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On October 16, 2016, Jessica Pell went to the ER for a deep cut in her ear.
She got an ice pack and bandage but left when she learned her doctor would be out of network.
Her bill? $5,751. (1/9)https://www.vox.com/2018/5/1/17261488/er-expensive-medical-bill …
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This is from the newest story in my ER billing project. For the past 6 months we’ve been collecting ER bills from readers. We’re up to 1,100 from all 50 states! Having a bigger data set helps us sees trends in emergency room billing. http://erbills.vox.com (2/9)
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That’s how I started working on this story: I saw a half-dozen bills for people who went to the ER, but never got treated. They left because the wait was long, or concerns that the bill would be too high. All were billed hundreds or thousands of dollars. (3/9)
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Do ER nurses and doctors deserve a fee for triaging those patients? Absolutely. Should it be $5,751, like Jessica was charged? Absolutely not. (4/9)
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One ER doc I talked to in Kentucky said that Medicaid typically pays $50 for this service. Medicare usually pays $129. He thought this bill was “excessive and unrealistic.” (5/9)
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Because of the ER Database, I’ve been able to write all sorts of story about ER billing. I’ve looked at the very high cost of rabies treatments (TL;DR an encounter with a bat can cost more than $10k)… (6/9)https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/7/16851134/rabies-treament-expensive-emergency-room …
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….and I've investigate insurance plans that are denying coverage for visits they say aren’t emergencies. That left one woman I talked to with a $12,000 bill. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/29/16906558/anthem-emergency-room-coverage-denials-inappropriate … (7/9)
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I want to keep writing more stories like this, and I need your help! The bigger the database we have, the more we can identify trends in medical billing. (8/9)
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Have an ER bill from the past 5 years? Share it with us at http://erbills.vox.com . Don’t have a bill? Share the project with others who might. It’s a huge help to bringing a bit more transparency to a very untransparent health care system. (9/9)
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Replying to @sarahkliff
Sending one in today. Was recently in the ER because I had the flu, got dehydrated, & fainted. 6 hours = $15,000. (Thank goodness for insurance!)
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Thank you! And yikes, that sounds terrible!
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Replying to @sarahkliff @mariepiperbooks
My wife had one similar. Pregnant and got super dehydrated. She got an IV and we left after 2 hours. $1500. No tests were done.
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