I haven't posted anything recently, and this non-bill just came in, so here goes.Roughly One Thousand Dollars (US) per hour for Emergency Room service! I don't know if this is typical, but I expect it is.
This visit was caused by an adverse reaction to a prescription antibiotic - a fairly severe reaction if you ask me.
I don't know how much of this will be covered by Medicare and supplemental medical insurance, but I'll add that to the blog when I find out. Even so, is this a reasonable cost for emergency room services? I don't know the answer to that question - but it seems quite a high cost to me.
Which brings up the question, will healthcare reform change this cost? I expect reform to change hospital costs, and I don't simply mean who pays them - I mean the costs themselves.
It's a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand I'm glad the ER was there and available in our time of need - even though the wait to be seen was long (and difficult). And I did have the feeling (faith?) that there was a competent team of medical experts taking care of us, which was comforting. Still, it's a lot of money . . .
By the way, the patient is fine - stopped taking the antibiotic, was back to normal in a few days.
