Really Scary - medical Insurance

Becca608 · Nov 3, 2007

Watch Michael Moore's 'Sicko'.

RN1989 · Nov 3, 2007

It is a shame that this is how things happen.

Years ago I cared for a head trauma patient who worked in the float pool with me. She had been on her way to work and go into an MVA. No insurance due to the PRN status, but needed the extra money and flexibility because of being a single mother. I took care of her for almost 2 weeks. Everyone had given up on her and thought she was a veggie. She had been pulling out her feeding tube and was restrained. I was so irritated and yelled at her, reminding her that she was a nurse and knew better than to pull out her tube. That was the first day that she looked at me with clear eyes, tracked me around the room, and not once did she pull the tube out again. I was able to take the restraints off. I knew she was still in there but no one believed me. When I came back after the weekend, she had been moved to a nursing home. The hospital wanted to dump her off because she didn't have insurance and the only reason she was there was because we were a level 1 trauma center. She didn't get any rehab because of no money. What killed me - the hospital had kept an illegal alien with a TBI who had been in a veggie state for over a year. They wanted to keep him to give him a chance to get rehab instead of sending him back to Mexico where his family was waiting. But they wouldn't spend the money to keep this young woman who was their own employee and give her a chance for rehab. I hated that employer for what they did to her but no matter how much I argued, they wouldn't give in.

It is all about money. I am happy to live here in the states, but it isn't the rosy place it's cracked up to be. I refuse to give money to all these charities that go to other countries. There are people in the US living on street grates, eating out of dumpsters, or not eating at all, and you are begging me to send money to another country? How is it that we police the world, take care of everyone else, yet our own citizens are dumped for lack of money? I still haven't grasped this concept yet.

ebear, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2007

AMEN RN1989!!!! That's the thanks we get as hard working American citizens who fall on very difficult times, while illegals reap the benefits of living in the good 'ol US of A. :angryfire

ebear

woody62, RN · Nov 4, 2007

It is a shame that this is how things happen.
Years ago I cared for a head trauma patient who worked in the float pool with me. She had been on her way to work and go into an MVA. No insurance due to the PRN status, but needed the extra money and flexibility because of being a single mother. I took care of her for almost 2 weeks. Everyone had given up on her and thought she was a veggie. She had been pulling out her feeding tube and was restrained. I was so irritated and yelled at her, reminding her that she was a nurse and knew better than to pull out her tube. That was the first day that she looked at me with clear eyes, tracked me around the room, and not once did she pull the tube out again. I was able to take the restraints off. I knew she was still in there but no one believed me. When I came back after the weekend, she had been moved to a nursing home. The hospital wanted to dump her off because she didn't have insurance and the only reason she was there was because we were a level 1 trauma center. She didn't get any rehab because of no money. What killed me - the hospital had kept an illegal alien with a TBI who had been in a veggie state for over a year. They wanted to keep him to give him a chance to get rehab instead of sending him back to Mexico where his family was waiting. But they wouldn't spend the money to keep this young woman who was their own employee and give her a chance for rehab. I hated that employer for what they did to her but no matter how much I argued, they wouldn't give in.
It is all about money. I am happy to live here in the states, but it isn't the rosy place it's cracked up to be. I refuse to give money to all these charities that go to other countries. There are people in the US living on street grates, eating out of dumpsters, or not eating at all, and you are begging me to send money to another country? How is it that we police the world, take care of everyone else, yet our own citizens are dumped for lack of money? I still haven't grasped this concept yet.

A few reasons your hospital did not discharge the illegal alien.

1. Have any idea how expensive it is to fly a patient from one state to another, let alone to another country?

2. No nursing home would accept this patient because there was no one to pay the bills. Or do you think that Mexico should pay his bill? Before you say yes, if you are hospitalized in anoother country and have no insurance, the U.S, cannot be billed nor do many insurance companies extend coverage to overseas countrys. Which leaves you.

3. An illegal alien is not eligible to receive Medicaid. Why do you think so many of SW states are complaining about treating illegals?

Things aren't as black and white as some think they are.

Woody:balloons:

TrudyRN · Nov 4, 2007

I agree about the charities, which spend so much of their donations on overhead and not on the charitable work they purport to do. But don't worry - in order to help you avoid the emotional pain about charities, the gov simply appropriates your donations via taxation and sends it off in the form of foreign aid. Of course, a lot of that is probably confiscated by corrupt officials in the recipient countries and it largely never really makes it to the poor populace. :angryfire:devil::angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:devil:

I have seen at least one case like the one you described. It was an illegal from somewhere south of the border and she'd been in a MVA, was left pretty messed up neurologically, orthopedically but still had a clear mind. Her family, including her children, parents, siblings, etc. were all in her home country. However, the religious order that ran the hospital where she was originally treated "adopted" her as part of their charitable work. For the next 2 or so years, they cared for her, probably at mostly taxpayer expense via Medicaid if the truth were told - this even though her family said to send her home to them and even though she wanted to go - something about having to get her rehabbed as fully as possible before sending her. When she became violent, though, and started hitting other patients (it was ok for her to repeatedly assault staff, putting at least 2 nurses and an aide out of work due to their injuries and PTSD, but not other patients), she was shipped off to a government facility and "un-adopted". Last I heard, that facility had finally been able to ger her sent home to her family.

It's all very sad and very frustrating and terribly scary.

nursepenny · Nov 4, 2007

I had a ruptured diverticulum in Oct. 2006. After 2 bouts of peritonitis and weeks of hospitalization and numerous test, I had surgery in Dec. 2006. The surgery took 12 hours because of all the adhesions I had. I was on the vent and my lungs filled with fluid and I had to be shipped to another larger hospital that had a Pulmonologist to assume my care. I was on the vent for 14 days. After recovering from that ordeal, I was sent home. I soon became unable to eat anything. The smell of food was so sickening for me. Needless to say I became severly dehydrated and had to be re-hospitalized for a few days. My Internist told me I required 5 liters of fluid before I could make urine.

I started having severe abdominal pain and went back to the hospital with an intestinal blockage. I was hospitalized for 13 days and was given a Groshong for TPN. A few weeks later I started running a high temp and was sent back to the hospital. I was diagnosed with gram-positive cocci at the Groshong site, bilateral pulmonary embolisms and a DVT. Needless to say this required hospitalization for approx 15 days spent in ICU.

Approx 1 month later I had hemoptosis and was hospitalized yet again. All this time I was still having severe abd. pain. My Internist told me I have a functional blockage. I still to this day have a lot of pain, become easily nauseated, and have frequent, unexpected bowel movements.

For most of my ordeal I had insurance. When it became impossible for me to pay my premiums, the benevolent committee at my hospital would pay them for me. During my last hospitalization, I forgot to call them and my insurance was dropped. I am on Coumadin 7.5, 7.5 and 5. I have not been able to have a PT and INR drawn in 3 months. I cannot work a full time job at this time and still have no insurance. My doctor did release me for part-time work at our clinic. Part tme at my hospital does not carry benefits.

I have applied for temp. disability benefits from the Social Security Office and was told the was some kind of gainful employment I could do. I do receive a few food stamps, but when I reported working a few hours a week, they were decreased to $68.00 per month. I don't know what people like me are susposed to do. I have worked and paid taxes since I was 17 years old. I am now 52 (53 this month). i still have a long time to go before I reach retirement age. It sucks. I never thought I would be in this position. I am broke, have extreme pain every day of my life, become nauseates easily, and have no recourse at this time but to beg the government for money I have worked and paid in.

I feel for your friend and hope things improve for her. I have been there............well actuall I am still there now. No One seems to understand why I still have so much pain, but I think i have developed more adhesions, but I don't have the money or insurance to go to the doctor.

ebear, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2007

Ya know what, Woody? I think it would be much less expensive to fly these folks home than to keep them in ICU in the US for God knows how long...Would any other country on the planet provide these services to a US citizen for an unspecified time? I think not...

ebear

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2007

I don't care what other countries do or do not do. We are supposed to live moral, good lives and care for one another regardless of national origin, I think.

I find it impossible to wrap my brain around the idea that whether one is a citizen or has health insurance makes one more or less worthy of health care.

Our entire health care system is a disgrace. We spend fortunes on dying old folks in the last miserable couple years of life while children - of any race or nationality - can't get wheelchairs and hearing aids.

What happened to Trudy's nurse friend is an utter disgrace. But not because she's a nurse - because she is a human being and should be valued.

TCRNCOB61 · Nov 4, 2007

When my son (age 26) was in a MVA on Jan 22 this year, he broke BOTH hips requiring 3 weeks in the hospital and 3 major surgeries. The accident was not his fault, the other driver did not have insurance. We had to get a lawyer to get the auto insurance to pay what little they did (this took many months). Derek did not have medical insurance because he had just changed jobs a month before the accident and the insurance had not kicked in yet.

The hospital literally brought him to my house (his house is 4 houses down from mine but he could not care for himself so he had to come live with me) in a ambulance with NO rehab. because he has no insurance. He does not qualify for any gov. help unless he has a minor child (they kept asking us if he had a child, they told us he would get help if he had a child).

He spent the next 4 months in a hospital bed in my house with me (I do mother/baby not ortho tho I have learned!) asking nurses at work what exercises he needed to be doing so he could walk again. I had to leave him home alone at night so I could go to work. His doctor that did the surgeries did have a charity clinic so he could be seen once a month and those visits and x-rays were just added to the hospital bill that thank god was all but a few thousand written off to charity. I have no idea what would have happened to him if I had not taken him into my home. The hospital told me they would have taken him to his house and put him in his bed and left him!! He was bedridden for 5 months. I had to rent a hospital bed, wheelchair. I bought a walker, bsc. and canes.

He still owes thousands to other doctors, labs, etc. that will take years to pay off. Total cost was more than $300,000 and that was without any rehab.

He will need total hip replacements every 15 years, he walks with a bad limp (yes we thank god he CAN walk), he is still not working because he is having trouble finding a job he can do now.

There has to be a better way. I just don't know what it is. I know our life will never be the same after this year.

EmmaG, RN · Nov 5, 2007

I simply cannot respond. Anything I can say at this point would get me banned.

woody62, RN · Nov 5, 2007

Ya know what, Woody? I think it would be much less expensive to fly these folks home than to keep them in ICU in the US for God knows how long...Would any other country on the planet provide these services to a US citizen for an unspecified time? I think not...
ebear

I was visiting Montreal in 2001. I had a very severe asthma attack and had to go to a Canadian ER. Unfortunately, not only did I have an asthma attack but also pneumonia. I was admitted to their respiratory ICU. The only insurance I had was Medicare. Funny thing about Medicare, they don't apply one single red cent for any hospitalization outside our country. And I wasn't eligible for Canadian health care coverage. Just before I was discharge, after having spent ten days in their very nice hospital, I meet with a business office representative and explained my fixed income and lack of insurance. She verified that I only had Medicare. And since I was on a day visit, hadn't purchased any insurance for outside the US. They told me they would write me off my bill.

Plattsburg, N.Y. was only 50 miles down the highway. They could have shipped me to the border and asked our customs agents to call 911 for me. But they didn't. Apparently they don't think the same way some of us do. Like me, they apparently believe health care is a right, not a privilege. I am sure that some would feel the same way about those nasty U.S. homeless people, who clog up our ER's and ICU's and don't pay one single dime toward their bills. Maybe we should just dump them back where they belong, on the street. Wait a minute, wasn't there several hospitals in L.A. that did just that?

Woody:balloons: