pushing a $400 flu shot

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 30, 2006

I'd think typo in regards to the flu injection.

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Jan 30, 2006

I'd think typo.

pretty sure it was confirmed by pharmacy... :confused:

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 30, 2006

A patient may sign this form, but they do not sign a form to be ripped off by the entity. This can be contested as against UCR.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jan 30, 2006

Agreed. This is absolutely outrageous.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Jan 30, 2006

eek!

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Jan 30, 2006

Well, I would be suggesting one of those clinics that come around to grocery stores instead...LOL, at least here a flu shot is only 32 bucks max! WOW!

I know things are very overpriced in facilities...I worked in an ALF that had its own pharmacy and the cost of a duoderm was beyond reasonable! Heck, a bandaid cost about 2 bucks per bandaid...and the types you can buy at the dollar stores stuck better (and that is per box)! LOL!

I once worked at a facility that had the nurses document the amount of time they spoke to a patient in 15 minute blocks so they could be charged for nursing services (I thought that was crazy...I mean, patient teaching is important and I teach them till I know they understand, and if that takes a while...well...it isn't like the patient is feeling their best, sometimes it takes time!). I was a student luckily, and never saw how much they charged per 15 minutes...but wow!

kukukajoo, LPN · Jan 30, 2006

I would be betting that somewhere along the lines what should have been $40.00 was entered as $400.

There can not be any way that a flu and Pneumonia shots could ever be that expensive. It would be unethical for sure. I can't even imagine!!

mommy2boys · Jan 30, 2006

A lot of hospitals charge an arm and a leg for simple items. I passed a kidney stone once without medical insurance (I had less than a month left on the waiting period so I had to pay the entire thing out of my pocket) almost 9 years ago. I had to go to the ER because I was DYING from the pain.

They did a pregnancy test and it cost me $200. They "accidently" charged me twice so when I saw the bill I nearly died. $400 in pregnancy tests!!! YOu have got to be kidding me. I called the billing dept. and spoke to them and they said that they had overbilled me, but they still charged me $60. I could have gone to drug store and bought one for $10.

It just proves that the mark up for simple supplies are crazy. I guess they need to find funding to make up for people who don't pay their bills, but why $60 for a simple pregnancy test.

Thank God I have insurance now. Even though it doesn't cover all that great, at least it is something.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2006

My father spent egdays and six nights in a local ICU.

His pharmacy bill was - I saw it, have a copy of it - fourteen pages long and was - are you ready? - $19K.

They charged $18 for A DOSE OF LIPITOR. His fentanyl patches were $151 EACH.

He had no chemo, no nothing - he got several bags of vancomycin, which I know are expensive - but PLEASE. NINETEEN GRAND?

Thank God for health insurance.

A peds ED here tried to charge my sister two hundred bucks for an injection my niece did not receive. I would guess it happens a lot.

SCmomof3, RN · Jan 30, 2006

Similar experience here several years ago. I was in the ER for a particularly bad asthma attack. They gave me 2 doses of albuterol via nebulizer (which I also have at home btw). I was charged $160 for those two doses!!!!!! TWO STINKING VIALS! Albuterol is NOT an expensive drug at all. I was uninsured at the time. The total visit was $1200 and took me nearly a year and a half to pay off I felt like I'd been raped. Never mind that the ER doctor never even came in to see me once and I was still charged $375 from him!!

imenid37 · Jan 30, 2006

I know infant hearing screens w/ the ABR can cost about $300.00-400.00. I was also shocked at the price tag. Many insurances say this is reasonable and customary for this service and do pay a substantial portion of the cost. In some states, where the screenings are mandated, but insurance coverage is not, parents get a big bill. This means some people are choosing not to have it done. When my oldest child was a baby, vaccinations were not covered by my insurance. I had to pull $150.00 out of my pocket several times. This was when I made a whopping $11.00/hr as an RN. It was definitely a hardship, but I had to do it. The health dept. gave them for free. To me, that was for people who were really poor! Healthcare costs are outrageous. I had two MRI's in 2004 at $2800.00/ each. Enbrel for my daughter's JRA was going to cost us $400.00/month (that was w/ insurance paying 75%). We had to stick w/ methotrexate which was less than $10.00/ month. Thank God it was effective. The crime of all of this is that we pay several hundred dollars/ month for insurance and if we had Medicaid it would be free. Of course, in my local area finding a doctor or (God forbid) a dentist to take an MA pt. can be a challenge. It is very sad. I firmly believe that healthcare is as much a right as education. It makes me sick to think that a family can be devestated twice not only by their loved one's illness but also by the financial burden it creates. I have heard of many people who lose their family member and then lose their home or have to declare bankruptcy.