"I have friends who argue that we already have universal health care -- "all a person has to do is go an emergency ward or hospital and receive immediate free care". The counter that it is clearly not free seems to ring hollow or fall on deaf ears.. Therefore, I would like to know:
1. What is the average relative cost of an insured person's visit to an
emergency hospital versus the average cost (in dollars) for an uninsured
person? If hospital billings were broken out or identified in this way
2. For the average emergency hospital, what is the relative percentage of
the operating budget allocated for insured versus non-insured patients?
These data should be availiable and part of the discussion.
In other words, just how much money (in dollrs) might be saved if all
patients were insured?
Finally, where is Montara?
Regards, Ed"
Ed, I can't immediately answer the first two questions, but for right now Montara is about 20 miles down the coast from San Francisco's Ocean Beach! On a more serious note, I'm hoping to get your questions answered at our upcoming physician/economist seminar. We were lucky to get two excellent UCSF physicians to speak, and are awaiting word from the invited economists.
Well, my friends, I can relay an experience from my own life when I was uninsured and had to go to the ER for a simple bladder infection. I was charged $2500 for a urine test, two motrin and one antibiotic pill. I was also sent a separate physician's bill for $200. When I called to discuss the bill, I was told I could cut the cost in half if I paid within 30 days. So I would only be out $1200 or so instead of almost $3000 (mind you, this is only for a bladder infection). I, of course, refused to pay and found out about a California law that stated an uninsured person could only be charged medicare rates. In my research I found the medicare cost of a urine test was $4-$7. In a breakdown of the bill I was charged $300 for the urine test. I also found out that reimbursement rates vary from insurance to insurance. It's all negotiated by contract. After many phone calls and discussions with a paralegal, the bill was eventually reduced to $250 and I qualified for "charity care" because of my employment situation. All in all, what I found through this experience is that uninsured are charged 3-4 times as much for an ER visit than those with insurance.
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