Harveyspecter

Well it finally happened. It was my own fault, I made a silly mistake in my garage and sliced my left thumb open across the knuckle. It was deep but normally I'd just tape it up, however as it was across the knuckle I guessed it needed stitches which it did.

Got the bill on Friday, I was hoping it would be no more than $500, but it came out at just under a $1000! In the short time I've been working I've already saved just about enough to cover it in my HSA so it's not the end of the word, I'm just angry at myself for doing it.

I'm all better now and the hospital staff were great, but it's certainly taught me a lesson! If not the pain then the financial penalty!

Anian

You're not truly settled into the USA until you have switched from "Is this serious enough to go to a doctor?" to "Can I afford to take this to a doctor?"

Harveyspecter

Ha! Ain't that the truth. I did feel a bit bad over the weekend when I got typical family comments like "I bet you wish you had the NHS now!" and the like. But my wife is right when she says it was worth the price to check that everything was ok. They cleaned it properly, checked the bone for a fracture and luckily found out I hadn't severed a tendon. So it was the right thing to go, and had I not got it checked and it got infected or something, it could have cost even more!

Pulaski

That is definitely true, and a lesson I learned nearly nine years ago - a poison ivy rash, which I scratched at because it itched like hë11, got infected and led to blood poisoning, three nights in hospital, minor surgery under GA, .... and a $20,000 bill. Thankfully I "only" had to pay 10% of that.

We switched to HD insurance just six weeks later, but although that means now I would have paid around $3,000, it would come painlessly out of my HSA a/c. .... Mostly I learned to not be blasé about even minor skin wounds, and apply antiseptic to scratches, cracks, cuts, and pretty much any other skin-penetrating injury, frequently until healed.

Harveyspecter

Thanks Pulaski, that makes me feel considerably better! Yes I consider myself a tough cookie, and this was my first Emergency room visit ever, so I think I've done pretty well considering some of the dangerous things I've done in my life.

rpjs

I've had the opposite. A couple of times I've tried to pay my co-pay at the time of service and not been able to because their payment service was down and I was told I'd be billed. I never was from either provider. One I paid next time I visited, but the other when I went back insisted that I didn't owe them anything.

And then another time I did get a bill which was a bit higher than I was expecting. I paid it nonetheless and several weeks later I had the check returned to me with a note saying I didn't owe them anything!

Harveyspecter

That'd be nice, but I doubt I'll be so lucky

petitefrancaise

Did you go to a hospital ER or to an urgent care clinic?

Harveyspecter

Hospital ER, I didn't realise there were other options?

Pulaski

You'll probably find "Urgent Care" clinics dotted around, often in office parks, strip malls and other random, but usually highly visible locations. They are equipped to handle most non-life-threatening emergencies - so cuts, fractures, fevers, etc, and they can do X-rays, set bones, put in stitches, etc. You will likely pay around half (gross, before insurance) what a hospital would charge.

You should also check on the hours of your GP's surgery as I noticed several years ago that our GP's practice was muscling in on the "urgent care" market by offering limited walk-in services into the evening and on weekends, including Sundays, for urgent issues. The cost is about 2/3 of what an Urgent Care clinic would charge.

petitefrancaise

I wondered about that.

They are standalone clinics and suitable for exactly the situation that you encountered. Near us we have this company
https://medspring.com/

For anything that isn't life-threatening but does need swift attention - sutures, stings, minor injuries they are ideal. They will have an ER doctor, a nurse, xrays etc

Much cheaper than a full blown hospital ER, usually little/no waiting time.

Our insurance co-pay for a hospital visit is $200 co-pay + 10% co-insurance. For an urgent care facility, it's $100. This reflects the cheaper bills you'll get from them. If they think you need a full blown hospital ER then our local urgent care will book you and ensure speedier treatment.

My neighbour's daughter needed sutures and they ( not long arrived in the USA) took her straight to the local hospital. Ouch. Out of network ER. $2k bill for them. My daughter same thing a week later, took her to urgent care $100.

Harveyspecter

Good to know should I ever be so stupid again, thank you!

Jack8602

Similar boat in february.

Skydiving that day and misjudged wind - long story short, ended up getting dragged through a barbed wire fence by my face. Required 9 stitches.

I went to a place called CareNow, not sure if they're outside of Texas, but they originally charged $1200, my insurance discounted it to $210

Harveyspecter

Oh lucky you, my original bill was $1307, insurance discounted it to $982

petitefrancaise

OUCH! Goodness that sounds terrifying.
I must admit I would probably have gone to a hospital ER for that one and got the sutures done by a plastic surgeon in the hope of minimising scarring on my face.