Our Great Helath Care System

[Zack]

I was in a car wreck a several years ago and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. The only reason they took me to the hospital was because of some soreness in my neck/upper back area. Most of the time I just laid in the bed and answered questions from doctors and cops, but they did give me an MRI and urinalysis with a tube. I hope nobody here EVER has to get a piss test like that. Think large plastic tube inserted into external urethral orifice then pushed up into the bladder. When I literally walked out of the hospital, seven hours later (no treatment, no medicine, no follow ups recommended), I was given a bill for 7K dollars. I didn't have insurance and told the EMTs this before they put me in the ambulance. I told the people in the hospital the same thing several times. I tried to get out of there as fast I could because I knew they were going to stick it to me. They did literally and figuratively. The phone calls started about a week later wanting to know if I preferred to use cash or credit and would like to use a payment plan. I find it hard to believe that an MRI and urinalysis cost THAT much. Who in the hell do they think can afford medical treatment at $1,000 per hour?