How much does an ER visit normally cost?

[disneyfanforever]

I had to take my oldest DS (12) to the ER a few weeks ago for severe abdominal pain. While there, he had blood taken, an Xray of his stomach area, and peed in a cup. After waiting around for what seemed like forever (they really didn't seem to be in any hurry even though it was the ER), the doctor finally tells us it is probably just gas.

The hospital seems to think this was worth over $1200. Due to copay and deductibles I am going to be responsible for almost $700. That is so much more than we were expecting. Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything we can do to get this reduced or do we just have to pay it?

 

[luvsJack]

I am not sure what is normal but I went with ds to the er a couple of weeks ago for an injured knee. On the way out they asked for $280 to pay for the er visit, not including the dr (who we never saw) or the x-ray (which also will inlcude a charge by the tech who reads the xray). When she was told he didn't have $280, she said that if it wasn't paid that day it would go up by $100 (no option to make a smaller payment for that day). So it will be almost $400 just for the visit and then the dr. and xray on top of that. Plus he will be charged for crutches and pain meds.

In the few times we have ever used the er, it always seems like a lot of money for very little attention and a whole lot of waiting.

 

[Christine]

My husband went due to a chemical burn in his eye. He was seen by a nurse practitioner, it took 4 hours, they put numbing drops in his eye, took no blood or did tests of any sort and I believe the bill was close to $700.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Yep ours cost that much - dd (2) with a broken arm - just took xrays & put her in a splint. It was $1,000 and the actual visit to the orthopedic was so much cheaper! Wish dh would have listened to me & not taken her to the ER 'cause of the cost...

 

[luvmyfam444]

I am not sure what is normal but I went with ds to the er a couple of weeks ago for an injured knee. On the way out they asked for $280 to pay for the er visit, not including the dr (who we never saw) or the x-ray (which also will inlcude a charge by the tech who reads the xray). When she was told he didn't have $280, she said that if it wasn't paid that day it would go up by $100 (no option to make a smaller payment for that day). So it will be almost $400 just for the visit and then the dr. and xray on top of that. Plus he will be charged for crutches and pain meds.

In the few times we have ever used the er, it always seems like a lot of money for very little attention and a whole lot of waiting.

Surely you can fight the charge for DR since you didn't see one? that's just WRONG!

 

[eliza61]

I had to take my oldest DS (12) to the ER a few weeks ago for severe abdominal pain. While there, he had blood taken, an Xray of his stomach area, and peed in a cup. After waiting around for what seemed like forever (they really didn't seem to be in any hurry even though it was the ER), the doctor finally tells us it is probably just gas.

The hospital seems to think this was worth over $1200. Due to copay and deductibles I am going to be responsible for almost $700. That is so much more than we were expecting. Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything we can do to get this reduced or do we just have to pay it?

ER charges are off the hook. Nothing would surprise me. You can talk with the administration and see about getting it reduce but you will probably have to claim some type of financial hardship. One reason health care reform is such a hot topic. One illness can wipe families out.

 

[happygirl]

It sounds about right. You can get like a huge discount if you pay in cash

 

[eliza61]

Surely you can fight the charge for DR since you didn't see one? that's just WRONG!

It may not be that simple. Was she seen by a nurse? The nurse may have consulted with an attendant doctor. Who delivered the results of the xray? A technician in no way should have given you results.

 

[amid chaos]

It sounds about right. You can get like a huge discount if you pay in cash

I had to laugh....I guess on our way to the ER with an emergency we are supposed to stop at the bank. Good thing to know.

 

[happygirl]

I had to laugh....I guess on our way to the ER with an emergency we are supposed to stop at the bank. Good thing to know.

Well I guess I should have said self pay. Ours give 25% off the bill

 

[luvsJack]

The "discount" we were offered was for payment right then. Not later that day or tomorrow; but right then. She was actually pretty snotty about it too. We never saw a dr but the nurse kept telling us "the dr. said. . . " so I am sure in the world of ER's that qualifies as "seeing a dr."

We knew it would cost a lot when we got there but just didn't have a lot of choice at the time.

 

[eliza61]

I had to laugh....I guess on our way to the ER with an emergency we are supposed to stop at the bank. Good thing to know.

Sad thing AC is that I was in the ER once ( son broke his collar bone) and a man runs in, half crazy with a kid in the middle of an asthma attack, I mean the kid was seriously turning blue and the nurse kept saying to him "Sir we need to see your credit card, sir we need to see your credit card"

Every body's sitting there like "are you going to wait for the poor kid to drop dead before you decide to get help for him"

 

[kacaju]

$75.

Last Sept I have to take my dh to the ER, he is on coumidin (sp?) and had a nose bleed that would not stop. Called his Dr. and they said to take him to the ER. They did bloodwork and found his blood levels were off.

A few weeks ago dh took our oldest dd. She was having stomach pains and feeling sick. Turns out they didn't really find anything there. They did bloodwork and an ultrasound.

but in follow up visits to the gastro Doc, it turns out she had some kind of viral stomach infection that was found by biopsy.

I didn't have to pay out of pocket at all for her endoscope. this was not done while she was in the ER, but was done in the hospital.

 

[disneyfanforever]

Thanks for the replies. I guess this is nothing unusual.

happygirl, what do you mean by self pay? Does that mean if you don't have any insurance and pay it all? Or pay the bill after insurance has processed it without having to have a payment plan? Or am I wrong all together? I would love to get 25% taken off my bill.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I visited the ER a couple days after a recent 3 day (2 night) stay in the hospital for heart. Two days after I was released, I still felt a concern, went to the ER. Was there for 2 1/2 hours, billed amount was $2,800. Hospital stay billed amount was about $25,000.

 

[Free4Life11]

Unfortunately OP, that sounds about right. The ER is so expensive! And I really find the care to be somewhat lacking....you are just left on your own for sometimes hours!

But I sure hear an awful lot of giggling and laughing and joking around by the staff! It sure isn't anything like the TV show the nights I've been.

That being said, I had one of the HOTTEST Dr's EVER in the ER. I thought I must have died and gone to heaven. One thing I have to say is the ER doctor's seem to be the best looking!

 

[ORMom2Four]

ER (and hospital charges in general) are out of control. Our insurance company was charged close to $2,000 for our healthy newborn to stay in the nursery for a few hours while I recovered from a c-section!

We are lucky in that our Ped will see us any hour of the day in his office in order to avoid a trip to the ER (if whatever is wrong can't wait).

 

[CindyKansas]

DD fainted while at work at the Yacht and Beach Club, ambulance came and tranported her to the ER in Celebration. They did a bunch of tests (she did end up with a concusion due to hitting her head on the floor when she fainted) and I got a bill for over $7,000. Insurance co-pay ended up being $2400 since it was a non-preferred location????? We still don't know why she fainted and she hasn't had any other incidents.

 

[Anne MN]

But I sure hear an awful lot of giggling and laughing and joking around by the staff! It sure isn't anything like the TV show the nights I've been.

I have worked in an ER- what happens in the ER I worked at is this. You would see quite a few staff standing around talking or not doing anything- that is because THEY CAN'T. It all has to do with what certification/licenses they hold. an LPN can do a lot of things- can't push meds, can't discharge patient. the staff may be waiting for DR to write orders- like that person needs a splint, that other person needs to have their IV taken out. that is all stuff most medics do (EMT cert) on the basic level. they are the take the patient to xray, ultrasound or wherever. but there are a lot more things that medics can't do.

 

[LaraK]

ER's are nothing like TV.

They are currently in crisis. You have a critical combination of inpatient overcrowding as a result of an aging population resulting in held inpatients reducing ER capacity and people coming into the ER for many non-emergent issues (i.e. not life threatening) because they either couldn't get in to see their doctors or didn't want to wait until they could be seen by their doctors.

You'd be amazed at the reasons why people access the emergency room. Colds, toothaches, you name it. Anyone who shows up at an ER MUST be treated and you have to over treat in many cases because you have to make sure you don't miss something.

Abdominal pain is one of the more diverse complaints a patient can have. It can be anything from gas to an aneurism. Due to that, the treatment is often legnthy and involves testing that usually shows it's nothing the ER can treat and you're referred to your own doctor. Frustrating, but remember an ER's job isn't to be your primary care doctor, but to make sure you don't die or loose a limb. Once those two things are taken care of you're either admitted or referred for outpatient care.

ERs on TV seem sexy...in real life you have a group of medical professionals who are cussed at, spit at, screamed at, tell people their loved ones are dead and clean up poop on a regular basis. Working in an ER is damned hard work.

Sorry to take the thread off topic, but I'm really tired of people who bash ERs and forget that the medical professionals there are faced with one of the hardest jobs out there.

Your medical bill was about right. You paid for the initial assessment, the creation of a medical record and the achiving of the medical information, an assessment by an NP, PA or MD (all of whom are credentialed to care for you), you paid for the collection of the urine specimin and the processing of that specimen in the lab. You paid for the administration of an x-ray on a fantastically expensive medical device that was taken by a credentialed professional and read by a physician. You paid for the 2 hours of paperwork each hour of your stay generated. You paid for the 127 mandatory items reported to either the federal government or other regulatory bodies. You paid for the risk managers who field the senseless lawsuits filed by people out to make a buck. You paid for the required upgrade of every linen you saw to ensure they were fire retardent in line with regulations. You paid for the application fee that hospital pays to the regulators for the honor of being inspected. Welcome to one of the highest overhead industries out there.

Sorry to rant/vent....it's been a hard week.