Snake-bite victim socked with $55K bill

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-victim-socked-with--55k-bill-150152873.html A Maryland woman treated for a snake bite received another shocker: a $55,000 medical bill.
Jules Weiss had stopped to take a photo at an overlook along the George Washington Parkway. On the way back to her car, she felt something bite her.
"It felt just like a bee sting," Weiss told local station NBC4 (http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Snake-Bite-Victim-Gets-55K-Hospital-Bill-218891991.html). "There were two fang marks with liquid coming out."
The former emergency medical technician had suffered a copperhead snake bite. Within an hour, she said, her foot turned “grayish” and started to swell.
She went to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where she received three IV bags of antivenom over 18 hours. Then, the scary part: a whopping $55,000 bill for treatment.
“It’s not a number I can really wrap my head around,” Weiss said. Health insurance would bring the cost down to a few hundred dollars, according to NBC4. But the woman’s insurance had just lapsed. Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.
The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.
That’s not the only pricey treatment for an animal attack: Last year, a woman in Arizona stung by a scorpion (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57507297/cure-for-womans-scorpion-sting-costs-%2483k/) received a bill of $83,000 for the antivenom treatment — a staggering cost of $40,000 a dose. Even after insurance, Marcie Edmonds still owed the hospital $25,000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moral of the story-- don't get bitten by a poisonous snake!!! If I now had a dollar bill for each poisonous snake I've shot in my life I could pay cash for a new car. My favorite squirrel hunting location back in the late 60' /early 70's was a swampy type area connecting to the St Francis river. All summer I GO THERE A FEW TIMES A WEEK TO SHOOT SNAKES BOTH AS TARGET PRACTICE AND TO LIMIT MY CHANCES OF GETTING A SNAKE BITE WHEN I HUNTED SQUIRRELS . Place was overran with squirrels and snakes. It was so bad with snakes the other hunters wouldn't hunt it. I got my limit every time I hunted there. -Tyr

[tailfins]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-victim-socked-with--55k-bill-150152873.html A Maryland woman treated for a snake bite received another shocker: a $55,000 medical bill.
Jules Weiss had stopped to take a photo at an overlook along the George Washington Parkway. On the way back to her car, she felt something bite her.
"It felt just like a bee sting," Weiss told local station NBC4 (http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Snake-Bite-Victim-Gets-55K-Hospital-Bill-218891991.html). "There were two fang marks with liquid coming out."
The former emergency medical technician had suffered a copperhead snake bite. Within an hour, she said, her foot turned “grayish” and started to swell.
She went to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where she received three IV bags of antivenom over 18 hours. Then, the scary part: a whopping $55,000 bill for treatment.
“It’s not a number I can really wrap my head around,” Weiss said. Health insurance would bring the cost down to a few hundred dollars, according to NBC4. But the woman’s insurance had just lapsed. Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.
The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.
That’s not the only pricey treatment for an animal attack: Last year, a woman in Arizona stung by a scorpion (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57507297/cure-for-womans-scorpion-sting-costs-%2483k/) received a bill of $83,000 for the antivenom treatment — a staggering cost of $40,000 a dose. Even after insurance, Marcie Edmonds still owed the hospital $25,000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moral of the story-- don't get bitten by a poisonous snake!!! If I now had a dollar bill for each poisonous snake I've shot in my life I could pay cash for a new car. My favorite squirrel hunting location back in the late 60' /early 70's was a swampy type area connecting to the St Francis river. All summer I GO THERE A FEW TIMES A WEEK TO SHOOT SNAKES BOTH AS TARGET PRACTICE AND TO LIMIT MY CHANCES OF GETTING A SNAKE BITE WHEN I HUNTED SQUIRRELS . Place was overran with squirrels and snakes. It was so bad with snakes the other hunters wouldn't hunt it. I got my limit every time I hunted there. -Tyr

Why bother getting insurance? This example illustrates that insurance isn't designed to protect your assets, but rather to get money from you when you don't need services. Your assets are in jeopardy whether or not you have insurance. It seems the best "asset" is unused open credit. Unused open credit cannot be garnished and universal default is no longer permitted by law. In other words, default on one account can't be treated as a default on another.

[fj1200]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-victim-socked-with--55k-bill-150152873.html

“It’s not a number I can really wrap my head around,” Weiss said. Health insurance would bring the cost down to a few hundred dollars, according to NBC4. But the woman’s insurance had just lapsed.

An obvious flaw in ACA. Who, oh who, can we call upon to fix this obvious error in our free-market health care system that causes such pain and heartache to the good people of Maryland. Oh the humanity.



/sarcasm

[fj1200]

Why bother getting insurance? This example illustrates that insurance isn't designed to protect your assets, but rather to get money from you when you don't need services. Your assets are in jeopardy whether or not you have insurance. It seems the best "asset" is unused open credit. Unused open credit cannot be garnished and universal default is no longer permitted by law. In other words, default on one account can't be treated as a default on another.

I don't think that's what it says. I think it says something about a lack of transparency and an "elective" procedure but the scorpion story was a little lacking in detail. Proper insurance is about risk mitigation but health insurance hasn't been that way in this country for decades.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

An obvious flaw in ACA. Who, oh who, can we call upon to fix this obvious error in our free-market health care system that causes such pain and heartache to the good people of Maryland. Oh the humanity.



/sarcasm Just don't call the government because they almost always make it worse and then proudly call it fixed! :laugh:--Tyr

[Gaffer]

I was stung by scorpions twice in Vietnam. I went immediately to the medic who said just go sit down it will go away in a couple of hours. It did, but it was a couple of hours of excruciating pain. The first time I didn't know what stung me. After the second time I knew. That scorpion got to meet my machete. I hate scorpions.

I didn't know they had anti-venom for scorpions. With the cost I guess that's why I didn't get any.

[fj1200]

Just don't call the government because they almost always make it worse and then proudly call it fixed! :laugh:--Tyr

Precisely, of course they confuse the low-info crowd by hiding their failure in the name, i.e. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

[Little-Acorn]

Snake-bite victim socked with $55K bill


That bill isn't just for the treatments she received.

It's also for the treatments that the last four illegal aliens who went to that hopsital, received. Or did you think those were really "free"?

And for the two lifetime-Welfare users who just came through.

And for the genuinely destitute guy who will, in a few years, get back on his feet.

And for the insurance the hospital must carry to ward off the lawyers who are trying to sue them for a baby that wasn't "born right" according to a jury of (non-medical) people.

$55K sounds about right, for all that.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I was stung by scorpions twice in Vietnam. I went immediately to the medic who said just go sit down it will go away in a couple of hours. It did, but it was a couple of hours of excruciating pain. The first time I didn't know what stung me. After the second time I knew. That scorpion got to meet my machete. I hate scorpions.

I didn't know they had anti-venom for scorpions. With the cost I guess that's why I didn't get any. I read decades ago that the Roman soldiers were harden and never cried out in pain--except-- when stung by a scorpion. And that was pointing out how damn painful those stings were!! Of course it depends on what type of scorpion but if they have a stinger they have venom. My older brother said, a wasp, yellowjacket or bee sting is nothing when compared to the damn sting of a hornet. He should know, he got popped a few times by hornets when a teenager.. He stated it was about ten times greater the level of pain than a wasp sting. You were lucky Gaffer some scorpion stings have actually killed the victim. -Tyr

[Gaffer]

I read decades ago that the Roman soldiers were harden and never cried out in pain--except-- when stung by a scorpion. And that was pointing out how damn painful those stings were!! Of course it depends on what type of scorpion but if they have a stinger they have venom. My older brother said, a wasp, yellowjacket or bee sting is nothing when compared to the damn sting of a hornet. He should know, he got popped a few times by hornets when a teenager.. He stated it was about ten times greater the level of pain than a wasp sting. You were lucky Gaffer some scorpion stings have actually killed the victim. -Tyr

I can attest to the pain level. I have been stung by hornets, wasps, bee's, and yellow jackets (which is a hornet) and they don't come close to a scorpion. Your brother was right on that. It's a nerve poison that they use which feels like an electric shock running through your arm. I was stung on the finger. The muscles tighten up. The first time I was stung was on the top of my ear. Whole side of my head ached for hours. Did I mention I HATE scorpions?

[Larrymc]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-victim-socked-with--55k-bill-150152873.html A Maryland woman treated for a snake bite received another shocker: a $55,000 medical bill.
Jules Weiss had stopped to take a photo at an overlook along the George Washington Parkway. On the way back to her car, she felt something bite her.
"It felt just like a bee sting," Weiss told local station NBC4 (http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Snake-Bite-Victim-Gets-55K-Hospital-Bill-218891991.html). "There were two fang marks with liquid coming out."
The former emergency medical technician had suffered a copperhead snake bite. Within an hour, she said, her foot turned “grayish” and started to swell.
She went to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where she received three IV bags of antivenom over 18 hours. Then, the scary part: a whopping $55,000 bill for treatment.
“It’s not a number I can really wrap my head around,” Weiss said. Health insurance would bring the cost down to a few hundred dollars, according to NBC4. But the woman’s insurance had just lapsed. Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.
The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.
That’s not the only pricey treatment for an animal attack: Last year, a woman in Arizona stung by a scorpion (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57507297/cure-for-womans-scorpion-sting-costs-%2483k/) received a bill of $83,000 for the antivenom treatment — a staggering cost of $40,000 a dose. Even after insurance, Marcie Edmonds still owed the hospital $25,000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moral of the story-- don't get bitten by a poisonous snake!!! If I now had a dollar bill for each poisonous snake I've shot in my life I could pay cash for a new car. My favorite squirrel hunting location back in the late 60' /early 70's was a swampy type area connecting to the St Francis river. All summer I GO THERE A FEW TIMES A WEEK TO SHOOT SNAKES BOTH AS TARGET PRACTICE AND TO LIMIT MY CHANCES OF GETTING A SNAKE BITE WHEN I HUNTED SQUIRRELS . Place was overran with squirrels and snakes. It was so bad with snakes the other hunters wouldn't hunt it. I got my limit every time I hunted there. -Tyrwho are they paying to milk those snakes, just offer a case or two to a couple of good ole boys and they will get you all ya want.:laugh: