How do they get away with charging so much?

[clarabelle]

OP, other folks aren't getting what you're saying, but I sure am.

The charges are a blatant ripoff. No way do any of the materials or doctor's time come close to what they are charging you.

Someone's making a lot of money off of sick people. That's what sucks.

Ok lets see they are doctors -people go to the doctor primarly when they are sick. So doctors shouldn't make any money because they deal with sick people.
They should do it all for free -8 years of schooling at least 3 more years of training. 80 hour weeks-Should all be done for nothing because the people are sick

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can't tell you how disgusted I have become with doctors and nurses and their staff the last couple of months since my boyfriend's dad has been in and out of the hospital with cancer...They only seem to be in it for the money.

I am an RN who has worked in hospitals for over 22 years. I've trained, worked beside, supervised and evaluated hundreds of nurses; and worked alongside hundreds, if not thousands, of doctors as well.

I also had a unique view of hospital care as a patient myself when I spent nearly a year of my life undergoing treatment for breast cancer, so I've BTDT too (I'd love to see that bill BTW - I know one day alone I came home from the pharmacy with $32,000 worth of injections in a bag).

With that said, I would argue with my last breath that the majority of doctors and nurses care about patients. I see it everyday. We work in a system that, as you can all see, is imperfect. Some days we feel like banging our heads against the wall ourselves, it gets so frustrating. But we keep trying to care for our patients the best we can despite the frustrations we ourselves have to deal with in order to do so.

I can assure you all there are still many, many wonderful doctors and nurses out there. I work with them, and they cared for me when I was sick. I know you have them, too.

 

[VSL]

I have private dental care (my dentist went private a few months back and I could not switch... and every dentist in the UK is going private anyway these days!), and intend to have private healthcare when I am working full time...

...but I am so glad that we have the NHS here in the UK so that I'll still be looked after for free if I fall on hard times.

I think both systems (public 'free' healthcare and private healthcare) have their +'s and -'s.

But either way, I think doctors, surgeons, etc. a very deserving of their pay, because they save lives and stuff and have to pay their way through a lot of education (and learn it all!) to get there.

 

[LoraJ]

So if someone won't prepare for and do what is arguable the hardest "regular" job there is for some determined smaller abount of money they are only "in it for the money"? They should just want the HELP people (and face complete ruin every day for just trying to help them) and have no concern over a return on their investment in preparation and expertise? 23% of the care my wife gives is completely charity for which she recieves nothing. Should that be more?

I'm not saying they shouldn't get paid. What I am saying is that their motivation shouldn't be for the money, it should be for helping people. That is their job. Sorry, I don't think the doctor deserves $150.00 for coming in and asking "how are you feeling today", doesn't even listen to what the patient has to say and then leaves. You seriously think he deserves $150 for that?

I can assure you all there are still many, many wonderful doctors and nurses out there. I work with them, and they cared for me when I was sick. I know you have them, too.

I sure hope we come across people like you and your colleagues when his dad goes to the other hospital. I don't want to sound so negative, but I've really lost faith in the system lately. Hopefully people like you can help me restore it.

 

[caitycaity]

If you see 2 patients you are making $16 an hour

wow. i got paid more than $16 with just a ba and no work experience. i think that is a crazily unrealistic expectation.

 

[pigget74]

I understand exactly---2 incidences happened to us that if I had not asked for a detailed bill I would have missed.

1) DD had to have tonsils out last year. No big deal but on her 9th day she started bleeding really bad. Called doctor and he said go to ER and he would meet us there for emergency surgery. Get to ER and a nurse was waiting for us--as we enter DD started throwing up massive amounts of blood and the nurse started yelling for a doctor. (Scary and intense time) Now remember our DR had already called ER to have her set up for surgery and start meds. The ER DR came in and looked at her and said yes, she needs surgery and walks out. DId not even look at throat. He was probably in there for all of 15 seconds. Well we get the bill and just the ER DR's part was $650.00 for an extensive eveluation---how extensive is 15 seconds. Long story short they lowered it to $150.00 because the DR did NOTHING!! I did tell the lady that if that is what they charge for just going to ER that is fine--but that wasn't the case. IT is based on how much time is invlolved and the severity. $650 for 15 seconds I think no.

2) DS was born in September--had circumcision at hospital--it was not good. Had to have it redone at the DR's office at 4 weeks of age--and several complications. Anyway the hospital sent us a bill--they charged us for 3 circumcisions before we ever left the hospital. Now the DR. that redid the circumcision did not charge us ( he was my OB) us for the 5 visits or surgery. THe hospital did not even know he had to have another one--if I had not got an itemized account I would have paid for 3.

Always get an itemized summary of your hospital visit.

 

[RachelEllen]

Know what? I love my job. (neonatologist) And I'm also doing it for the money. Sorry, if I didn't get paid, I wouldn't be doing this. I don't know what that has to do with wanting to help people or not.

I'm going to go into a night shift tonight and very likely be paid $50/hr to spend the night sleeping. That might seem silly, but the whole point is that once a month or so, a desperately ill baby is born, and I'm the only one in that hospital that can get their heart going and get them breathing and stabalize them for transport. It might take me four hours or so, but I bet its worth more than that $200 to that family.

Same thing with most doctors. You're not paying them for just the time to diagnosis a broken bone and put a splint on. You're paying them for that time when they diagnosis a bone cancer at the site of fracture. Or when they discover that that broken bone was caused by child abuse.

You're not paying your family doc to tell you you have a virus and to take some Tylenol. You're also paying for those times when the chest cold is lung cancer or the sore throat would have become acute rhuematic fever.

I know people have bad experiences with hospitals and medicine. I've had some myself. But, there's a lot of doctor bashing out there, and I have to say it makes me pretty sad.

 

[Maleficent13]

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I think your post was excellent, RachelEllen.

 

[KelNottAt]

Know what? I love my job. (neonatologist) And I'm also doing it for the money. Sorry, if I didn't get paid, I wouldn't be doing this. I don't know what that has to do with wanting to help people or not.

I'm going to go into a night shift tonight and very likely be paid $50/hr to spend the night sleeping. That might seem silly, but the whole point is that once a month or so, a desperately ill baby is born, and I'm the only one in that hospital that can get their heart going and get them breathing and stabalize them for transport. It might take me four hours or so, but I bet its worth more than that $200 to that family.

Same thing with most doctors. You'r enot paying them for just the time to diagnosis a broken bone and put a splint on. You're paying them for that time when they diagnosis a bone cancer at the site of fracture. Or when they discover that that broken bone was caused by child abuse.

Your not paying your family doc to tell you you have a virus and to take some Tylenol. Your also paying for those times when the chest cold is lung cancer or the sore throat would have become acute rhuematic fever.

I know people have bad experiences with hospitals and medicine. I've had some myself. But, there's a lot of doctor bashing out there, and I have to say it makes me pretty sad.

You know what? When my DS was born the first words out of the OB's mouth weren't "congratualtions, it's a boy." No, he said "GET PEDS IN HERE STAT!"

Maybe that doc was sleeping, too. I don't care. I would have have paid $500/hour to wake him up.

 

[justhat]

OP, I agree that the charge from the clinic for the splint (the one that the dr charged for also) is wrong. My husband, who will finally be a dr as of May 21st, also agrees with that and can't figure out why they charged you for the same thing as the dr.

In regards to the other posts about how much drs earn, well honestly, after all we've been through with med school the past 4 years and what's to come in the next 4 years of residency (he'll be an anesthesiologist) there's no way I'd have tolerated this for $16/hour. We both went to the same college and while I was in grad school before our daughter was born I was working part time at a day care and made $15/hour, so he could have done the same thing and saved us the hundreds of thousands in loans, not to mention time away from the family, to earn the same thing. It's a big commitment and not one that many people do simply for the salary. You really have to have a love for medicine, the profession, helping patients, etc. My husband spent so much time at the hospital between July and October 2004 that our daughter (who was born in February 2004) would cry everytime he held her cause she didn't know who he was. Our 2nd baby is due in August, 2 months after my husband starts work as an intern, and he can't even take off for the birth of our child. He is planning to call in sick on the day he's born, but that's it, no time off allowed. So I'm guessing he'll be one to cry when his daddy holds him too. It's a big sacrifice to make and not one that most people would make just for the money involved.

 

[disneymom3]

I agree that the charges for the splint seem crazy and it doesn't seem right that it should be charged twice. What gets me is the inflated rates that seem to be there just because the insurance is only willing to pay a ridiculous amount. For instance, I just got a bill for a blood test. The bill for the actual draw was $24. That doesn't seem to bad to me--the person had training, there are their own insurance costs to take into account, etc and they always do an awesome job at my Drs office. However, ins co said they would only allow $5.40! WTH? Now, if I didn't have insurance, I would have had to pay the $24. That is what does not seem right to me.

As far as how much Dr's get paid, what I know is that when in casual conversation with my OB he discovered that I had had a kidney disorder as a child which I had neglected to put on my health history. This led him to send me in for a level 2 US which led to them discovering that DS had a solitary kidney with the same disorder which led to our amazing pediatric nuerologist doing surgery at 10 days old which literally saved his life. Had we not known before he was born what was wrong, he would have died. Would have died again at 6 weeks old when no one could figure out what was wrong with him and he was labeled failure to thrive until the nephrologist popped in, said one thing about what he thought was wrong and within 12 hours, my baby actually looked healthy for the first time in his life. Now, we pay that nephrologist who has the WORST bedside manner of any doc EVER $285 per 15 minutes of his time. But, you know what? I would pay him thousands if that is what he charged. Even if it took the rest of my life to pay him off. Same goes for my OB, the pedi urologis and our peditrician who couldn't sleep nights until we found out what was wrong and called me every time we had a three day weekend or she was going to be out of town to make sure everything was okay before she left for the first 15 months of my son's life.

 

[rigs32]

If you don't like the health care system, write to your Congressperson and Senators. Seriously. The system of health care in the US has serious problems and there are a lot of people who think that only a complete re-vamp will help change it.

If you get health care through work, as to talk with HR. It's worth a shot to request a new plan, or at least another choice, that will allow the type and amount of coverage that you want.

As to pay, I'm in law school now (please don't turn this into an "I hate lawyers" thread) and my job involves helping people and *as a student* I'm earning a good chunk more than $16 per hour and I live in a low cost of living part of the country. Advanced knowledge and training can compel a much higher wage. To expect someone to earn what their average patient does, even after paying malpractice insurance, is unrealistic.

My DH is a paramedic, flight medic with the Air Force, and a respiratory therapist working on ICUs at a major trauma center. He absolutely could go to med school - he's got the grades and knowledge base. He chose not to because of the training, extremely long hours, and almost necessity to dedicate your entire life to your job. It wasn't worth it to him - he wanted a more well-rounded life. And he's content to have the moderate income of a medical professional that doesn't practice medicine.

 

[lulugirl]

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I think your post was excellent, RachelEllen.

I think so too!
Frankly I'm grateful to have health insurance and access to quality healthcare.

 

[RachelEllen]

You know what? When my DS was born the first words out of the OB's mouth weren't "congratualtions, it's a boy." No, he said "GET PEDS IN HERE STAT!"

Maybe that doc was sleeping, too. I don't care. I would have have paid $500/hour to wake him up.

I'm not quite sure what you are saying.... It takes me about 45 seconds to get to a delivery room when paged. If I'm not paged and it's nighttime, I'm sleeping.

 

[KelNottAt]

I'm not quite sure what you are saying.... It takes me about 45 seconds to get to a delivery room when paged. If there is no delivery happening and it's nighttime, I'm sleeping.

I'm just saying thank goodness there was a neonatologist on duty. And, thanks to people like you who let us wake you up. You're worth every penny.

 

[Galahad]

Know what? I love my job. (neonatologist) And I'm also doing it for the money. Sorry, if I didn't get paid, I wouldn't be doing this. I don't know what that has to do with wanting to help people or not.

I'm going to go into a night shift tonight and very likely be paid $50/hr to spend the night sleeping. That might seem silly, but the whole point is that once a month or so, a desperately ill baby is born, and I'm the only one in that hospital that can get their heart going and get them breathing and stabalize them for transport. It might take me four hours or so, but I bet its worth more than that $200 to that family.

Same thing with most doctors. You're not paying them for just the time to diagnosis a broken bone and put a splint on. You're paying them for that time when they diagnosis a bone cancer at the site of fracture. Or when they discover that that broken bone was caused by child abuse.

You're not paying your family doc to tell you you have a virus and to take some Tylenol. You're also paying for those times when the chest cold is lung cancer or the sore throat would have become acute rhuematic fever.

I know people have bad experiences with hospitals and medicine. I've had some myself. But, there's a lot of doctor bashing out there, and I have to say it makes me pretty sad.

 

[RachelEllen]

I'm just saying thank goodness there was a neonatologist on duty. And, thanks to people like you who let us wake you up. You're worth every penny.

Oh geesh. I did read that completely wrong.

Thank you

 

[mickeyboat]

RachelEllen - Thank you so much for everything you and your colleagues do to help babies. I still get teary thinking about the two weeks we spent in the ICN almost 7 years ago. I hate to think how much it cost every time I cornered the doctors to ask dumb questions. But I gladly spent it (through my insurance, that is), and was grateful that some special people had dedicated their lives and gained the knowledge and experience that allowed my baby to live.

Denae

 

[luvdzne]

O.k. people, this was not an I hate doctor thread . I did not say that I didn't think dd received quality care from the doctor. The point of my original thread was that I am sick of being over charged by doctors because they can. There are great doctors that yeah they worked hard to get their degrees, but we also work hard to earn our money, and it is hard to justify people saying doctors should be able to overcharge because of this. I really don't mind paying for quality health care, I just don't and should not have to pay more than is necessary. I don't go to the store and when I see that I was over charged say well they worked hard to put this product on the shelf so they deserve to keep what they over charged me for. Doctors seem to forget that they are hired to do a service, some Drs feel the need to take advantage of it. For me to find as many mistakes in doctors billings over the last 8 months that I have is outrageous! The fact of the matter is that it is not just from one doctor, but several, so yes there is a problem!

 

[arminnie]

I'm not saying they shouldn't get paid. What I am saying is that their motivation shouldn't be for the money, it should be for helping people. That is their job. Sorry, I don't think the doctor deserves $150.00 for coming in and asking "how are you feeling today", doesn't even listen to what the patient has to say and then leaves. You seriously think he deserves $150 for that?

If their motivation was truly for money they would not be in medicine. Anyone smart enough to get into medical school has lots of other options.

A brand new graduate of a top (Stanford/Harvard) MBA program (2 year program) or a top notch law school grad (3 year program) who joins a big firm can get a starting salary more than many experienced general practice doctors make.

Investment bankers and big-time lawyers make way more money than most surgeons. And they don't have to deal with blood and gore.

But I think a doctor who doesn't listen or pay proper attention to the patient doesn't deserve anything except to be replaced with a competent physician.