Could you financially survive a "House" call?

[erik_blank]

Calling Dr. House!
After watching this series for some time, I've come to the conclusion that I would never be able to financially survive a trip to Dr. House's Hospital. With all the expensive procedures, experimental drugs and odd near death treatments of his patients, I just cannot imagine what the bill would have been for ANY of his patients.

What is more, I can't imagine my current insurance company letting even a fifth of the procedures be paid for under my plan. I would imagine seeing an insurance actuary sitting by House's elbow saying "no, we won't cover that procedure... no, not THAT one either. How about using a Q-Tip instead?"

Even if the company paid a good 90% of the costs, I imagine that I would end up with a a bill a the end of this in the $100K range for co-pays EASILY...

All I can say is that I hope to never need the services of a 'real' Dr. House...

[Lady Quindecim]

It is a privately funded teaching hospital.

The patients pay nothing.

[erik_blank]

It is a privately funded teaching hospital.

The patients pay nothing.

WOW! More fiction!

[Fencergrl]

How about... "The hospital is in Canada?" does that work for you?

[erik_blank]

Canadadia? Do you mean that 'socialist' nation that is threatening our northern border with strange bacon and the inability to pronounce 'O'?

Sure, THEY could survive a House call... but then we all know that their socialist medicine is causing global warming and has been the driving force behind same sex marriage in Iowa. We won't talk about THEM....

[Fencergrl]

Evil people they are... that goes without saying.

[Empty Wallet]

Canadadia? Do you mean that 'socialist' nation that is threatening our northern border with strange bacon and the inability to pronounce 'O'?

Sure, THEY could survive a House call... but then we all know that their socialist medicine is causing global warming and has been the driving force behind same sex marriage in Iowa. We won't talk about THEM....

Wouldn't same sex marriages in Iowa be a plus?

at least that was what I was taught when I was a student at Illinois.

[fatfencer]

Wouldn't same sex marriages in Iowa be a plus?

at least that was what I was taught when I was a student at Illinois.

Yeah... when they cant figure out how to convert the cellulose to ethanol they can just give the cornholes, er, cornCOBS to the gays.

Call it a subsidy.

FF

[telkanuru]

I have one hell of a health-insurance plan. I would probably be covered.

[fencerchica]

I was reminded of this thread today when I was browsing Obsidian Wings, which had a link to this article:

A System from Hell

A couple of excerpts:

My husband is a retired college professor, and what the teaching profession lacks in salary it often makes up for with generous benefits. His health insurance would cover most of the emergency costs related to the fall--the surgeries, the hospitalization, the drugs. But in the astronomical sums the cost of medical care often entails, "most" is not a reassuring word. Months later, as his discharge from the hospital drew near, I sat in my living room looking at the bills piling up on the table. The co-pays, uncovered care and other costs had already reached $8,000, and we had virtually nothing left.

[...]

We quickly learned that not even the most frugal planning is enough to cope with surging healthcare costs. The long-term-care insurance barely covers a fraction of his long-term care. I will care for him at home, but a time will come when even our home might be at risk: if he needs nursing home care, Medicaid will pay for it only after we have liquidated most of our assets. Consequently, a blessing--my husband could live like this for years to come--is also likely to bankrupt us.

[erik_blank]

Yeah, even for non-major care, co-pays can really take a bite out of a yearly budget. Our family pays over $250/month on prescriptions alone. Not to mention doctor visit co-pays, and the $50/visit to the emergency room should we need that. Small change for some, but on our budget it is pretty sharp.
I started this thread because I was thinking about al the proceedures that Dr. House calls for that are just done out of hand without any pause for the expense... Are we sure that he isn't practicing in France or Canada?

[Inquartata]

Bizarro World, maybe.

Oh, wait. No, that's France again. Never mind.

[erik_blank]

HEY! Stop attacking the makers of my favorite cheeses!

[Slacker]

Precisely why House endears, my friends.
To be able to practice medicine without insurance companies tying one hand behind your back and pharmaceutical companies handcuffing your other hand, that would be sweet, indeed. But fiction. And to harrass your boss and get away with it? And to have other doctors do the scutwork for you? Brilliant. I wait with baited breath for every installment and rerun.

[jeff]

And to be prescribing narcotics for yourself (even forging signatures on stolen prescription pads from other doctors) and still keep your license? Oh yeah, that's fiction, fer sure.

[Inquartata]

House-sized sarcasm?

[lindajdunn]

And to be prescribing narcotics for yourself (even forging signatures on stolen prescription pads from other doctors) and still keep your license? Oh yeah, that's fiction, fer sure.

They jumped the shark on that one, imho.

[Inspector Gadget]

Does anyone watch 20/20 with the new miserable skinny guy in charge? I don't know what's up but here's the latest: "STORY": 20/20 visits an upscale old age home, the people living there are in their 80's and 90's. Some have worked and paid into the Medicare system for 45 years, now they're living it up on the Old Age Broadway but here's the catch. They qualify for medicare because of their age, however, they're really wealthy. Instead of blasting the entire system that LBJ so carefully crafted in 1965, why not just put a ceiling on it? I've worked in nursing homes, and it's really pitiful to see how the other half lives after medicare, some of them are so abused I've had to report a site for elder abuse. So what we're seeing here are that the same people who once felt free to abuse the poor and now abusing the rich. In order to create a more equal union, why can't these same federal funds be added up just like we learned in grammar school and divide by the number of people; and let them live out the rest of their lives in some kind of peace. Once a person goes onto that system, they really don't have very many years left.

[Wetmelon]

Hehe I heard an interesting story last summer - to make the long story short:

Guy ended up in a car wreck, lost his elbow in a fight with the window.

He had just been in the middle of switching insurance companies, and was on that 90 day interim period when leaving Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The wreck happened on day 87, and they ended up paying 99.99% of his hospital bill, leaving him to pay a co-pay of:

$300

(Total bill of $300,000k)

He was on some rediculous life support stuff and was in the hospital for 4 weeks on the very expensive equipment, hence the rediculous price.

As for me, I'm Canadian


P.s. The show's set in New Jersey, in case you missed that one

[Pieter]

300,000,000??

Was he paying the entire hospital operating cost for the next year?