Hospital Rip-Off

[lkswan747]

A friend of mine had a mild heart attack on December and managed to call an ambulance, which promptly arrived. The paramedics stabilised him and although conscious and compos mentis he was rushed to a hospital in Benoni. This is where the rip-off took place. He was admitted into casualty at 14H09 and discharged at 15H00 to be transferred to a hospital covered by his medical aid.

He received his statement from the medical aid which had declined payment due to the fact that the account submitted by the hospital had insufficient information for them to consider payment. He contacted the hospital accounts department to advise them that the medical aid required further information to consider payment of the account to which he was told that he must speak to casualty and ask them for the information! He argued that it was not his responsibility to get the information and submit it to the medical aid. Long story short, he got the accounts department to resubmit the account with the necessary info. He was copied on the email sent and to his horror, he found that the drugs used during the emergency amounted to R 202.14 and there was a miscellaneous charge for R 6,107.50 which was later described as a resuscitation fee.

According to my friend, he was fully aware of his surroundings and what was happening around him and categorically states that no paddles or other resuscitation equipment was used on him at.

He is now awaiting feedback from the medical aid to see if they will pay for the “resuscitation” fee.
What recourse if any does he have in order to take this “robbery” further?

 

[R4ziel]

So he had a mild heart attack, went to hospital and then had a proper heart attack when he saw the bill, eish.

Everything medical is a ripoff, that's just how things go

 

[Tman*]

Well, look at it this way. When the NHI is implemented at least this would have been free. Or your friend would have been dead. No bill either way.

 

[TofuMofu]

"a miscellaneous charge for R 6,107.50 which was later described as a resuscitation fee"

So resuscitation costs R6k? R6k or ded? wtf...

 

[mercurial]

The resus fee would do the opposite for me.

 

[Ninja'd]

NHI will fix this.

 

[Sepeng]

"a miscellaneous charge for R 6,107.50 which was later described as a resuscitation fee"

So resuscitation costs R6k? R6k or ded? wtf...

I wonder, if they have to try like 5 times, would it be R30k? Plus if they increase the voltage, would it cost more?
They really should have like a menu on the hospital wall.
Resuscitation by CPR using the mouth only - maybe a few hundred
Adding using the hands and pumping on the chest - one thousand
Those paddles but using only one of them - few grand
Both paddles - ten grand

 

[Progenix Oj101]

I wonder, if they have to try like 5 times, would it be R30k? Plus if they increase the voltage, would it cost more?
They really should have like a menu on the hospital wall.
Resuscitation by CPR using the mouth only - maybe a few hundred
Adding using the hands and pumping on the chest - one thousand
Those paddles but using only one of them - few grand
Both paddles - ten grand

I'm pretty damn sure paddles can't bring you out of cardiac arrest.

 

[AdrianH]

I'm pretty damn sure paddles can't bring you out of cardiac arrest.

Correct

They are used to change the heart rhythm when it is going all crazy. When you flatline, the paddles ain't gonna do squat. This BS comes from shitty shows like Greys Anatomy.

 

[dualmeister]

So what was the total bill?

Interesting how emergency rooms charge different amounts once they have decided how urgent it is (i.e. triage).

 

[Sensorei]

This is the description with the medical aid code of the H105 Resuscitation Fee:


They can not charge him that. He was not resuscitated.

If it was billed under code 151 then it is the ambulance service that is billing him. They can bill a resuscitation fee if either of the following were done:
· Administration of advanced cardiac life support drugs.
· Cardioversion-synchronised or unsynchronised (defibrillation)
· External cardiac pacing
· Endotracheal intubation (Oral or nasal) with assisted ventilation

 

[lkswan747]

He was administered some drugs which according to the statement came to R 202.14, are they still able to charge the resuscitation fee if he was still conscious and aware of his surroundings?

 

[maumau]

This is the description with the medical aid code of the H105 Resuscitation Fee:
View attachment 775424

They can not charge him that. He was not resuscitated.

If it was billed under code 151 then it is the ambulance service that is billing him. They can bill a resuscitation fee if either of the following were done:
· Administration of advanced cardiac life support drugs.
· Cardioversion-synchronised or unsynchronised (defibrillation)
· External cardiac pacing
· Endotracheal intubation (Oral or nasal) with assisted ventilation

If they did administer any of these (tks @Sensorei) it's small amount to pay for life.

Plus which he's lucky it happened before NHI or he would be sitting on a cloud playing the harp.

 

[pinball wizard]

So resuscitation costs R6k? R6k or dead? wtf...

R6k is the bargain of the century when you look at it like that...

 

[pinball wizard]

He was administered some drugs which according to the statement came to R 202.14, are they still able to charge the resuscitation fee if he was still conscious and aware of his surroundings?

There is no way on God's green earth even a disprin in a private hospital emergency room would cost so little.
That's a dispensing or admin fee.

 

[My_King]

Medical aid - Pay yours, its the right thing to do.

 

[hellfire]

A friend of mine had a mild heart attack on December and managed to call an ambulance, which promptly arrived. The paramedics stabilised him and although conscious and compos mentis he was rushed to a hospital in Benoni. This is where the rip-off took place. He was admitted into casualty at 14H09 and discharged at 15H00 to be transferred to a hospital covered by his medical aid.

He received his statement from the medical aid which had declined payment due to the fact that the account submitted by the hospital had insufficient information for them to consider payment. He contacted the hospital accounts department to advise them that the medical aid required further information to consider payment of the account to which he was told that he must speak to casualty and ask them for the information! He argued that it was not his responsibility to get the information and submit it to the medical aid. Long story short, he got the accounts department to resubmit the account with the necessary info. He was copied on the email sent and to his horror, he found that the drugs used during the emergency amounted to R 202.14 and there was a miscellaneous charge for R 6,107.50 which was later described as a resuscitation fee.

According to my friend, he was fully aware of his surroundings and what was happening around him and categorically states that no paddles or other resuscitation equipment was used on him at.

He is now awaiting feedback from the medical aid to see if they will pay for the “resuscitation” fee.
What recourse if any does he have in order to take this “robbery” further?

Many casualty departments have a resuscitation room where they monitor unstable patients. It would cost more to be there (much like a day in ICU costs more than a day in a general ward).
The fee could refer to time in that room. But he's allowed to ask for a breakdown of the fee, or anything else on the invoice that is unclear.

 

[hellfire]

I'm pretty damn sure paddles can't bring you out of cardiac arrest.

Correct. They can bring you out of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia.
Full cardiac arrest won't be fixed by a defibrillator.

 

[3Gee]

Correct

They are used to change the heart rhythm when it is going all crazy. When you flatline, the paddles ain't gonna do squat. This BS comes from shitty shows like Greys Anatomy.

Defibrillatation will revive you. Those paddles are the difference between life and death

 

[AdrianH]

Defibrillatation will revive you. Those paddles is the difference between life and death

Only on Grey's Anatomy