November 12th, 2009 by Emergiblog in Better Health Network, True Stories
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Sam Nouv runs a little donut shop about a mile from my house.
When John was in the hospital, that’s where I bought the donuts for the nurses.
After immigrating to the U.S. from Cambodia in 1987, Sam started working at the shop and by 1990 he owned it (Update via Steve in comments: When he was 13, his parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. He spent several years in a displacement camp in Vietnam before finally being sent to the States as part of an entire plane load of orphans).
With the exception of a few holidays, Sam is in the store every morning at 3:30 am and works until 6:00 pm.
Seven days a week.
His wife, Lori, works with him, but she wasn’t there on that Wednesday morning in October.
Thank God. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
November 7th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, True Stories
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I took my son to the ER for a broken thumb. It was a minor injury but the thumb is the most important digit on the hand. The ER care was just fine…a quick look, an Xray and a small splint. We didn’t have to wait long and everyone was courteous.
Imagine my surprise to receive the bill from the hospital. Yes, I have insurance. My out of pocket expense was minimal but here is what the insurance company was charged:
- Hospital Misc.- $56.00 (could this be the splint?)
- Diagnostic Xray – $342.00
- Emergency Care- $952.00
- Surgery – $570.00
- Total $1920.00
Take a look…surgery? There was so surgery, no procedure. There was no break in the skin. The doctor component of the visit was about 7 minutes (mainly because I knew the doc and we chatted about politics)
This bill is unreal and is comprised of unreal health care costs. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*