Alcohol Intoxication Medical Bills. WTF???

[Access_Denied]

[quote name='lordwow']People who get sent to the hospital for suffering from alcohol poisoning rarely know who or where they are, if they are conscious at all, never mind trying to beat someone up.

Of the 5 people I sent to the hospital for it, 3 were unconscious on the floor, and 2 were vomiting profusely all over the place.[/quote]

He was conscious though. He could have just got a ride home or something. A ride that didn't cost him $700. People get alcohol poisoning all the time, and they shrug it off with nothing but a hangover. He would have been fine. But now, he gets to pay $2000 for that wonderful hospital bed with all that DELICIOUS food.

 

[juno_ilix]

I guess no one has said this yet, but it's worthwhile to see exactly what that almost-1337 charge was on your bill. The pee test and the ambulance ride - IMO - aren't really disputable charges. If the $1,447 charge is for drug testing, IV fluids, etc., then that seems reasonable. If it's for a pregnancy test (since you're a guy)... then you might have some good reason for getting your bill knocked down. : )

As previously mentioned, you'll have better luck having an insurance rep look into this for you, as disputing a charge can be a full-time job (and really, more trouble than it's worth) till it gets cleared.

Anyway, yeah, to echo others' sentiment: that's about par for the course for emergency hospital treatment.

edit:// oh yeah, and if the $1,447 charge is mysterious (ie: listed in a strange short-hand or just by numeric code), you can call the hospital and have the billing department tell you what exactly the charge was for, in laymen terms.

 

[Gothic Walrus]

[quote name='Access_Denied']He was conscious though. He could have just got a ride home or something. A ride that didn't cost him $700. People get alcohol poisoning all the time, and they shrug it off with nothing but a hangover. He would have been fine. But now, he gets to pay $2000 for that wonderful hospital bed with all that DELICIOUS food.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Gamehead']I was completely wasted. I couldn't get out of the stall.[/QUOTE]

Yep - sounds like he could have gone and called himself a taxi to me.

 

[Gothic Walrus]

[quote name='juno_ilix']I guess no one has said this yet, but it's worthwhile to see exactly what that almost-1337 charge was on your bill. The pee test and the ambulance ride - IMO - aren't really disputable charges. If the $1,447 charge is for drug testing, IV fluids, etc., then that seems reasonable. If it's for a pregnancy test (since you're a guy)... then you might have some good reason for getting your bill knocked down. : )[/QUOTE]

Given the circumstances, I don't think that's very likely. Hospitals know how to handle people who are drunk, and they aren't going to run a bunch of completely irrelevant tests for things like pregnancy or Alzheimer's to run up your bill.

And lest we forget, from someone with actual expertise here:

[quote name='Chika']yes, they did need to run all of those tests. if you've ever seen House, you'd know that *everybody* lies about what medications (legal, rx, otc, herbal, illegal and illicit) they're taking and they needed to know exactly how much you drank, if you had anything else in your system and rule out other conditions that may have been causing the symptoms (as you said, you didn't have THAT much to drink).[/QUOTE]

 

[lordwow]

[quote name='Access_Denied']He was conscious though. He could have just got a ride home or something. A ride that didn't cost him $700. People get alcohol poisoning all the time, and they shrug it off with nothing but a hangover. He would have been fine. But now, he gets to pay $2000 for that wonderful hospital bed with all that DELICIOUS food.[/QUOTE]

I have to say, you guys are making a lot of conjecture without a lot experience in the matter. EMTs do not transport people for shits and giggles. I too have had them check people out and then send them back to bed. They only transport people if they seem to be in need of medical attention. Once you've dealt with a person who you come upon unconscious on the floor, you'll understand the necessity of the situation.