Average cost per day for hospital stay in the US.

Michael Z said:
We do have a lot better treatments in this day, that is for sure. And all of that factors in. But the cost of a room should not have increased as much as it has.

So we went from $80 for ten days to $30,000 for ten days now? 9 doublings in 80 years. A doubling every 9 years. This amounts to 8% inflation over the entire 80 years whereas the actual inflation has not even been half that.
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$30,000 for 5 days not ten. It would be $60,000 for 10. It also depends on what you ail from and what kind of treatment is needed and how much stuff you use. I think a tray of food here went from $8 to $10 a meal and the meals are horrible.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Auctioneers have a saying, there is only so much money in the room.

Before Medicare was implemented in 1965 many many people paid out of pocket for healthcare or had a very simple restrictive major medical policy that cover catastrophic events and costs as well as care were much more basic.

After Medicare the bean counters took over the medical profession and turned it into the healthcare industry, prices began to climb.

I have mixed feelings about it. Today we don’t see nearly as much suffering and deformity in our day to day life which is definitely a blessing but I still feel that we would be better off if we accepted a less costly more human comfort care approach to medicine and our eventual death.
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This. Third party reimbursement other wise known as someone else is paying for it. Around the turn of the century there was a celebrity doctor who said the reason he wasn't as interested in medicine anymore was that there was too much time and emphasis and time on billing. (Dr Shawn early Survivor?)

I've seen double billing including myself and both the provider and insurance company rep knew and worked with each other yet the double bill wouldn't have been eliminated unless I called. 'Oh these things happen all time'

It's not just the providers or insurance companies by themselves it takes two to tango
 
I remember when office visits used to be $25. Now a regular MD office visit here is like $200-$300 without insurance. That's just stupid. Especially since they don't even examine you anymore.

You recite your symptoms and they say it sounds like blah blah blah we'll send over a script to your pharmacy and he is typing away which makes me feel like he's googling my stuff. I could do that myself.

The doctor came to see me once. After that I got the hospitalist. Each time they came was over $600. IDK what the PT visit cost for her to assess me. Most of the blood tests run around $400 and they do that crap several times a day.

I know each IV they have to run costs seperately. I had to have 4 or 5 done because the doxycycline last time was wrecking my veins.

So going off what it cost me the time I had pneumonia for $30,000 then the respiratory failure in April was $18,000 for 3 days. I have to request financial assistance each time cuz I can't pay all these bills. It's a shame.
 
Of all the insanity in the world today. I believe this tops the list. In my mind there simply is NO justification for this. Believe it or not, I fear doctors and hospitals More than any disease or injury that would send me to either! I had a heart attack in 2000, total bill was $58K, can't imagine what it would be today o_O? Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to them for saving me but I will always think the bill was way over inflated, even for 25 years ago. :coffee:Don...
 
It's mind boggling! The last time I was in the hospital (2016) was for 36 hours I think. I had a cardiac ablation done. I didn't pay one penny, thanks to my insurance which was Aetna Medicare HMO (I now have Aetna PPO). In 1989 when I had major surgery, I was on Healthways (which I think morphed into Aetna). I was in the hospital for 5 days. My total bill was $45. I had great plans when I worked for our municipality and later the State of N.J. One thing I'm glad I never chose is Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
 
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MACKTEXAS said:
It's interesting to find your post just now, since she (lady with the puncture from colonoscopy) just called me a few minutes ago, and she's finally home after a month in the hospital. They had to create a new "hole" (there's another word for it that I can't remember) for her stomach to drain contents because the puncture had made normal evacuation impossible.

So . . . "they got the polyps" (her words) at a very dear price. I believe many of us have polyps and just don't know it. I've read that about 5-10% of adenomatous polyps (the most common type) will eventually become cancerous - so that means a 90-95% chance removal is unnecessary.
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I think a lot of that is also due to family history. My uncle died of colon cancer in his 50's so I've had colonoscopies every 5 years as recommended.
 
My wife and I argued that we have our own twice daily pill routine but the hospital insists on bringing theirs up from their own pharmacy. Then they charge outlandish prices for the hospital pills
They claim that we can’t take our own prescribed pills while in the hospital.
Matter of hospital policy.
We think it is a rip but evidently the insurance companies don’t kind paying for what ever is on the bill. Minus a small out of pocket.
 
Well, I just got a possibly-incomplete statement of what my August ambulance ride and 37-hour hospital stay was billed for.

The ambulance was $800. The hospital stuff was, if you add everything up, like $80,000. However, the statement shows about half of it "denied" because (and I quote) "Payment included in allowance for another service".

What the hell does that mean? Did they try to bill Medicare twice for everything?

I'm too ticked off to call tomorrow and sit on the phone for hours on hold with Medicare and/or the hospital without screaming at someone. Nor can I log into my Medicare account 'cause IT WON'T LET ME!!!!

I swear, it would have been a lot cheaper to just die in my living room......I already have a pre-paid cremation policy.

OK, off the soapbox and the pity-party is over.
 
jujube said:
Well, I just got a possibly-incomplete statement of what my August ambulance ride and 37-hour hospital stay was billed for.

The ambulance was $800. The hospital stuff was, if you add everything up, like $80,000. However, the statement shows about half of it "denied" because (and I quote) "Payment included in allowance for another service".

What the hell does that mean? Did they try to bill Medicare twice for everything?

I'm too ticked off to call tomorrow and sit on the phone for hours on hold with Medicare and/or the hospital without screaming at someone. Nor can I log into my Medicare account 'cause IT WON'T LET ME!!!!

I swear, it would have been a lot cheaper to just die in my living room......I already have a pre-paid cremation policy.

OK, off the soapbox and the pity-party is over.
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That's how I felt after my bill from November. I could've laid on the couch and just waited a few more minutes to black out and it woulda been over with.
 
Us pensioners here in Australia are so lucky we do not have to pay for ambulance and hospital stay. When I had a triple bypass back in 2011 I was in for 6 days and didn't pay one cent. I had the best nursing care, but the food was terrible. Then in 2021 I
had keyhole surgery for bowel cancer and was in for 4 days then discharged, still nil payment and I had my own room and the
best of care.
 
oscash said:
Us pensioners here in Australia are so lucky we do not have to pay for ambulance and hospital stay.
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Just to clarify - whilst Medicare is nation wide and therefore same in all states - ambulance cover is not and so it varies from state to state

here in SA it is not free for pensioners or anybody else.

Ambulance insurance cover costs about $100 per person per year - well worth it when an ambualnce could cost thousands of dollars.
 
seadoug said:
I think a lot of that is also due to family history. My uncle died of colon cancer in his 50's so I've had colonoscopies every 5 years as recommended.
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I understand your reasoning. I've never had a colonoscopy, but then I routinely decline most invasive screening. Six years ago, the urologist proposed a prostate biopsy due to an elevated PSA, which I declined as well. My PCP gives his input on these matters, but doesn't pursue screening I'm uncomfortable with.

The lady I posted about who got the colonoscopy and suffered damage from it, is in her 80s, and is somewhat of an exception, since she had already been hospitalized several times this year for a host of other unrelated medical issues, several of which will be ongoing indefinitely.

Here is one view from the Mayo Clinic regarding colonoscopy screening in advanced years.
 
To be fair, nearly all US hospital and doctor bills are reduced considerably by the time they're actually paid by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. The "negotiated" prices bear little resemblance to what's written on statements sent to patients.

The intent may be for us to feel grateful to have been given this expensive medical care and for us to be forever grateful for our "generous" medical benefits.

The game puts me in mind of big department stores that dramatically overprice merchandise so they can mark it down with a big "SALE" sign over the display.
 
StarSong said:
To be fair, nearly all US hospital and doctor bills are reduced considerably by the time they're actually paid by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. The "negotiated" prices bear little resemblance to what's written on statements sent to patients.
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I have a Medicare advantage plan & I've seen that reduction on statements. One instance as an example.

I don't remember the reduction amount on my spinal surgery but before reduction the hospital bill & surgeons bill totaled in excess of $850,000.00 my cost was $0.00.

The stay at a rehab center was the same no cost to me for the two week stay & physical therapists

I wonder what would have happened if I was uninsured.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I understand your reasoning. I've never had a colonoscopy, but then I routinely decline most invasive screening. Six years ago, the urologist proposed a prostate biopsy due to an elevated PSA, which I declined as well. My PCP gives his input on these matters, but doesn't pursue screening I'm uncomfortable with.

The lady I posted about who got the colonoscopy and suffered damage from it, is in her 80s, and is somewhat of an exception, since she had already been hospitalized several times this year for a host of other unrelated medical issues, several of which will be ongoing indefinitely.

Here is one view from the Mayo Clinic regarding colonoscopy screening in advanced years.
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I wonder what percentage of men have a high PSA reading. I would imagine it is high. My father had a high PSA reading and traveled to Mayo Clinic every 6 months to be tested. He was obsessed with it, then passed away at 78 from a twisted bowel, something that couldn't be diagnosed.

I also have high PSA readings, so I went for a prostate biopsy many years ago recommended by my (then) doctor. It was one of the most uncomfortable procedures I've ever had. I can understand your reluctance, and I have no plans to do it again.
 
seadoug said:
I wonder what percentage of men have a high PSA reading. I would imagine it is high. My father had a high PSA reading and traveled to Mayo Clinic every 6 months to be tested. He was obsessed with it, then passed away at 78 from a twisted bowel, something that couldn't be diagnosed.

I also have high PSA readings, so I went for a prostate biopsy many years ago recommended by my (then) doctor. It was one of the most uncomfortable procedures I've ever had. I can understand your reluctance, and I have no plans to do it again.
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I'm sorry you went through that. Since it's been "many years ago," it's likely you only have BPH. I believe that's what mine is as well, since it's been going on for years.

I had a good friend, and over the course of a year or two, we had conversations about both of us having high PSA's - and what we each planned to do - or not do about it.

In the summer of 2022, he decided to get a biopsy, but didn't get a conclusive finding, so that called for more tests, and yet more tests before a decision was made to remove the prostate.

The surgeon required a "dental clearance" first to eliminate any potential sources of infection, since periodontitis can potentially cause complications from surgeries such as a prostatectomy. I took him for his dental treatments, which were extensive, and not without complications. Then, he had the prostatectomy in December of 2022, and it was downhill all the way afterwards. I attended his funeral in February, 2023. The total time that elapsed from the biopsy until the end of life was about 6 months.
 
Golly Gosh! --- Paying for your Pain ..., treatment
As a Brit of 65 years+ , I feel fortunate to have been able to avail myself of our National Health Service (NHS) .

The accessibility to Accident / Emergency (including Ambulance, Maternity Fracture and after-care services; free of charge is often critisesed and under-valued by many, but whilst there are moans and groans about appointments, delays and cancellations, treatment at source is an option that other Nations have not.
(And being over 65, = free prescriptions)

I'm unsure how I could manage my current medical conditions of Diabetes, High B.P. and 'Dicky Ticker' payment wise (you gotta laugh) - without significant Private care Insurance - and working in the Public sector don't pay that much.
- You have my sympathies
 
seadoug said:
I wonder what percentage of men have a high PSA reading. I would imagine it is high. My father had a high PSA reading and traveled to Mayo Clinic every 6 months to be tested. He was obsessed with it, then passed away at 78 from a twisted bowel, something that couldn't be diagnosed.

I also have high PSA readings, so I went for a prostate biopsy many years ago recommended by my (then) doctor. It was one of the most uncomfortable procedures I've ever had. I can understand your reluctance, and I have no plans to do it again.
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Early last summer our GP noted a somewhat elevated PSA level in DH's bloodwork. Also didn't like what he felt during the digital exam. I may be off somewhat on the order of how things happened, but will be pretty close.

DH went to a urologist who repeated the digital exam, confirming the presence of something suspicious. Due to DH's age (71) he didn't want to start out with a biopsy, so ordered an MRI, which confirmed the need for a biopsy. Biopsy was positive for cancer. In August/September we were facing two courses of treatment: radiation or surgery. We opted for radiation because the possibility of (lifelong) urine leakage of some degree is much higher with surgery.

The doctors advised us that we had some time on this, but not a whole lot, and ignoring it could be to DH's peril. Once the cancer metastasizes, you're pretty much a dead duck who'll endure a difficult life ending experience.

They did a PET Scan to see exactly where the cancer was, and to be sure it hadn't already metastasized. So in January, DH began a six week course of daily radiation treatments, plus had to deal with testosterone suppression.

He educated himself on everything one could imagine when it came to prostate cancer, so knew what to insist on (a three month testosterone suppression course rather than the six month, for example).

I told him I was going to write about this in the forum because I don't want to see any of you ignoring this potentially life-ending condition. (I kept the info almost completely under wraps while we were going through it.) He highly recommends checking out Dr. Mark Scholz's videos on YouTube Prostate Cancer Research Institute.

Scholz serves as medical director of Prostate Oncology Specialists Inc. in Marina del Rey, CA, a medical practice exclusively focused on prostate cancer. His videos are in plain English and address all manner of topics.

If you are dealing with an increased PSA number, I urge you to investigate fully before deciding to ignore it.

p.s. DH is FINE now. Testosterone levels are back to normal and PSA levels are in the low range of normal
 
Going without medical insurance in the US for even a single day is an enormous gamble. In the late 1970s (before COBRA), I moved from one small company to another and negotiated being put on the new job's health insurance from day one of employment. It was a deal-breaker stipulation.

They made it happen.
 

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