The $12,000 Ironman.

I know hospital costs are pricey, but $3000+ for "IV therapy" is pretty insane by any standard.

I would have expected the 'urology' fee to be the highest there, but it pales in comparison to being held in the observation room (WOW)

'tis a rough day, indeed.... but it could have been a whole lot worse for sure.   Heck, I crashed while training and racked up $31,000 in medical bills. 

Hope she's recovering well.

Hope she is insured.

I am in healthcare, and I still dont get how they could charge that much cash, then get reimbursed at a much lower rate, then collect a standard copay.   I think an individual paying cash should get to say, "nope, too much, this is what I am giving you," like an insurance company would.

I would think that's the almost pretty close to the norm of what most people pay, just getting to the starting line...

I recall crossing the finish at IM New Zealand and having lost about 11 pounds. They put me in the med tent since I was a little wobbly. I asked for an IV and they said they would have to admit me to the hospital for an IV, that they didn't give those in the med tent in New Zealand.

I drank chicken soup and laid under blankets instead. It was kind of nice. And free.

Then again, there really wasn't anything wrong with me a night of rest and some chicken soup couldn't fix.

The situation before this bill was accrued is a good bit different.

Speaking of being overseas, it's good to have supplemental medical / travel insurance.  If you think that hospital bill is high, wait until you see one that involves air transport.

Wow!  I'm in Canada and my son just had an ambulance ride and I was peeved that we got charged $40 for it, that we get back in full from our insurance company!  I can't even grasp the thought of paying that much money for treatment.

I agree, but it won't happen.  The new healthcare insurance model is sort of like a 'member discount club'.  My company switched to a HSA system, same insurance carriers, same type of coverage, and worse of all; same premiums.  But now I have to pay the first $4k and 20% of the remainder up to $8k out of pocket (in addition to over $7k/yr in premiums).  What do I get?  Well the insurance company sent us a statement of the last doctors visit, we had to pay everything since we didn't reach the $4k. However, they showed us how much they saved us by comparing what we would have paid if we didn't have their insurance.  What a stupid system!  If I could pay doctors and hospitals what the insurance company pay, I would only need catastrophic insurance coverage. Oh, and if the doctor or hospital doesn't accept the insurance company's reimbursement amount...guess who has to pay.

Most people can go a lifetime without elective surgery but not without emergency & Dr. services, so hardly a trade-off IMO.  And those wait times vary considerably throughout the country.  Some areas are closer to 6 months.

People that go to the US for those procedures are the usually the ones that have money and don't really need the free healthcare to begin with.

dp

Just wait til you tear your meniscus or ACL or rotator cuff and you can't do sports til you get fixed and have to wait 12-18 months. I have seen many international college athletes loose their scholarships because they were a soccer athlete who tore up their knee playing basketball for fun.  The college won't pay because its not their scholarship sport and their countries nationalized health care says tough cookies you loose you college education get in line and you can have surgery in a year if you are lucky.  Even Medicaid in the US (basically nationalized healthcare )does not have to wait 6 months.  I am in healthcare.  I know this. 

We are creating insurance that will pay for nothing. It will get worse before it gets better. 

mmmm if I had all that emergency treatment here in Australia or indeed in England where I'm from - it would cost me nothing.

Ambulance I pay yearly here - $120 for the family per year.  This is a bargain, if you get airlifted out of somewhere by a chopper that's $6000.

Everything else is covered by medicare here in Oz and by the national health service in the UK.  We pay some tax to get it.  It's worth it.

As a family we also have private health insurance for other stuff - eg, surgery where you may otherwise hit a waiting list, orthodontics for my daughter who will definitely need that!

If I was hit with a $12000 healthcare bill - I'd have to sell the house.

Wait, what kind of hospital were you in that they could not treat you for an arm break and a concussion?  That's lame. 

Or what was so severe it required a med evac?? (If you don't mind sharing)

X2. I figure a broken arm and a concussion are pretty much "easy" injuries for hospitals. Don't know what constitutes a severe concussion. My last concussion was snowboarding in Colorado and insurance covered it all. Wasn't bad though. Didn't ruin my vacation but now wear a helmet.