Hospital Care Outrageously Priced without Medical Insurance

Last Thanksgiving, I ended up in the hospital.  I had my third attack of severe stomach pain that sent me to the emergency room that year the Monday before Thanksgiving.  They worked me over and finally determined that I needed emergency gallbladder surgery, but couldn’t do the surgery until they ran a bunch more tests and stabilized the infection in my gallbladder, which was ready to perforate.  Thank goodness for good medical insurance!  When all was said and done, I had a four day hospital stay, echo-cardiogram, chest x rays, upper GI, gallbladder and kidney ultrasounds and other tests.  This doesn’t include the actual surgery, room, medication and everything else.  My costs would have been well over $20,000 if I had not had insurance!

12 November 2008 | Health