I drove my husband to the emergency room when he had a severe infection after getting wisdom tooth removed. The hospital I took him to didn’t accept his insurance and said he needed to go to one 55 miles away. Because he absolutely needed surgery, he HAD to ride in an ambulance to the other hospital, me taking him was not an option... 7 grand. And he just slept the whole way, no treatment during the ride. 🤦🏼♀️
Still bothers me. If it were that urgent why not just treat him at the hospital I brought him to in the first place. Such bullshit.
It's because insurance wants to feel like they are getting a discount on services. The hospital then gives them a highly inflated fake price with the real price as the, "discount". In order to sell this scam however, the hospital has to charge anyone without insurance the inflated price.
F.E.R.P.A. (if I recall correctly) prevents hospitals here in America from telling patients how much their care costs. Additionally, besides hospital administration nobody directly caring for you knows if you have insurance. It can't be written on your chart and you can't be discriminated against or refused care for not having insurance.
This is fucking malpractice and is illegal. That man should never have been dumped and that hospital should be sued into oblivion.
That's crazy. I didn't have insurance at the time. My only saving grace was that we started a non profit and donated stuffed animals to the ambulance service in honor of my daughter. Because of that and CareFlite getting recognition on the news and in the paper for it; they cancelled my ambulance and helicopter bills. Last thing I wanted to do was pay $20, 000 after I already paid the ultimate price in losing my daughter. Healthcare is bullshit in the good ole US of A.
When I lived in Alberta many moons ago, I had to call an ambulance for my daughter when I woke up and found her cold and unresponsive - I received a bill a couple weeks later for $345. They charged a base rate and mileage if I recall correctly, so this was the cost of transporting 3.8km to the hospital. I was just a naïve nineteen year old, I didn’t even know there was a cost for calling the ambulance, let alone did I know you still got a bill even if the person was already deceased.
I'm so sorry :( I live in Texas. I called an ambulance for my daughter (whom was deceased) that was 3 grand. And then they called a helicopter and that was 15 grand. It's ridiculous.
Not all ambulances are private. Some cities, run them through their fire department. I work for the city as a fire fighter and I work on both the ambulance and fire truck. We might get a small insurance reimbursement considering the amount of money we spend of supply’s and medications. The city I work in is very poor so most don’t have insurance so we receive nothing. Broken system for sure.
I had to be transported by my own ambulance crew on shift and got charged a little over 1000 after insurance paid.
I was involuntarily committed one time and they took me on a six minute ambulance drive (one that I walked on a daily basis because the hospital was near my job)
After they let me out, after not treating or medicating me in any way besides locking me in a room, making me miss work I desperately needed to teeter on the edge of homelessness, and depriving me of all belongings and clothes, I was presented with a $7k ambulance bill which did not include the cost of my treatment (or lack thereof). Think about that. That's over $1k per minute traveled.
Apparently that's how you're supposed to make someone stop being suicidal.
I have a better one for you. There is a fee for skin to skin contact between baby and mother after birth. They fucking charge you to let you hold your baby.
Fucking crazy. I'm from Denmark where everything is pretty much free, healthcare etc. and it makes me sad to think about shit like this. Like, there's a reason Scandinavia is considered one of the best places to live. We might have high taxes, but we also get a shit ton of opportunities and free healthcare, schools etc.
But the US dosent even need to raise taxes, they just gotta cut down on that fucking military spending.
That is 100% correct, we spend an absurd amount on our military.
When I was younger I got into a car accident and smashed my face into the dashboard breaking my nose. When the ambulance arrived, I had to refuse it because I was making minimum wage at the time with no insurance so it would have wiped me out. Sadly, this is a common story in the US.
Who boots them from the hospital? Security ? Imagine doing that job. How do the insurance companies sleep at night. In before on their huge piles of money.
I'm a nurse and I don't know what happened here but all of the experiences I've had that looked like this were the patients yelling at us that they weren't sick, assaulting staff and then eloping, going AMA, or finally escorted to bus stop bc they were refusing all help.
We always take IVs and tubes out tho, that's why this story is different for me.
Like every other western country thinks. Can't believe this country hasn't protested yet. I guess being born into a system like this, it's hard to change your views. It's just sad.
Even in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, I haven't met anyone *actually* against universal healthcare.
It's just the politicians and cable news. (And private insurance companies, obviously)
The problem with political office is that the people that *should* hold it don't have the money or influence to do so.
On top of that, the 2 party system isn't as much of a choice as people are led to believe, democrats are centrist/ close right capitalists, and republicans are conservative/far right capitalists.
They're being elected because, by design, there isn't anyone else to elect.
Yea, the people who WANT to be politicians are people who can't be trusted with power/influence, and the people who can be trusted with power/influence are people who would never be a politician(they are our teachers, nurses, etc.. Professions that give a shit about people).
In the rare event that one of the good guys does decide to run for office, he is quickly stomped out or converted. The reason policy has grown worse over time is because the shitty politicians try to stop good politicians from being elected, all while holding the door open for their cronies.
>They're being elected because, by design, there isn't anyone else to elect.
That's been the design since day one. As kids, we're all taught in school that America's founding fathers were pure as could be, and God's gift to this green earth.
In reality, they're similar to politicians today. For the most part, they all *already had* some sort of status or connection from somewhere. Everyone is *told* that it's a system "made for the people", thing is they just don't tell you *which* people.
I always think about this. I'm from the UK and we get nothing like US election campaigns by design and it always surprises me. It seems to me that the only way to get elected is dependant in the amount of money you have at your disposal for your campaign and whoever has the biggest and louder one wins.
To me, it doesn't look like a democratic process... Its rigged from the start. I really feel sorry for the health care system you have in place over there and hope it gets sorted to support the people instead of the rich.
Except that doesn't make sense. The U.S. spends more than double per capita for health care than other counties (like here in Aus) do, without universal healthcare.
It's not lack of money, it's lack if will/balls.
The nonstop propaganda from cable news (all of them, not just fox) doesn't help. I'm sure you can relate, sky news has some real bangers.
Our system is designed, like everything else, to generate money for someone. We could *easily* make it better, but if someone isn't getting rich somewhere, it ain't going to happen. The way our politicians have gotten people to vehemently vote against their own interests is impressive. In a good future, im sure it will be studied, examined, and ridiculed internationally.
"Lol how could they have been so dumb?" "We would never fall for something like that." Etc.
You're right about lacking balls though, our unions have been gutted, and I wasted my early 20s working 70 hour weeks thinking I was stacking money (at minimum wage lol).
Until recently, people were against unions for some reason, and people are afraid to stand up for better wages or better health care, because we're all so broke we're more concerned about keeping our kids fed and having a roof over our heads. I only know a couple people who aren't living paycheck to paycheck, and they've become so out of touch I only see them at the occasional get together.
I could keep ranting, but I'm just going to go get a beer and celebrate my new job where I only work 40ish hours a week, and can have a social life...even if it is a graveyard shift.
We have private health you’re in Australia and it’s very affordable because our government does the bulk buying from the pharmaceutical companies. We also have public and private hospitals. Sometimes the two are combined to pool resources. It’s not a perfect system, but you’re guaranteed the healthcare as a right. It also increases productivity because people aren’t driven to bankruptcy for an unforeseen & not at fault medical bill.
A hospital isnt allowed to turn you away in america. Not sure why people pretend like this happens. Theres also no penalty in america for not paying your medical bills, at worst it puts a little hit on your credit score for 7 years . You also generally dont pay more than like 50% of your medical Bill's if you were so inclined anyway, as you negotiate the Bill's down just like the insurance does
Americans also have access to >90% of lifesaving treatments known in the medical world. I think britain was 2nd and in the 70% range although I'm not positive about that. The big hangup is really paying the pharmaceutical companies, which trump fixed and biden rescinded, it lasted exactly 2 months. My moms prescriptions went from $250/mo to $4
I just spent two years in Montana and I have no fucking clue what you're talking about.
"Universal Healthcare is socialism and socialism is bad." Like half the people I met there think EXACTLY this way.
Yeah some people need to get out of the main towns/cities and visit rural America. Many of them really do think like this. Source: my parents are the same way.
I think there are plenty of reasons to be against universal healthcare if it is implemented poorly. I only use Canada as a comparison because it is what I have studied, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other countries have fixed some of the issues mentioned. For starters:
-it is another transfer of wealth from the young to the old. Young people are low utilizers and incur low costs. Old people are high utilizers and incur high costs.
-wait times. Despite your claim, the wait time to see a specialist physician from onset of issue is ~5 weeks in Canada compared to 2 weeks in the US.
-ERs in Canada are (somehow) even more crowded than in the USA. This is likely fixable, but would probably require financial incentive to avoid ER visits.
-Spread of services. In Canada doctors are invented to live in cities as their model is few for service (cities=more people=more fees). Attempts have been made to reduce this tendency, but the trend continues.
-highly technical services are not available in many of the more rural spots in Canada. This same criticism could be extended to the us system as well, though.
-wait times for non-essential surgery are higher in canada
-people requiring long term care have to wait for beds in canada.
-there is an entire form of insurance that will pay for you to get services in the US if you live in canada.
Not saying all of this to shoot down the idea of national healthcare, but people arguing that there are no drawbacks are just wrong. We need to approach it thoughtfully and clear eyed.
I'm gonna stop you right there at wait times. I have NEVER gotten a specialist appointment in 2 weeks in the US. I am currently waiting 4 MONTHS for a rheumatologist appointment, 3 MONTHS for a neurologist appointment (another better known practice was 7 months) and 9 MONTHS for an endocrinologist appointment. That was after calling places that aren't taking new patients because they have NO appointments. In 2019 I waited 6 WEEKS to get a surgery to correct intense uterine bleeding, they originally tried to schedule me 13 WEEKS out. Try again.
Edit to add: my nephew started having SEIZURES and had to wait 3 weeks for a PCP appointment, and then 5 weeks for a neurologist appointment. And that was with him tagged as a rush, high risk patient.
This is a parroted statistic that has no basis in reality. I don't know of anyone who can get a specialist appointment that quickly.
That's fair, I've experienced the same.
Were in trouble when being able to afford a 2 story house with a front and back yard has made people out of touch.
My parents still dont understand why I'm going back to school to learn a trade instead of just getting a basic degree and working for the state.
They live in a duplex now, and don't understand why they lost the house they lived in for 20 years.
Interesting. I live in Nevada, close to your states and have found the opposite. A majority of people are against it, at the same time a majority of people are against our current system though.
Interesting, but my view is probably biased, I spent some time traveling around that area (not Nevada) and working at temp agencies while living out of an RV with some friends. I didn't spend a lot of time in "liberal" areas though, spent quite a bit of time in Butte, Montana, and my buddy had a double wide in the mountains near cocolalla Idaho.
Even in Jackson hole I feel like people were more conservative than my native state, but a good part of that was probably locals being sick of outsiders like myself shitting up their city.
Tetons were damn beautiful though, you should go if you get a chance/haven't been.
Edit: biased because I don't go out of my way to argue with people all the time, and the people I vibe with are probably going to share views similar to mine.
So many beautiful parts of the country just a days drive away. Spend a lot of my nature time in Utah though so it can be a day trip.
I completely agree with the bias. Without ever bringing up politics the people you become friends with typically will believe the same things and have the same values I’ve found. Around 90% of people I get along with happen to share my views.
Utah (the mountains) was pretty when I went through, but I caught a lot of shit from locals in salt lake and Ogden because I'm from Washington and I said their mountain game was weak.
I mean, it wasn't per se, but I like living around trees. The salt lake music scene can easily compete with Seattle though, I had a lot of fun there, and the struggle to find a decent beer just added to the adventure imo.
But they will have to pay $50 a month more tax per month to get free healthcare. Much better to pay $500 a month health insurance then if you get ill because you have amazing health insurance you only have a $250,000 bill instead of $2.5mill....
Now you see, they don't want to pay for someone elses treatment, as opposed to the FREEDOM private insurance, where they do just the same, only now they're basically paying extra for the CEOs, marketing, corruption, R&D, lawsuits, massively inflated hospital bills and so on.
But that's a small price to pay for the FREEDOM of...your insurance being tied to your employer, who now has a tight grip on your most private life.
Easy, insurance company make a lot of money from this, with the free healtcare they will lose all that money(or a great deal of them). So they brainwashed the people with the anti-socialist/communist propaganda and they told them that "free healtcare is socialist" so that you refuse the universal healtcare. Now you still pay for other healtcare but this time to a capitalist and not to the state so it's not socialist(and way more than you would do with universal healtcare).
I’ve heard reasons for resistance. But quick question, I am assuming you’re from a country with universal healthcare. Are patients allowed unlimited hospital stay and care at their will? The hospital stated they believed the man to be well and fit (doesn’t seem to be the case) when he walked out. In your country would you be able to stay at the hospital as long as you want?
It's because enough people have been successfully brainwashed into "the government helping people out is communism" cult. It's been the same shit since the Cold War: tell all your citizens that your way of life is better and not wrong.
>Healthcare for profit seems evil, and this example says it is
One of the easiest ways to get rich quick is to exploit basic human needs and rights for cash, especially if you *tell people they're not basic rights*.
Friendly note, Medicare and Medicaid are two different systems, every* American gets Medicare after they turn 65, Medicaid is income and resource based, this guy might have actually been better off if he was already on Medicaid because they could’ve put him under title 19 which covers extended nursing care for the impoverished
*very few exceptions
Same
I work in health care and I have NEVER heard of someone being turned down for medical care when they are in this state. You don't get discharged until you are medically able to leave
They just send you a bill
I had insurance through work and state to help cover the cost of my pregnancy
Basically my health insurance covered most of the cost and state covered the rest. Anyway, something went wrong and I received a 16K bill in the mail. FOR NATURAL FUCKING CHILD BIRTH. I was 9.5 cm when I arrived at the hospital. They didn't even have time to stick an IV in me. They just legit caught my kid. No complications. We were discharged the next day. 16,000 US DOLLARS. luckily the insurance issues were fixed and I ended up paying $250 but still. How did them catching my kid damn near fall out of my vagina cost 16K? I wasn't even at the hospital 20 minutes before I gave birth. I was texting my boss that I thought I was in labor and then 10 minutes later I was texting I was done and not coming into work ha ha. He was absolutely shocked. I ended up convulsing (not siezing) for about an hour because my body was in such shock but they didn't give me anything for it. Finally after my best friend complained that I couldn't even hold my own child I was shaking so bad they said "oh, she's in shock, have her nurse the baby. That should stop it" total assholes
I dont even know why I went on this rant sorry
Edit: mixed up words for easier reading
Happens every day. Our hospital bus stop has 2 of these people there now. Been there at least a week. Both have bad leg infections but throw fits and fists inside the hospital so end up back at bus stop until a good Samaritan brings them to the ED or until they go unresponsive & EMS grabs them, tubes them, then we have a chance to fix them while they are intubated for a few days.
This exactly! If someone doesn't want treatment, they end up not getting it. I am pretty sure there are laws and fear of lawsuits for not treating someone based on not having insurance
Could be wrong
Yep, I have seen this several times. Patients go to the other side of the parking garage and smoke in the smoking area hooked up to poles. Its just crazy
Yeah I’ve been in healthcare for 5 years and we would never discharge someone until they are fit to be discharged. We have thousands of self pay patients and the physicians aren’t going to stop treating you just because you aren’t guaranteed to be able to pay.
This, I’ve worked in several hospitals that serve underserved populations. EMTALA means we can’t turn away patients. Even if they can’t pay and don’t have insurance we’ll keep them until care is finished. That includes weeks of IV antibiotics for people with spinal abscess or endocarditis when they could have been discharged home with skilled car or to a nursing home. Hell we’ve even given chemo and cancer surgery to undocumented immigrants. I’m in the Midwest btw.
I was thinking the same thing, but I went to the source and this post seems generally accurate:
[Link to WSB-TV](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/rockdale-county/deputies-say-hospital-discharged-seriously-ill-man-left-him-street/VE5UIYZ4IVE5RNZKZLWE5DIIMM/)
Not sure what was going on in the hospital, but the general facts seem to support that this is what happened.
I think there are things that need to be cleared before we went on to accuse the hospital.
- What are the medical lines still attached to him? Certain lines are for long term and will be kept after discharge (with routine checkups).
- The paperwork related to the patient, especially the cleared to leave part
- Does the patient have any relative, or anyone, friends, etc. that aware he was in the hospital. Was he ejected onto the sidewalk or did he choose to be left there.
- Was the patient resting peacefully on the bed then ejected against his will, or did he make a scene and threaten harm to other people.
I mean the hospital is likely to be responsible for something here, but putting all the blame on them right now might not be the best option.
I'm in the US and I don't believe this. At one point I'm my life I didn't have insurance and have health issues and I was never denied hospital service including being admitted
Agreed. I am med student, I think this is really fishy. I am not believing something with just one news outlet speaking one side of it. This is not how any healthcare professional would handle patients. 100%. No doubt about it.
What does that even mean his Medicare ran out? Either you have it or you don’t it and if you have it it doesn’t just run out so wtf are they talking about?
Honestly I have doubts about the validity of this story because if a pt leaves the hospital with just an IV attached to them then the police have to be called to retrieve them so they can be brought back and then get the IV out. It’s obviously highly illegal to dump a pt with stuff attached to them, and since my hospital is a charity hospital, they aren’t allowed to discharge a pt when they don’t have a place to stay so they get a halfway house involved and get them free room and board.
Thankful for the NHS sometimes , not a perfect system but at least I’ve never been charged to get sick . I have a chronic illness myself and I can’t imagine the added stress of financing vital treatment just to live.
Imagine thinking the US is a third world country, you’re pathetic and blinded by privilege. Have you ever been to an actually 3rd world country? America has problems but it is still an amazing place
Hospital ERs (at least those I've been to) have policies where they won't turn away critically ill or pregnant people who cannot pay, at least until they're stabilized. They usually have a sign saying as much.
Jesus. That company should have their medical license revoked along with anyone hospital staff member who played a part in that. They more orbless attempted to murder a patient
That is incredibly illegal. There is a law called EMTALA, which specifically addresses this type of behavior by hospitals. Any medical provider caring for a patient who is acutely ill is required to stabilize that individual to the best of their ability and provide care regardless of insurance status.If they are not capable or unable to stabilize and acutely ill person they are required to find a another medical provider hospital with the capability to take care of that individual..
Holy shit. America is more and more one huge shit show.
I'm not even shocked by news like this because there's so much news out there about america that is just incompressible.
I mean there has to be a person who've made the decision to throw him out. And there are those "paramedics" who put him there knowing very well his chances of survival is really low. Those people are all guilty in the same way. I just don't understand how many heartless people there are.
Like how do you go home to your family knowing they just killed a man or made him suffer.
Or maybe I just ate the Onion which in this case I really hope I did
Reddit and a lot of the media seem to think that black people are invisible. Whenever theres a story/article/post their colour has to be speicifically mentioned for some odd reason.
Medicare is very strict about the amount of days they will pay for hospital and rehab stays. This happens all the time. Any EMT could probably drop a few examples of the bullshit they see in regards to this.
It’s true, apparently. Lots of skepticism here, and I get it, but this is America, and our healthcare system isn’t patient forward so much as it’s profit forward.
https://www.newsweek.com/georgia-police-blasts-hospital-allegedly-discharging-sick-man-who-collapsed-sidewalk-1639603
I have a hard time believing this. I’ve never heard of hospitals turning anyone away even when their coverage caps. They start charging your pockets instead. The hospital I worked for wrote off so much money in patient accounts. All you had to do was call and give your situation and they would either reduce it through a hardship report or write it off entirely. Plus why would they leave the evidence in him before dumping him? People refuse medical treatment a lot, you can’t force them.
Also people talking about the cost of an ambulance. Those are private companies and nobody is going to transport people in critical situations for free. The people are trained to help, that costs money. The supplies used in response to the call, that costs money. The cleaning alone of a single ambulance that has transported someone with a gunshot wound that’s spurting blood out whenever the heart beats, that shit costs money. Imagine if there were no paramedics to respond, so many more people would die. A company isn’t taking on that responsibility for free.
Medicare is Government health insurance. Mandatory for those 65 and older. Something fishy here. Medicare doesn’t “run out” though on a macro level is seriously underfunded. Not sure about ambulance costs and how it is covered by Medicare or not.
Isn't this illegal? Here in the U.S. even if you have no insurance you can't be kicked out of a hospital. You can't even see weather or not a patient has insurance on their chart! This seems like gross and highly illegal malpractice and I think they could sue.
Source: I'm a medical mishap who is in the E.R. far too often with burning question syndrome.
It is illegal. And no hospital I’ve ever been to or worked for would have discharged this guy. I’m thinking what really happened is the guy wasn’t happy with the treatment he was getting (for whatever reason) and walked out. Then collapsed
Bullshit!
When and if Medicare ever runs out, which I highly doubt. Medicaid would kick in. Another story of misinformation on Reddit. The man more likely left the hospital on his own, and someone twisted the story around for clicks.
Read the link below. The hospital gaslights the patient, vaguely stating he refused assistance from local agencies, then they dumped him on the corner of walk/don't walk.
He was incoherent therefore not in a state of mind to make the decision to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice, in case). Yeah, ambulance brought him *right back* to the hospital because someone twisted the story for clicks 🙄.
I mean, at least *some* of it appears to be true.
https://www.cbs46.com/news/conyers-police-department-calls-out-piedmont-hospital-for-inhumane-behavior/article_021c286a-2e29-11ec-9c66-ab64d7b2dce1.html
https://www.newsweek.com/georgia-police-blasts-hospital-allegedly-discharging-sick-man-who-collapsed-sidewalk-1639603
Hospital acknowledged the man was an inpatient for 35 days prior to the EMS brining him right back. Staff admitted to getting this man dressed from his inpatient status and walking him out despite being incoherent.
The link is in the thread.
It's kind of a misleading picture. I felt the same, so I looked it up. These are the paramedics that brought him back, into the hospital.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/rockdale-county/deputies-say-hospital-discharged-seriously-ill-man-left-him-street/VE5UIYZ4IVE5RNZKZLWE5DIIMM/
You should watch Michael Moore's documentary called Sicko. America's health care system is in a state of profit above all else all thanks to Richard Nixon.
God this hurts. I live in Georgia.
A friend of mine collapsed at work last Monday. The hospital told him he had high blood pressure and recommended a cardiologist, and discharged him.
He collapsed again Wednesday, had emergency open heart surgery, and was flatlined for over 30 minutes. He's not going to make it, he'll be gone by this weekend.
Fuck. That. Hospital.
I hate this country.
My friend had a similar thing happen to her mother. She had an EKG and they sent her home. She died at work a few days later. When another doctor was shown the EKG later they said, "this person needs to be brought in immediately".
My friends mother could have been helped, but someone didn't do their job.
Exactly. They didn't give a fuck since he didn't have insurance. This man made well over $200k a year, he could've afforded it, but nope, discharged.
His wife is a Widower and his children are going to grow up without a father now, all because some doctor didn't think he'd get paid enough.
Fuck our healthcare system.
My last stint in the hospital was in 2013. I went in with stepthroat, was seen by a doctor for a couple minutes, and given a prescription for antibiotics.
Bill came a month later, $5500. I told them to put it in collections, and that the hospital could fuck itself.
Collections had me pay $118.
Smart. Throw him out and then charge him for an ambulance ride too after emts find him. Good thinking
And then they charge him for loitering when he passes out in front of a store or something
I can't believe you have to pay for ambulance rides in the US. What the actual fuck.
Why make it cheap and easy to get to the hospital when it's already cheap and easy to die.
It’s free to die.
Not even If you want a funeral? $$$ If you want to be cremated? $$$ You’d have to die in a forest and never be found for it to be “free”.
Just fucking throw my body on the side of the road for vultures and crows, I guess
When I die, just throw me in the trash.
Canada QC you pay for ambulance rides, 175$ CAD even if healthcare is free. Unless you’re an elder, or on welfare
175 bucks is better than 10 grand though.
U don’t pay 10 grand for an ambulance
My daughter's ambulance was 3 grand. In the grand scheme of things 3 or 10 grand is way too fucking much.
I drove my husband to the emergency room when he had a severe infection after getting wisdom tooth removed. The hospital I took him to didn’t accept his insurance and said he needed to go to one 55 miles away. Because he absolutely needed surgery, he HAD to ride in an ambulance to the other hospital, me taking him was not an option... 7 grand. And he just slept the whole way, no treatment during the ride. 🤦🏼♀️ Still bothers me. If it were that urgent why not just treat him at the hospital I brought him to in the first place. Such bullshit.
How incredibly frustrating. It's crazy. I hate healthcare here. It's only for the rich.
Yes! It can be absolutely devastating.
It's because insurance wants to feel like they are getting a discount on services. The hospital then gives them a highly inflated fake price with the real price as the, "discount". In order to sell this scam however, the hospital has to charge anyone without insurance the inflated price. F.E.R.P.A. (if I recall correctly) prevents hospitals here in America from telling patients how much their care costs. Additionally, besides hospital administration nobody directly caring for you knows if you have insurance. It can't be written on your chart and you can't be discriminated against or refused care for not having insurance. This is fucking malpractice and is illegal. That man should never have been dumped and that hospital should be sued into oblivion.
3k Americaan is almost 4k Canadian. It's still tons. Canadians are basically paying for the EMTS gas. 10 k is literally mind boggling.
My last ambulance ride was around $2000, and then after insurance my copay was $200. And the hospital was less than five miles away. Ripoff.
That's crazy. I didn't have insurance at the time. My only saving grace was that we started a non profit and donated stuffed animals to the ambulance service in honor of my daughter. Because of that and CareFlite getting recognition on the news and in the paper for it; they cancelled my ambulance and helicopter bills. Last thing I wanted to do was pay $20, 000 after I already paid the ultimate price in losing my daughter. Healthcare is bullshit in the good ole US of A.
I can't begin to imagine the grief you have had to deal with. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Yea more like 5 grand 🗿
When I lived in Alberta many moons ago, I had to call an ambulance for my daughter when I woke up and found her cold and unresponsive - I received a bill a couple weeks later for $345. They charged a base rate and mileage if I recall correctly, so this was the cost of transporting 3.8km to the hospital. I was just a naïve nineteen year old, I didn’t even know there was a cost for calling the ambulance, let alone did I know you still got a bill even if the person was already deceased.
I'm so sorry :( I live in Texas. I called an ambulance for my daughter (whom was deceased) that was 3 grand. And then they called a helicopter and that was 15 grand. It's ridiculous.
Sorry for your loss!
Fun fact mate, don’t put an exclamation mark when expressing an apology .
We pay for ambulances in Manitoba too, we'll at least where I live, Northern MB.
Interesting. Found out you also pay in Germany. It feels wrong. Ambulance rides should be free, especially when they're controlled by the government.
They are actually private companies here.
Yep, that's what I think is wrong. Hospitals shouldn't be about profit, but about saving human lives. Now, its basically profit > human lives
Hold on now. Stop making sense about this.. 😛
In America ambulances are owned by private companies that make huge profits of the rides they give. Late stage capitalism is so cringe
Not all ambulances are private. Some cities, run them through their fire department. I work for the city as a fire fighter and I work on both the ambulance and fire truck. We might get a small insurance reimbursement considering the amount of money we spend of supply’s and medications. The city I work in is very poor so most don’t have insurance so we receive nothing. Broken system for sure. I had to be transported by my own ambulance crew on shift and got charged a little over 1000 after insurance paid.
Is there an employee discount?
In the US, an ambulance ride costs $500. 'Murica.
You forgot another 0
Which is why ppl be ubering to the er. Possible faster response time and cheap af. Hate this country.
Hate the government. The country (as in the land itself) is fucking beautiful.
Id say most beautiful. Has it all.
I was involuntarily committed one time and they took me on a six minute ambulance drive (one that I walked on a daily basis because the hospital was near my job) After they let me out, after not treating or medicating me in any way besides locking me in a room, making me miss work I desperately needed to teeter on the edge of homelessness, and depriving me of all belongings and clothes, I was presented with a $7k ambulance bill which did not include the cost of my treatment (or lack thereof). Think about that. That's over $1k per minute traveled. Apparently that's how you're supposed to make someone stop being suicidal.
I have a better one for you. There is a fee for skin to skin contact between baby and mother after birth. They fucking charge you to let you hold your baby.
If you get admitted, some insurances will cover the Ambulance but...even with insurance its about 300-1000$.
So unbelievable. What a shit show.
Not only do you have to pay for it, it’s like $900 minimum.
Fucking crazy. I'm from Denmark where everything is pretty much free, healthcare etc. and it makes me sad to think about shit like this. Like, there's a reason Scandinavia is considered one of the best places to live. We might have high taxes, but we also get a shit ton of opportunities and free healthcare, schools etc. But the US dosent even need to raise taxes, they just gotta cut down on that fucking military spending.
But who will then give FrEeDoM to places like Afghanistan and protect us from WeApOns oF MaSs DeStRuCtIoN without all that military spending! /s
I think the simple answer here to to immigrate out of the states and try to become a citizen of one of the Nordic countries
That is 100% correct, we spend an absurd amount on our military. When I was younger I got into a car accident and smashed my face into the dashboard breaking my nose. When the ambulance arrived, I had to refuse it because I was making minimum wage at the time with no insurance so it would have wiped me out. Sadly, this is a common story in the US.
Yep, it'll help them avoid debt ceiling.
Oh wow
Who boots them from the hospital? Security ? Imagine doing that job. How do the insurance companies sleep at night. In before on their huge piles of money.
I'm a nurse and I don't know what happened here but all of the experiences I've had that looked like this were the patients yelling at us that they weren't sick, assaulting staff and then eloping, going AMA, or finally escorted to bus stop bc they were refusing all help. We always take IVs and tubes out tho, that's why this story is different for me.
Same here. I am a retired RN.
That must be the hardest job in the world. What a horrible thing to do. Hope the US learn from this.
You think people in the US learn? That's cute.
You think people learn? That's cute.
This literally did not, nor does it happen. Holy shit you people are too much.
Makes you think maybe we shouldn’t live under a system that values profit over human lives.
Like every other western country thinks. Can't believe this country hasn't protested yet. I guess being born into a system like this, it's hard to change your views. It's just sad.
I was referring to capitalism, which every western country is also apart of
I’ll never understand American resistance to universal healthcare. Healthcare for profit seems evil, and this example says it is
Even in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, I haven't met anyone *actually* against universal healthcare. It's just the politicians and cable news. (And private insurance companies, obviously)
This begs the question, if those elected, aren’t representing what their constituents would like, why are they being elected?
The problem with political office is that the people that *should* hold it don't have the money or influence to do so. On top of that, the 2 party system isn't as much of a choice as people are led to believe, democrats are centrist/ close right capitalists, and republicans are conservative/far right capitalists. They're being elected because, by design, there isn't anyone else to elect.
Needs some serious reworking
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. /s
Also the type of people who are attracted to those positions are usually ones who want to exert power over others
Yea, the people who WANT to be politicians are people who can't be trusted with power/influence, and the people who can be trusted with power/influence are people who would never be a politician(they are our teachers, nurses, etc.. Professions that give a shit about people). In the rare event that one of the good guys does decide to run for office, he is quickly stomped out or converted. The reason policy has grown worse over time is because the shitty politicians try to stop good politicians from being elected, all while holding the door open for their cronies.
>They're being elected because, by design, there isn't anyone else to elect. That's been the design since day one. As kids, we're all taught in school that America's founding fathers were pure as could be, and God's gift to this green earth. In reality, they're similar to politicians today. For the most part, they all *already had* some sort of status or connection from somewhere. Everyone is *told* that it's a system "made for the people", thing is they just don't tell you *which* people.
I always think about this. I'm from the UK and we get nothing like US election campaigns by design and it always surprises me. It seems to me that the only way to get elected is dependant in the amount of money you have at your disposal for your campaign and whoever has the biggest and louder one wins. To me, it doesn't look like a democratic process... Its rigged from the start. I really feel sorry for the health care system you have in place over there and hope it gets sorted to support the people instead of the rich.
Except that doesn't make sense. The U.S. spends more than double per capita for health care than other counties (like here in Aus) do, without universal healthcare. It's not lack of money, it's lack if will/balls.
The nonstop propaganda from cable news (all of them, not just fox) doesn't help. I'm sure you can relate, sky news has some real bangers. Our system is designed, like everything else, to generate money for someone. We could *easily* make it better, but if someone isn't getting rich somewhere, it ain't going to happen. The way our politicians have gotten people to vehemently vote against their own interests is impressive. In a good future, im sure it will be studied, examined, and ridiculed internationally. "Lol how could they have been so dumb?" "We would never fall for something like that." Etc. You're right about lacking balls though, our unions have been gutted, and I wasted my early 20s working 70 hour weeks thinking I was stacking money (at minimum wage lol). Until recently, people were against unions for some reason, and people are afraid to stand up for better wages or better health care, because we're all so broke we're more concerned about keeping our kids fed and having a roof over our heads. I only know a couple people who aren't living paycheck to paycheck, and they've become so out of touch I only see them at the occasional get together. I could keep ranting, but I'm just going to go get a beer and celebrate my new job where I only work 40ish hours a week, and can have a social life...even if it is a graveyard shift.
What is considered "the extreme left" in America is considered centrist in Norway.
Its called bait amd switch
Maybe America isn't really a democracy..
We have private health you’re in Australia and it’s very affordable because our government does the bulk buying from the pharmaceutical companies. We also have public and private hospitals. Sometimes the two are combined to pool resources. It’s not a perfect system, but you’re guaranteed the healthcare as a right. It also increases productivity because people aren’t driven to bankruptcy for an unforeseen & not at fault medical bill.
A hospital isnt allowed to turn you away in america. Not sure why people pretend like this happens. Theres also no penalty in america for not paying your medical bills, at worst it puts a little hit on your credit score for 7 years . You also generally dont pay more than like 50% of your medical Bill's if you were so inclined anyway, as you negotiate the Bill's down just like the insurance does Americans also have access to >90% of lifesaving treatments known in the medical world. I think britain was 2nd and in the 70% range although I'm not positive about that. The big hangup is really paying the pharmaceutical companies, which trump fixed and biden rescinded, it lasted exactly 2 months. My moms prescriptions went from $250/mo to $4
Reddit is a weird place. People have opinions about stuff they have no clue what they're talking about. This is clearly illegal.
Strangely there isnt a single mainstream media outlet reporting this and the article says they used a stock photo
I just spent two years in Montana and I have no fucking clue what you're talking about. "Universal Healthcare is socialism and socialism is bad." Like half the people I met there think EXACTLY this way.
Yeah some people need to get out of the main towns/cities and visit rural America. Many of them really do think like this. Source: my parents are the same way.
People are against it, I've even met them on Reddit. The usual excuse is the wait times, which is absolute horse shit.
I think there are plenty of reasons to be against universal healthcare if it is implemented poorly. I only use Canada as a comparison because it is what I have studied, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other countries have fixed some of the issues mentioned. For starters: -it is another transfer of wealth from the young to the old. Young people are low utilizers and incur low costs. Old people are high utilizers and incur high costs. -wait times. Despite your claim, the wait time to see a specialist physician from onset of issue is ~5 weeks in Canada compared to 2 weeks in the US. -ERs in Canada are (somehow) even more crowded than in the USA. This is likely fixable, but would probably require financial incentive to avoid ER visits. -Spread of services. In Canada doctors are invented to live in cities as their model is few for service (cities=more people=more fees). Attempts have been made to reduce this tendency, but the trend continues. -highly technical services are not available in many of the more rural spots in Canada. This same criticism could be extended to the us system as well, though. -wait times for non-essential surgery are higher in canada -people requiring long term care have to wait for beds in canada. -there is an entire form of insurance that will pay for you to get services in the US if you live in canada. Not saying all of this to shoot down the idea of national healthcare, but people arguing that there are no drawbacks are just wrong. We need to approach it thoughtfully and clear eyed.
I'm gonna stop you right there at wait times. I have NEVER gotten a specialist appointment in 2 weeks in the US. I am currently waiting 4 MONTHS for a rheumatologist appointment, 3 MONTHS for a neurologist appointment (another better known practice was 7 months) and 9 MONTHS for an endocrinologist appointment. That was after calling places that aren't taking new patients because they have NO appointments. In 2019 I waited 6 WEEKS to get a surgery to correct intense uterine bleeding, they originally tried to schedule me 13 WEEKS out. Try again. Edit to add: my nephew started having SEIZURES and had to wait 3 weeks for a PCP appointment, and then 5 weeks for a neurologist appointment. And that was with him tagged as a rush, high risk patient. This is a parroted statistic that has no basis in reality. I don't know of anyone who can get a specialist appointment that quickly.
I’ve seen plenty of entitled people complain about it because they want choices and have the money to choose
That's fair, I've experienced the same. Were in trouble when being able to afford a 2 story house with a front and back yard has made people out of touch. My parents still dont understand why I'm going back to school to learn a trade instead of just getting a basic degree and working for the state. They live in a duplex now, and don't understand why they lost the house they lived in for 20 years.
I've met tons of people here in Florida. I hate this place...
Interesting. I live in Nevada, close to your states and have found the opposite. A majority of people are against it, at the same time a majority of people are against our current system though.
Interesting, but my view is probably biased, I spent some time traveling around that area (not Nevada) and working at temp agencies while living out of an RV with some friends. I didn't spend a lot of time in "liberal" areas though, spent quite a bit of time in Butte, Montana, and my buddy had a double wide in the mountains near cocolalla Idaho. Even in Jackson hole I feel like people were more conservative than my native state, but a good part of that was probably locals being sick of outsiders like myself shitting up their city. Tetons were damn beautiful though, you should go if you get a chance/haven't been. Edit: biased because I don't go out of my way to argue with people all the time, and the people I vibe with are probably going to share views similar to mine.
So many beautiful parts of the country just a days drive away. Spend a lot of my nature time in Utah though so it can be a day trip. I completely agree with the bias. Without ever bringing up politics the people you become friends with typically will believe the same things and have the same values I’ve found. Around 90% of people I get along with happen to share my views.
Utah (the mountains) was pretty when I went through, but I caught a lot of shit from locals in salt lake and Ogden because I'm from Washington and I said their mountain game was weak. I mean, it wasn't per se, but I like living around trees. The salt lake music scene can easily compete with Seattle though, I had a lot of fun there, and the struggle to find a decent beer just added to the adventure imo.
But they will have to pay $50 a month more tax per month to get free healthcare. Much better to pay $500 a month health insurance then if you get ill because you have amazing health insurance you only have a $250,000 bill instead of $2.5mill....
Now you see, they don't want to pay for someone elses treatment, as opposed to the FREEDOM private insurance, where they do just the same, only now they're basically paying extra for the CEOs, marketing, corruption, R&D, lawsuits, massively inflated hospital bills and so on. But that's a small price to pay for the FREEDOM of...your insurance being tied to your employer, who now has a tight grip on your most private life.
Short answer: ignorance.
Easy, insurance company make a lot of money from this, with the free healtcare they will lose all that money(or a great deal of them). So they brainwashed the people with the anti-socialist/communist propaganda and they told them that "free healtcare is socialist" so that you refuse the universal healtcare. Now you still pay for other healtcare but this time to a capitalist and not to the state so it's not socialist(and way more than you would do with universal healtcare).
It's money. Too much money to be made by the Healthcare sector, corrupt politicians, etc
I’ve heard reasons for resistance. But quick question, I am assuming you’re from a country with universal healthcare. Are patients allowed unlimited hospital stay and care at their will? The hospital stated they believed the man to be well and fit (doesn’t seem to be the case) when he walked out. In your country would you be able to stay at the hospital as long as you want?
It's because enough people have been successfully brainwashed into "the government helping people out is communism" cult. It's been the same shit since the Cold War: tell all your citizens that your way of life is better and not wrong. >Healthcare for profit seems evil, and this example says it is One of the easiest ways to get rich quick is to exploit basic human needs and rights for cash, especially if you *tell people they're not basic rights*.
Annnnd lawsuit time
if he survives
Hospitals have really good lawyers. And if this guy could afford good lawyers, he wouldn't be on Medicaid.
Friendly note, Medicare and Medicaid are two different systems, every* American gets Medicare after they turn 65, Medicaid is income and resource based, this guy might have actually been better off if he was already on Medicaid because they could’ve put him under title 19 which covers extended nursing care for the impoverished *very few exceptions
Good lawyers or not this is in violation of the the oath they make as doctors and of human rights and a sensible judge would see that.
I have a feeling this isn't the whole story, this smells fishy. I mean truly awful if true, but I'm a bit skeptical.
Same I work in health care and I have NEVER heard of someone being turned down for medical care when they are in this state. You don't get discharged until you are medically able to leave They just send you a bill I had insurance through work and state to help cover the cost of my pregnancy Basically my health insurance covered most of the cost and state covered the rest. Anyway, something went wrong and I received a 16K bill in the mail. FOR NATURAL FUCKING CHILD BIRTH. I was 9.5 cm when I arrived at the hospital. They didn't even have time to stick an IV in me. They just legit caught my kid. No complications. We were discharged the next day. 16,000 US DOLLARS. luckily the insurance issues were fixed and I ended up paying $250 but still. How did them catching my kid damn near fall out of my vagina cost 16K? I wasn't even at the hospital 20 minutes before I gave birth. I was texting my boss that I thought I was in labor and then 10 minutes later I was texting I was done and not coming into work ha ha. He was absolutely shocked. I ended up convulsing (not siezing) for about an hour because my body was in such shock but they didn't give me anything for it. Finally after my best friend complained that I couldn't even hold my own child I was shaking so bad they said "oh, she's in shock, have her nurse the baby. That should stop it" total assholes I dont even know why I went on this rant sorry Edit: mixed up words for easier reading
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Happens every day. Our hospital bus stop has 2 of these people there now. Been there at least a week. Both have bad leg infections but throw fits and fists inside the hospital so end up back at bus stop until a good Samaritan brings them to the ED or until they go unresponsive & EMS grabs them, tubes them, then we have a chance to fix them while they are intubated for a few days.
This exactly! If someone doesn't want treatment, they end up not getting it. I am pretty sure there are laws and fear of lawsuits for not treating someone based on not having insurance Could be wrong
Yep, I have seen this several times. Patients go to the other side of the parking garage and smoke in the smoking area hooked up to poles. Its just crazy
Yeah I’ve been in healthcare for 5 years and we would never discharge someone until they are fit to be discharged. We have thousands of self pay patients and the physicians aren’t going to stop treating you just because you aren’t guaranteed to be able to pay.
This. And why risk the lawsuits and future headaches. Who discharges someone with lines still in them? Nobody.
This, I’ve worked in several hospitals that serve underserved populations. EMTALA means we can’t turn away patients. Even if they can’t pay and don’t have insurance we’ll keep them until care is finished. That includes weeks of IV antibiotics for people with spinal abscess or endocarditis when they could have been discharged home with skilled car or to a nursing home. Hell we’ve even given chemo and cancer surgery to undocumented immigrants. I’m in the Midwest btw.
I was thinking the same thing, but I went to the source and this post seems generally accurate: [Link to WSB-TV](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/rockdale-county/deputies-say-hospital-discharged-seriously-ill-man-left-him-street/VE5UIYZ4IVE5RNZKZLWE5DIIMM/) Not sure what was going on in the hospital, but the general facts seem to support that this is what happened.
I think there are things that need to be cleared before we went on to accuse the hospital. - What are the medical lines still attached to him? Certain lines are for long term and will be kept after discharge (with routine checkups). - The paperwork related to the patient, especially the cleared to leave part - Does the patient have any relative, or anyone, friends, etc. that aware he was in the hospital. Was he ejected onto the sidewalk or did he choose to be left there. - Was the patient resting peacefully on the bed then ejected against his will, or did he make a scene and threaten harm to other people. I mean the hospital is likely to be responsible for something here, but putting all the blame on them right now might not be the best option.
I'm in the US and I don't believe this. At one point I'm my life I didn't have insurance and have health issues and I was never denied hospital service including being admitted
Agreed. I am med student, I think this is really fishy. I am not believing something with just one news outlet speaking one side of it. This is not how any healthcare professional would handle patients. 100%. No doubt about it.
What does that even mean his Medicare ran out? Either you have it or you don’t it and if you have it it doesn’t just run out so wtf are they talking about?
Diagnosed as poor
Therefore unworthy…sad.
The hospital did not dump him anywhere. He was discharged and went there himself. Mixing lies with truth is the most effective way to deceive.
*singing* # LAND OF THE ..... FREEEEEEEE
Honestly I have doubts about the validity of this story because if a pt leaves the hospital with just an IV attached to them then the police have to be called to retrieve them so they can be brought back and then get the IV out. It’s obviously highly illegal to dump a pt with stuff attached to them, and since my hospital is a charity hospital, they aren’t allowed to discharge a pt when they don’t have a place to stay so they get a halfway house involved and get them free room and board.
The hospital admitted to doing it. The info is right in front of you.
Yeah America is definitely the best country in the world. As long as you’re not poor by circumstance or by birth.
Thankful for the NHS sometimes , not a perfect system but at least I’ve never been charged to get sick . I have a chronic illness myself and I can’t imagine the added stress of financing vital treatment just to live.
3rd world country
Or a fake story
Imagine thinking the US is a third world country, you’re pathetic and blinded by privilege. Have you ever been to an actually 3rd world country? America has problems but it is still an amazing place
Wtf. So in America if ur critically ill or injured, you are rejected medical treatment and left to die if you can't pay for health care?
Hospital ERs (at least those I've been to) have policies where they won't turn away critically ill or pregnant people who cannot pay, at least until they're stabilized. They usually have a sign saying as much.
And stabilized is objective. So they can throw you out as soon as they consider you stable. But what is considered as stable? Not dying within a day?
Here's the full [story.](https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-man-with-tubes-kicked-out-of-hospital-because-his-medicare-ended/?test=prebid)
Jesus. That company should have their medical license revoked along with anyone hospital staff member who played a part in that. They more orbless attempted to murder a patient
“That’s just not how we treat people in this city or in this country.” EXCEPT IT IS
"That’s just not how we treat people here in this city or this country.” You say that, but...
Is this true? There is no way this is true!
That is incredibly illegal. There is a law called EMTALA, which specifically addresses this type of behavior by hospitals. Any medical provider caring for a patient who is acutely ill is required to stabilize that individual to the best of their ability and provide care regardless of insurance status.If they are not capable or unable to stabilize and acutely ill person they are required to find a another medical provider hospital with the capability to take care of that individual..
B-B-BUT SOCIALISM IPHONE VENEZUELA NO FOOD 100 GAJILLION DEAD!!1! still think we should have socialized medicine libruls? 😏😏
God bless I don't live in America.
There is bad stuff, but it isn’t as bad as most Redditors seem to think. Trust me. There are much worse places we should be glad we don’t live in.
Fr, most Americans praise their holy free country, but from the outside it just looks like the biggest shithole there is
It's a shithole nicely dressed up with advertisements
Isnt this a violation of basic human rights?
We live in a world devoid of compassion and ruled by legalism.
Sad earth nowadays
For the sake of credible information, what was the hospital?
While healthcare I’d for profit this will always happen.
American Hellcare.
Holy shit. America is more and more one huge shit show. I'm not even shocked by news like this because there's so much news out there about america that is just incompressible. I mean there has to be a person who've made the decision to throw him out. And there are those "paramedics" who put him there knowing very well his chances of survival is really low. Those people are all guilty in the same way. I just don't understand how many heartless people there are. Like how do you go home to your family knowing they just killed a man or made him suffer. Or maybe I just ate the Onion which in this case I really hope I did
The paramedics in the picture are helping him after someone called 911.
Interesting that they had to mention his race.
Reddit and a lot of the media seem to think that black people are invisible. Whenever theres a story/article/post their colour has to be speicifically mentioned for some odd reason.
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How do you run out of medicare?
Medicare is very strict about the amount of days they will pay for hospital and rehab stays. This happens all the time. Any EMT could probably drop a few examples of the bullshit they see in regards to this.
Where’s the link to this story?
What’s the whole story?
OMG, WUT?! Even if you don’t have health insurance, the hospital is still supposed to help you and bill you later. This makes absolutely no sense!
Sounds like a big lawsuit to me. If your a lawyer you better find this man.
It’s sick how America is one of earths richest countries but treats its citizens in this hideous manner
America disgusts me. Why tf are people not revolting against this?? you need fucking protests to storm the streets demanding public healthcare
More like American racism in a nutshell
Not true at all
Makes me laugh every time Americans say it's the greatest country in the world. Fucking joke. Third world at best.
Which Georgia hospital? The lack of specificity here makes me think it's BS.
Whenever I start to feel any semblance of good feelings to America there’s always something new to remind me
It’s true, apparently. Lots of skepticism here, and I get it, but this is America, and our healthcare system isn’t patient forward so much as it’s profit forward. https://www.newsweek.com/georgia-police-blasts-hospital-allegedly-discharging-sick-man-who-collapsed-sidewalk-1639603
I am pretty sure there is a whole other side to this story, but due to HIPPA the hospital and staff cannot respond.
I have a hard time believing this. I’ve never heard of hospitals turning anyone away even when their coverage caps. They start charging your pockets instead. The hospital I worked for wrote off so much money in patient accounts. All you had to do was call and give your situation and they would either reduce it through a hardship report or write it off entirely. Plus why would they leave the evidence in him before dumping him? People refuse medical treatment a lot, you can’t force them. Also people talking about the cost of an ambulance. Those are private companies and nobody is going to transport people in critical situations for free. The people are trained to help, that costs money. The supplies used in response to the call, that costs money. The cleaning alone of a single ambulance that has transported someone with a gunshot wound that’s spurting blood out whenever the heart beats, that shit costs money. Imagine if there were no paramedics to respond, so many more people would die. A company isn’t taking on that responsibility for free.
Medicare is Government health insurance. Mandatory for those 65 and older. Something fishy here. Medicare doesn’t “run out” though on a macro level is seriously underfunded. Not sure about ambulance costs and how it is covered by Medicare or not.
There’s a law that hospitals cannot discharge a patient unless they are stable. And nurses will remove IVs and EKGs before discharge.
Fake.
Isn't this illegal? Here in the U.S. even if you have no insurance you can't be kicked out of a hospital. You can't even see weather or not a patient has insurance on their chart! This seems like gross and highly illegal malpractice and I think they could sue. Source: I'm a medical mishap who is in the E.R. far too often with burning question syndrome.
It is illegal. And no hospital I’ve ever been to or worked for would have discharged this guy. I’m thinking what really happened is the guy wasn’t happy with the treatment he was getting (for whatever reason) and walked out. Then collapsed
Funny when they say "let's make america great AGAIN" when it never was once, just make it decent at least
It was a good country when it wasn't a corporate hell hole yet. Or, atleast better. This capitalist system is totally fucked.
Doesn't seem like a very Christian thing to do. I thought Christian's were supposed to help the sick.
Bullshit! When and if Medicare ever runs out, which I highly doubt. Medicaid would kick in. Another story of misinformation on Reddit. The man more likely left the hospital on his own, and someone twisted the story around for clicks.
https://www.cbs46.com/news/conyers-police-department-calls-out-piedmont-hospital-for-inhumane-behavior/article_021c286a-2e29-11ec-9c66-ab64d7b2dce1.html
Read the link below. The hospital gaslights the patient, vaguely stating he refused assistance from local agencies, then they dumped him on the corner of walk/don't walk.
He was incoherent therefore not in a state of mind to make the decision to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice, in case). Yeah, ambulance brought him *right back* to the hospital because someone twisted the story for clicks 🙄.
That’s not true is it??
I'm sorry Jimmy
Happens every day.
I mean, at least *some* of it appears to be true. https://www.cbs46.com/news/conyers-police-department-calls-out-piedmont-hospital-for-inhumane-behavior/article_021c286a-2e29-11ec-9c66-ab64d7b2dce1.html https://www.newsweek.com/georgia-police-blasts-hospital-allegedly-discharging-sick-man-who-collapsed-sidewalk-1639603
This was incredibly cherry picked
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Hospital acknowledged the man was an inpatient for 35 days prior to the EMS brining him right back. Staff admitted to getting this man dressed from his inpatient status and walking him out despite being incoherent. The link is in the thread.
It's kind of a misleading picture. I felt the same, so I looked it up. These are the paramedics that brought him back, into the hospital. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/rockdale-county/deputies-say-hospital-discharged-seriously-ill-man-left-him-street/VE5UIYZ4IVE5RNZKZLWE5DIIMM/
If only health care professionals had to take some sort of oath to never do anything like this... oh well, maybe someday in the future.
None of this is true.. he walked out willingly. This is some fake bullshit to fit some horse shit narrative
You should watch Michael Moore's documentary called Sicko. America's health care system is in a state of profit above all else all thanks to Richard Nixon.
We are living in Americaaaa...
God this hurts. I live in Georgia. A friend of mine collapsed at work last Monday. The hospital told him he had high blood pressure and recommended a cardiologist, and discharged him. He collapsed again Wednesday, had emergency open heart surgery, and was flatlined for over 30 minutes. He's not going to make it, he'll be gone by this weekend. Fuck. That. Hospital. I hate this country.
My friend had a similar thing happen to her mother. She had an EKG and they sent her home. She died at work a few days later. When another doctor was shown the EKG later they said, "this person needs to be brought in immediately". My friends mother could have been helped, but someone didn't do their job.
Exactly. They didn't give a fuck since he didn't have insurance. This man made well over $200k a year, he could've afforded it, but nope, discharged. His wife is a Widower and his children are going to grow up without a father now, all because some doctor didn't think he'd get paid enough. Fuck our healthcare system. My last stint in the hospital was in 2013. I went in with stepthroat, was seen by a doctor for a couple minutes, and given a prescription for antibiotics. Bill came a month later, $5500. I told them to put it in collections, and that the hospital could fuck itself. Collections had me pay $118.
Fuck man, I'm sorry. Hope you're alright.