re: #369 wozzablog

A dear and good friend of mine in Pennsylvania was taken to the wrong hospital by ambulance, was knocked out by the paramedics, run straight through an MRI machine… total bill facing her when she got out was into 5 figures, largely use of the MRI machine - she had to file bankrptcy.

it was a useless MRI test she did not need and would have been prevented if there were electric records.

If your insurance company will sign off the paper work approving a co-pay - sure you can have one done under insurance. If the doctor who can only refer to certain special units can get you an appointment - sure you can have an MRI. There is already rationing in the system.

Just because everyone has the “right” to stay at the 4 Seasons doesn’t mean everyone can afford it. You can walk into the lobby, ask for a room and pay it off on a credit card… doesn’t mean you can actually afford it.

1) I guess this means she didn’t have insurance. If this was a calculated risk (I don’t need insurance; nothing is going to happen to me, and I’d rather spend the money on something else), I guess she lost.

2) If she were indigent, she would have received the treatment gratis, so I assume, since she had to declare bankruptcy, that in fact 1) obtained.

Whatever you might prefer to be the game, you have to play the game that exists. This story, as a result, is very unconvincing - if she was playing, she lost.

What does the wrong hospital have to do with it, btw?