Current Events > Hospital charges $725 for anit-nausea drug that in tables just costs like $3

(+) Yeah! (+)

That was so ridiculous," says Claire, who adds she had previously taken the anti-nausea drug they gave her; it's available in tablet form for the price of a cup of coffee, no IV necessary. "It works really well. Why wasn't that an option?"In Colorado, the average charge for the code corresponding to Claire's first IV push has nearly tripled since 2014, and the dollars hospitals actually get for the procedure has doubled. In Colorado Springs specifically, the cost for IV pushes rose even more sharply than it did statewide.

A typical nurse in Colorado Springs makes about $35 an hour. At that rate, it would take nearly 21 hours to earn the amount of money Penrose charged for a push of plunger that likely took seconds or at most minutes.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/06/28/1007198777/a-hospital-charged-more-than-700-for-each-push-of-medicine-through-her-iv

Since people want to argue having an extra nurse in the room for a delivery is worth $40, we will move on.

What is your reasoning to charge $725 to deliver a medicine that costs only $3 in a procedure that takes about 5 mins administered by a nurse who makes about $40 for a full hour?

because nurses would be more underpaid if they didn't do that

As researchers have found, little stands in the way of hospitals charging through the roof, especially in a place like an emergency room, where a patient has few choices. A report from National Nurses United found that hospital markups have more than doubled since 1999, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In an email, Anthem called the trend of increasing hospital prices "alarming" and "unsustainable."

But Ge Bai, an associate professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins University, says when patients see big bills it isn't only the hospital's doing a lot depends on the insurer, too. For one, the negotiated price depends on the negotiating power of the payer, in this case, Anthem.

That does sound excessive,

but I think trying to act like an over-the-counter pill would somehow be equivalent to the IV she was hooked up to sounds a bit dishonest

They need to stop running hospitals as a business. Flush that mentality completely down the toilet.

Ok we are getting somewhere!

Oh wait nevermind, you would go that route.

They need to stop running hospitals as a business. Flush that mentality completely down the toilet.

So you think she would have gotten the same results from a pill that she got from multiple IV pushes? That seems unlikely

So you think she would have gotten the same results from a pill that she got from multiple IV pushes? That seems unlikely

That does sound excessive, but I think trying to act like an over-the-counter pill would somehow be equivalent to the IV she was hooked up to sounds a bit dishonest

Heads should literally be rolling about shit like this.

I wonder how it is that some enterprising individuals with nothing left to lose haven't taken to burning down some slimy hospital executive's house by now.

What reason would they have to give her an expensive fucking IV for nausea suppression instead of a $3 pill?

I'm not a doctor, but when people go to the emergency room they generally require emergency care

but of course she couldn't take that bc they needed to be able to monitor everything she took.

I remember when my wife was having our kid, they'd give her like over the counter tylenol or whatever for routine pain and charged $35 per pill.

We had the exact same pills in her purse but of course she couldn't take that bc they needed to be able to monitor everything she took.

That's straight up law suit waiting to happen lmfao

Do you use this argument when you hire a dude to cut down a tree?

"That will be $20,000."
"Well, I am not a professional tree man so he must have a good reason!"

No, because with that type of work you agree on a price before the work starts

Critical thinking is not one of your strong suits

Do you think it's smart for the hospital or emergency care staff to just assume whatever you have in your purse is not expired, not adulterated, stored correctly, actually the medication you're saying it is, etc.

That's straight up law suit waiting to happen lmfao

American healthcare system is complete horseshit

bootlicking is one of yours apparently

the people that work there like getting paid more than minimum wage

I'm not even sure that makes sense in this context

Where does all of this overcharged money go anyway? Like who's pockets are being lined here? I have literally no clue who my money goes to after covering the actual costs of things.

do you think hospital workers make minimum wage in actual first world countries?

Critical thinking is not one of your strong suits

I said in the last one I'm not a fan of the American health care system even though I defended the charge.

This one I won't defend. I spent several years working in Health Insurance, I know what a racket the whole system is and how Doctors like to point the fingers at Insurance and Insurance points them at Doctors. Truth is both are fucked and cause the problems.

You seem to think there is an esoteric art to applying medicine into an IV that justifies a gigantic upcharge and requires us to trust the doctors for their pricing.
Yet you would agree that in other areas you would not accept it?

Of course you will likely avoid this question like you did the other one. Easier to try and insult than to go through the steps on seeing how it is your logic is not working. People hate answering questions that showcase their flaw in their thinking and almost always retort with an insult like you did.
bravo

You mean monitoring for adverse events, reconstitution, drawing up the medication with aseptic technique, sterile procedure so the patient doesn't get a superinfection, etc.

A typical nurse in Colorado Springs makes about $35 an hour. At that rate, it would take nearly 21 hours to earn the amount of money Penrose charged for a push of plunger that likely took seconds or at most minutes.

And yet hospitals have lots of forms you can sign that prevent this... hmmmmmmmmmm.

You can sign away your right to sue for a dangerous procedure, but not to take some tylenol.

As stated in the article:

@ToPoPO

You mean monitoring for adverse events, reconstitution, drawing up the medication with aseptic technique, sterile procedure so the patient doesn't get a superinfection, etc.