Highbridge Injury

[sundaydoug]

I doubt there is any profit when looking at the portfolio of services and that the fixed costs are crazy.

Yea, that was a genuine question. I know most hospitals operate on really slim margins, which is why they try to collect on everything they can. Operating helicopters can't be cheap, I was assuming that $10K barely covered expenses, if it even covered them.

 

[rick81721]

Yea, that was a genuine question. I know most hospitals operate on really slim margins, which is why they try to collect on everything they can. Operating helicopters can't be cheap, I was assuming that $10K barely covered expenses, if it even covered them.

Hospitals don't own/maintain helicopter air ambulances just like they don't own road ambulances. Separate service companies.

 

[shrpshtr325]

Hospitals don't own/maintain helicopter air ambulances just like they don't own road ambulances. Separate service companies.

i dont think he was implying that the hospital operated the helicopter, just that it had to be expensive for whomever was operating it.

 

[sundaydoug]

i dont think he was implying that the hospital operated the helicopter, just that it had to be expensive for whomever was operating it.

Exactly, just that operating helicopters in general is expensive. Someone foots the bill for that service up front, and they need to recoup costs.

 

[JPark]

When they dragged my half-conscious ass out of the woods a few years ago in VT, I only had to pay $150 for the ambulance ride, which was a bargain. The rescue was very professional, but free. The rescue squad up here lives for this stuff, and mine was on the tame end of the spectrum compared to what they usually have to deal with. At the time, I also was in no condition to be negotiated, but my wife was there to speak on my behalf. I'm finding that more incidents happen on the flow trails vs. the non-groomed trails because the speeds, and therefore consequences, are much higher. The non-technical nature of the trail creates a false sense of security, especially for newer riders. I busted my ass on a relatively tame, but fast, flow trail.



Sue? You'd think people would be grateful that they were rescued vs. being left to become bear food in the woods.

What trail was it? (so I know to be extra careful if I ride it)

 

[rick81721]

i dont think he was implying that the hospital operated the helicopter, just that it had to be expensive for whomever was operating it.

Ok Kreskin

 

[Id_rather_be_skiing]

Last year my wife had a medical emergency. We live 7 mins to Morristown, but her Dr. was out of summit and they said you need to go to summit. Were in summit for 5 mins when they said No, we need to get you to Morristown ASAP. We get rushed in an ambulance to Morristown and 5 months later we get a bill for $8000. We fought it cause we wanted to go to Motown initially and the dr said otherwise. We actually ended up "winning" and only having to pay 500 for the detachable with our insurance.

 

[Bike N Gear]

Totally OT, but the billing for our healthcare system sucks. I paid $500 to have an ambulance take me from CINJ to RWJH. It's across the street. There is a walkway between the two buildings on the second floor. They said it was protocol for whatever reason. My wife walked and got there before me.

 

[UtahJoe]

They said it was protocol for whatever reason.

same reason why when I spent a week in the hospital in january there was an alarm on my bed preventing me from getting up.....Liability...if they let you walk and you fell, lawsuit.
When I landed on my face at stewart and got an ambulance ride....A paramedic happened to be at stewart....well she decided to get in the ambulance for the ride....she didnt do anything whatsoever but get a ride to the hospital...but bc of that they added $2000 to my bill.

 

[ebarker9]

Totally OT, but the billing for our healthcare system sucks. I paid $500 to have an ambulance take me from CINJ to RWJH. It's across the street. There is a walkway between the two buildings on the second floor. They said it was protocol for whatever reason. My wife walked and got there before me.

I have plenty of issues with how our healthcare system works, but the emergency medicine side REALLY drives me nuts. I had a bad allergic reaction to a bee sting while out riding, and was like "do I have time to call my insurance company to ask which ER I should go to?" while a friend drove me to the hospital. Ultimately I went to the closest (Dover, do not recommend) and wound up with a ton of out of network charges. As usual, several of those were related to people who perhaps poked their head in to see what was going on, and others were people that I have no recollection of existing at all.

After the fact, I looked up this situation, and there is a somewhat recent NJ state law covering those situations:

NJDOBI | Out-of-network Consumer Protections

Aha! I contacted my insurance company, certain that this was my ticket out of the $2k (or whatever it was) bill and their response was "You have a federal plan so it doesn't have to adhere to NJ state law". I still have no clue how that works, but after multiple days of investigating I gave up and paid. I also disputed it with the hospital. The person that I talked to agreed with my position on the state law, but after a dozen rounds of calling, being told that it was still being investigated, again gave up. You win, healthcare system.

 

[rick81721]

I have plenty of issues with how our healthcare system works, but the emergency medicine side REALLY drives me nuts. I had a bad allergic reaction to a bee sting while out riding, and was like "do I have time to call my insurance company to ask which ER I should go to?" while a friend drove me to the hospital. Ultimately I went to the closest (Dover, do not recommend) and wound up with a ton of out of network charges. As usual, several of those were related to people who perhaps poked their head in to see what was going on, and others were people that I have no recollection of existing at all.

After the fact, I looked up this situation, and there is a somewhat recent NJ state law covering those situations:

NJDOBI | Out-of-network Consumer Protections

Aha! I contacted my insurance company, certain that this was my ticket out of the $2k (or whatever it was) bill and their response was "You have a federal plan so it doesn't have to adhere to NJ state law". I still have no clue how that works, but after multiple days of investigating I gave up and paid. I also disputed it with the hospital. The person that I talked to agreed with my position on the state law, but after a dozen rounds of calling, being told that it was still being investigated, again gave up. You win, healthcare system.

It's always shocking to see the various charges for an ER visit. Curious about mine from 4 weeks ago after my bike crash. I like how they charge you a hundred clams for a few tylenol.

 

[Norm]

I like how they charge you a hundred clams for a few tylenol.

They could at least dye them a fun color, like bright blue.

 

[MissJR]

same reason why when I spent a week in the hospital in january there was an alarm on my bed preventing me from getting up.....Liability...if they let you walk and you fell, lawsuit.
When I landed on my face at stewart and got an ambulance ride....A paramedic happened to be at stewart....well she decided to get in the ambulance for the ride....she didnt do anything whatsoever but get a ride to the hospital...but bc of that they added $2000 to my bill.

for half that, i would have gotten in the ambulance to ride with you to the hospital 😂

 

[Kaleidopete]

Back in my youth, (just after the Earth cooled), I was in a motorcycle accident with a car hitting me and breaking my left femur, among other things.
As I lay there waiting for the ambulance, with my whole leg twisted in the wrong direction, I asked "what's an ambulance ride cost?"
About $35 I was told by the cop. Holy crap! Can't you call me a cab instead? Dumb kids, times change. 😵

 

[UtahJoe]

for half that, i would have gotten in the ambulance to ride with you to the hospital 😂

I was about to have Iggy drive me to morristown, but after my wife reviewed the pictures of my face she told me to take the ambulance ride.....

I have the same question when I get into any ambulance...."will you take me to morristown?" no? then let me out bc im not going anywhere else.

 

[Patrick]

Hospitals don't own/maintain helicopter air ambulances just like they don't own road ambulances. Separate service companies.

JEMSTAR Air Medical Helicopter | LinkedIn

JEMSTAR Air Medical Helicopter | 568 followers on LinkedIn. New Jersey's public medevac provider at no cost to the patient. Non sibi sed toti / Not for self, but for all. | JEMSTAR (NorthSTAR, CentralSTAR & SouthSTAR) is New Jersey’s state helicopter medevac service, providing critical care...

www.linkedin.com

 

[rick81721]

JEMSTAR Air Medical Helicopter | LinkedIn

JEMSTAR Air Medical Helicopter | 568 followers on LinkedIn. New Jersey's public medevac provider at no cost to the patient. Non sibi sed toti / Not for self, but for all. | JEMSTAR (NorthSTAR, CentralSTAR & SouthSTAR) is New Jersey’s state helicopter medevac service, providing critical care...

www.linkedin.com

No cost to patients. Since it's part of NJ State Police - I wonder if it's primarily used for state highway accidents?

 

[Cassinonorth]

Back in my youth, (just after the Earth cooled), I was in a motorcycle accident with a car hitting me and breaking my left femur, among other things.
As I lay there waiting for the ambulance, with my whole leg twisted in the wrong direction, I asked "what's an ambulance ride cost?"
About $35 I was told by the cop. Holy crap! Can't you call me a cab instead? Dumb kids, times change. 😵

As much as they change, they stay the same.

Uber, Lyft and the Urgency of Saving Money on Ambulances (Published 2018)

“Don’t reflexively call an ambulance,” a Harvard researcher says. In many cases, a cheaper way makes sense.

www.nytimes.com

 

[ryderX]

why does everyone sue after an accident???? I dont understand 🙂

so I did ask my wife as she has been meeting helicopters on the roof of morristown for almost 20 years now....As she told me...."I have never personally seen someone come off that helicopter who wasnt VERY seriously injured" Of course morristown is a level 1 trauma center, so they get the bad stuff

Technically it’s the insurance companies who do the suing- trying to recoup the monies they lay out for the moron repairs.

 

[Ironjunk]

So can we say that exorbitant healthcare billing was the cause of increasing injury lawsuits?