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Tales from the ER

Posted by
Walter Geiger
in Opinions
Friday, March 19. 2010
Comments (25)
By Dr. Spencer Price

They’re called the Darwin Awards – annual recognition bestowed upon those among us who perform acts of supreme stupidity and who, in so doing, often pay the ultimate price. An example of a classic Darwin Award winner is the crook who, during a robbery, aimed a gun at an innocent person and pulled the trigger. When the gun failed to discharge, the would-be robber turned the gun around, looked down the barrel, and pulled the trigger again. Unfortunately for him, this time the gun fired, sending the criminal to an early grave and earning him a Darwin Award.

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#1 Anonymous on 03/19/10 at 07:50 AM
'''although the young woman had a job, she had opted out of the employer-provided insurance plan which meant the bill for her emergency room visit, including lab work and a CT scan, will be paid by you and me.'''

Why? My daughter has no income or insurance. She went to ER, filled out an application for reduced payment, and still got a bill for about $900.
#2 Anon too on 03/19/10 at 08:58 AM
Why does your daughter have no income? Is it the common plight of many that think it is everyone else's responsibility for their bills medical or otherwise? I sincerely hope not. I myself have given up on ER's unless totally avoidable because by the time you spend the night in the ER trying to get emergency treatment your doctor's office has already opened and you can probably get emergency treatment there quicker. Too many people use the ER for a free clinic. And if you think that $900 is not reduced you should see the charges they submit to my insurance for step-children whose mother waits to take them to the ER instead of to the Primary Physician because she does not want to pay the co-pay or simply call us to take the child.
#3 David Rawlins on 03/19/10 at 09:26 AM
Do you know what your daughter's total bill was before the reduction?

I think the point of the statement in the article was that the difference (Total Bill - 900) is paid by increased costs of care to other patients.

While your daughter may not have had to pay but 900, the hospital still must make a profit so they offset the charity/psuedo-charity work by increasing the overall costs to everyone else.
#4 Anonymous on 03/19/10 at 12:18 PM
reply to 1.1 - I know that lots of people think that when someone has no money, ins. etc, it's because they are SORRY and will not work. I agree with this.
BUT, in my daughters case, she's been looking for a job since June. This is when she finished her spring QTR at Griffin Tech.
She went to ER instead of a doctor because she has no money for dr. and asked ER ahead of time if she would have to pay up front, and if she did she would leave. ER said she didn't have to pay up front and to fill out a payment assistance form. About a month later she got the bill for $900

To reply #1.2 - I don't know the total cost before reduction. I agree with your comments.
#5 David Rawlins on 03/19/10 at 01:18 PM
I feel really bad for those coming out of school right now. It is going to be difficult to find a job for the next several years.

In the future, there are several "clinic" type facilities, some for cost others free or pay as you can. One of these is managed by Rock Springs church just outside Griffin. Here is a link to their web-site:

http://www.rockspringsonline.com/clinic.php
#6 Anon too on 03/19/10 at 01:38 PM
Well I have 5 children including steps - several whom are out of school and one who is married and has no insurance and have offered to pay for her office visit when she was sick recently and her husband's also. I think it is up to the families of these children to help support them and not just depend "on the kindness of strangers" they did not bring them into this world we did. Families are supposed to help each other and I would never not help one of my children get medical assistance when needed.
#7 David Rawlins on 03/19/10 at 01:59 PM
Actually, I think the folks who have squandered all of the SSI, SSDI money from social security because the were "disabled" should go to work and pay for it.

I don't know the exact figures but somewhere in the neighborhood of 80%+ of the people who have been on assistance the last 40 years could have worked.

I have a friend who broke his back and he still does the same job he's always done. He surveys ROW for the state of Georgia.

Of course the other option is to have these GROSSLY overpaid state and federal politicians pay for everyone's health care out of their pockets.

Let's see how long that flies up on capitol hill.
#8 Anonymous on 03/19/10 at 02:08 PM
Thanks so much for the rock springs link, I didn't know about this!
#9 Anon too on 03/19/10 at 02:18 PM
I totally agree - I come to work everyday that I can to a job that I am not crazy about and work my butt off to help pay not only our bills, but child support and $500+ a month insurance and the ex sits at home on welfare and food stamps and had a fit when the state wanted filed our daughter's visits to ER against the insurance (that we have been paying for years) when she had given the hospital medicaid information and did not want to use the insurance we were paying for. My husband's other ex is my age (43) and is on disability (not necessarily justified in my opinion). Not to mention the people that are sitting on their butts on unemployment for over a year and not even looking for a job!!
#10 Working taxpayer on 03/19/10 at 02:41 PM
My friend works at a state agency out of town that helps parents get child support and a lady walked in with copies of her income tax showing she paid a whopping $34 in federal taxes, but do you know what her refund was? Over $13,000. She is healthy enought to have lots of kids, but can't work??? She gets rewarded for doing nothing but laying on her back. Explain how this is fair to working Americans.....
#11 David Rawlins on 03/19/10 at 04:27 PM
You are very welcome. There are also paid clinics in North Griffin Square and in Thomaston on Hwy 19 that are very reasonable for a visit (approximately $50) and typically will also sell you prescriptions very cheap.

If you are at these places and tell them you are having money issues, they will also give you prescriptions that you can get free or very cheap from Walmart, Walgreens, CVS.
#12 David Rawlins on 03/19/10 at 07:40 PM
See, the thing is, noone likes their job. Oh you might enjoy it more than starving but most people would rather live a life of liesure.

Most people work anyway if they are capable because they have a sense of obligation that goes beyond the dislike for work. But, there is an ever growing number of people who are content to let everyone else in the country support them.
#13 Really? on 03/19/10 at 09:02 PM
Surely your friend did not share this confidential information with you. If so, they could lose their job and have to draw unemployment or need public assistance.
#14 Pauper on 03/20/10 at 08:45 AM
King David knows how we all feel about everything. He is now a deity.
#15 dannyb on 03/20/10 at 12:27 PM
Actually, David does have a point according to MIT's Sloan School of Business. What David describes is Douglas McGregor's Theory X. However, McGregor also combined that with Theory Y, so there is more to be said. I am personally in the Y group, but we are in the minority. Theory Y would be a very logical explanation as to why some train for marathons and other brutally physical activities without pay or other benefits; some folks are just driven from within. It's still just and old theory, though. You can Google McGregor Theory and it'll tell you more.

There, I did my community service project to the pauper. What can I say, I felt charitable...
#16 dannyb on 03/20/10 at 12:39 PM
Actually, David is right according tob MIT's Douglas McGregor. Theory X is David's take on it. I'm personally Theory Y material. Keep in mind it's only a theory; it's a good one though.
#17 dannyb on 03/20/10 at 12:43 PM
Do public assistant services have rules as strong as HIPAA? I was thinking this type breach would simply be a 'small policy infraction' rather than a HIPAA type violation.
#18 Pauper on 03/20/10 at 06:36 PM
I love my career and so do my colleagues. I find that the people who do not like their employment are people who are in jobs that they have obtained instead of careers that they have planned for.
#19 David Rawlins on 03/21/10 at 10:32 AM
So, you are telling me that given a choice to live in your favorite vacation spot and perform your favorite liesure activity and still be able to eat, you would choose to work?
#20 David Rawlins on 03/21/10 at 10:34 AM
Oh, and one other thing, if you are going to address me in a derogatory manor please refer to me as King Rawlins. Only my friends get to use my first name.
#21 Pauper on 03/21/10 at 03:54 PM
Maybe I am just different but that gets old. I like working and then my vacations are much better. I get bored easy and since I like my job it is like a vacation.
#22 Sheila Tolley on 03/22/10 at 09:46 AM
Right, David. And let's keep it that way.
#23 anonymous on 03/22/10 at 08:38 PM
A scenario with dollar amounts and the fact that it was a female is NOT confidential information. NO names or personal identifying info here, not even the town they live in. But hey if the friend gets fired, hopefully he/she can get on medicaid, draw unemployment, maybe get a big refund next year. Thats the American way
#24 Sorry on 03/24/10 at 09:43 PM
Just because they did not name names, it is confidential information. When you work for state agencies you know from day 1 on the job not to discuss details.
#25 Anonymous on 03/25/10 at 10:44 AM
It is a huge federal violation to share IRS info. Jail time!
But I do not belive the story anyway. There is only so much EIC you can receive.
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