is higher than average, but I still don’t understand what I’m supposed to do with all of these half-assed bills/not bills.  It’s a full-time job to attempt to figure out who is charging for what, and then who is charging EXTRA for what.  I don’t care anymore. 

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

evening

And MORE Medical Bills

This should really be in the “Idiot of the Day” category.  Today, I got my itemized bill from the hospital.
* $13 for each of two Percocets.  What I paid for 120 Percocets before I went in for surgery, $10.  Each Percocet cost me less than TEN CENTS.  What do you think they cost the hospital?  OVERCHARGED

* Celestone Soluspan 3mg (Schering) - hospital charged $497.00.  I found a pack of TEN 6mg (double my dose) for $56.97.  Even forgetting about the fact that what I was given was half the dose, I was still OVERCHARGED $491.30.

* Vancomycin Hcl 500mg inj - hospital charged $783.00.  Medicare reimburses $3.25.  Retail price - $167.  OVERCHARGED $616

* Cefazolin Sodium 500mg - hospital charged $143.00.  Actual cost - $17.36.  OVERCHARGED $125.64

* Midazolam Inj per 1mg - hospital charged $70.00.  Actual cost for 5mg (five times what I got) - $13.41.  OVERCHARGED $56.59

* Thrombin 20,000 unit kit - hospital charged $1,361.00.  Actual cost - $268.15.  OVERCHARGED $1092.85

* Charged for two different kinds of anti-embolism stockings, $116.00 & $378.  Actual cost - $17 for one pair, $12 for another.  OVERCHARGED $465

* Diazepam 10mg tab - hospital charged $6.00.  Actual cost 35 CENTS.  OVERCHARGED $5.65

* Metoclopramide 10mg tab - hospital charged $3.00.  Actual cost 14 CENTS. OVERCHARGED $2.86

* 1 Gelatin Sponge Size 100 - hospital charged $346.  Actual cost - $269...for a SIX pack. OVERCHARGED $301

* Bipolar Forcep Disposable - hospital charged $179.  Actual cost (don’t know the type, but picked the most expensive one) $106. OVERCHARGED $73

* 2 Electrolytes PH7.4 1000ml bags - hospital charged $522.  Actual cost - can’t find it for people, but for pets, it’s less than $10/bag. OVERCHARGED $500

* ZEMURON 10 MG/ML VIAL (Rocuronium Brm) - hospital charged $268.  Actual cost - $16.64. OVERCHARGED $251.36

Thursday, May 11, 2006

evening

Medical Bills Rolling In

In the mail today, we got the surgery statement from the insurance company and the bill from the pain management doctor. From what we could decode, my (selective nerve root block ) injections were $7000...EACH! Had I known, I would’ve just gone straight to surgery, or at least stopped after the first one didn’t do much good. Okay, I understand that he has to pay all of the assistants and give money to the surgery center, but it was like a production line, with at least several of us at a time waiting with IVs in our arms. The procedure took maybe five minutes of his time. Let’s be generous and give him more time. Still, he’s billing $35,000+/hour. An HOUR.

My surgery was $19,000.  I’ve had more than $40,000 worth of medical care this year.  I just cannot believe that my injections were $21,000.  They act like they’re no big deal - “Just come on in for a shot, and we’ll get you right home feeling better.”

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

evening

C Is For Cookie

I got this meme from Nancy, and here are the instructions copied and pasted from her post:

If you want to play, the game is…

Make a comment saying so and I give you a letter. You then have to think of 10 words that start with that letter and they must mean something in particular to you and your life.

When Nancy gave me the letter “C”, the first couple of minutes brought only “cheese”, but then there was a rush of “C” words.  So, I’m going to cheat and do more than 10, because I’m a big Cheaterhead.

----------------------------------------------------

Canoga Park - the city where I was born.  Our part of the city changed to West Hills when I was a kid, so I guess I’m officially from there now.

Christopher Columbus Jr. High/Chatsworth HS - where I spent my formative years, or maybe not all that formative.  I mostly thought about softball.  And more softball.

Casino - I live in Las Vegas.  Mmmm, casinos...food, gambling, movies.  What could be better?

Cilantro - I love, love, LOVE cilantro.  I would buy cilantro perfume if I could...and make Leigh-Ann wear it.

Cheese - Staple of pizza.  Staple of “...& crackers”.  Staple of “macaroni &...” Staple of popcorn topping.  Staple of my life.

Canada - Girlie from there.  Have five zillion t-shirts that are Canada related.  Leafs.  Coffee Crisp.  I (and lots of others) have an internet godchild there.  If you don’t believe in God, can you have a Godchild?  I mean the child still exists whether I believe or not.  Oh, and Ron McLean and Don Cherry.

Cats - need I say more?

Cactus - on the left side of the yard. 

Combunox® - “...first and only product to combine 5 mg of oxycodone HCl and 400 mg of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) ibuprofen” It helped a lot after my surgery.  I had stronger stuff, but w/Tylenol added instead and it didn’t help nearly as well or last as long.

Cheapy Chicken (name not coined by Albertson’s, Inc) - The chicken that Albertsons puts on sale because it’s getting too close to its “sell by” date.  They put the most excellent seasoning on it.  So it’s super yummy and super cheap.

Coffee - Mmm.  Espresso drinks.  Yum.  The smell of fresh coffee.  Delightful.  Coffee Fest, the best convention ever...and the best smelling.  We always meet such nice people there, and taste lots of fabulous foods & drinks.

Computer - Why are we all here right now?  How would I pay my bills, order our pizza, get news, make new friends (see sidebar), get excellent gossip, learn new stuff, play fantasy sports , make money, buy books, and such.

Catcher - I played catcher most of my youngish life, from the ages of 10 to 25.  I have the sore knees to prove it. (third base too, but there isn’t even one “c” in it to let me cheat and mention it here)

Clinton - I used to like him much much more.  Now I’m starting to think that he was a lovely moderate Republican.  We went to a John Kerry Rally at the Clark County Govt. Center in October 2004, just to see Bill Clinton.  It was one of his first appearances after his open heart surgery.  He’s a pretty spectacular speaker.  In this picture, I think he’s touching Leigh-Ann’s hand.

Christmukkah - A perfect and convenient blending of gift giving and buying, for those of us who love that part of the holidays.

Colbert - Stephen Colbert.  Modern Day God.

And no “C” post would be complete without:
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C

Monday, May 08, 2006

late evening

Stitches ‘B’ Gone

Today is my first follow-up appointment with the surgery.  I’ll be getting my stitches out and hopefully finding out how they think the surgery went.  Right now I mostly feel the same as I did before the surgery - some leg pain, a teeny bit of back pain, some bladder issues, but without any sciatica.  I’m hoping the other problems (they do seem a bit lessened) may be affected by an irritated nerve that’s recovering from the surgery, and from having disc cooties touching it for so long.  If so, then I can look forward to more healing.  If not, then I’ll have to work hard in physical therapy and strengthen my back to help prevent future problems.

Oh, today I got a scary bill from the lab that did my pre-op tests.  But, when I read further it got less scary.  My crappy insurance company is erratic - this time in my favor.  They paid over $800 for my lab work, and I only have to pay $75.  I hope this bodes well for the surgery bill.  Although, the injection bills are still coming in and I’m not sure if they’ll be $900 or close to $2000.  They’re just more of the THIS IS NOT A BILL things.  I can’t tell if I’m being charged by the surgery center and the doctor, or just by the doctor.  Wheeee.  It is SO much fun getting the mail every day now.