At least that doesn't seem to be overly excessive then. It did seem that a handful of the folks only came by to repeat saying what a previous person had said, perhaps 4-7 of them? But most definitely seemed to be "doing" something.

Still, glad for the reassurance and the explanations of each step and how good the medical staff were, once we got into that walled off garden.

Kids going in for her first check up tomorrow.

Glad things are going well for your arm too!

This experience is entirely in line with my own here in the US. People I speak to, including those who I would expect to know better, are terrified at the thought of the state providing healthcare services. It's just a further example of the sheep being indoctrinated to corporate America's view that all state involvement is bad.

Frankly, it's terrifying.

I don't know if anyone in your family has any medical issues but when I quit work and went on the open market for health insurance prior to being eligible for Medicare, I was denied coverage since I quit work because of fatigue. That was enough for Blue Cross/Blue Shield to deny coverage but since I had continuing coverage, they had to offer me insurance (high risk poll) which was double the cost of a low deductible, low co-pay, and low out of pocket expense policy for a high deductible, high co-pay, and unlimited out of pocket expense policy. This was ten years ago and I had to have medical expenses of about $45,000 per year to break even and I never had medical expenses of more than $2,000 per year previously.

Fortunately I discovered that I was eligible for premium free VA medical care when I was browsing the internet.

ACA doesn't base rates on your medical history but is basically a group policy based on family size and ages. Also I believe that if the insurance company discovers that you have children with disabilities that are covered under Medicaid or any disabilities that are covered by other government programs, they get payments from the government to keep costs down.

I suspect once insurance companies understood the rules and California finished work on it's program, they then could give a more accurate estimate of likely premium costs. Prior to that, I suspect calculators were based on what insurance companies were charging for a mixture of healthy and unhealthy people when insurance companies could have overhead costs including profits of 40% or more.

Looks like we only have $80 to pay towards my hospital costs...which is quite a shock as we thought it would be several thousand. The doctors' bills aren't in yet...

Kids first check up went well, will have to go back in over a week because they are closed next Monday... Only had to pay the $3 parking and no co-pay, so not bad, even though they said they had to be paid before seeing the doc.

Couple of x-rays and a word from doc to say there a slight bend and worst case scenario is unlikely. First time seeing a doctor has been both quick and on time without feeling rushed.

Our local hospital in the next town doesn't have a PEDs ortho, so we have to come back here.

They had a patient ID card with records from the ER that is on the UMass system, which they can forward to my PCP, who are part of a different hospital.

Good news all round!

An update, from Friday's second check up.

Much like the first, quick with the x-rays on time, but the doctor was 20 mins late, but x-rays looked good, a slight bend but much better this time and no need to get the arm reset and pinned.

Will go back in 4 weeks time for final x-rays and to get the cast removed, unless the bit between thumb and index finger breaks off as it's a little flimsy, but a case of not making it to thick so the hand can be used and risk it breaking.

They did sort out the wrong date of birth this time around too, possibly.

No co-pay this visit either and no charge for a doctors note that the school wanted to get out of PE/gym.

What sort of f-wit needs a doctor's note for a child with a cast on their arm?

The same one that needs a note from my daughter for my granddaughter (who they knew had major surgery on her leg and had a frame on it!) to attend school. I think it's just needing the doctor to say they are ok to attend and do whatever...

Indeed...but I think it's for liability/records...just to say the kid can attend school, but can't do gym/playground.

The nurse even rang me up to confirm the note and ask about the details and what not.

Does seem like a lot of redtape at this school....seems so different in the highschool that MIL teaches at

Last year I got called by school to collect one of mine. She came home with a note explaining that she was being sent home because the nurse had observed that she was running a fever. The note went on to instruct me that I had to send a note to school explaining the reason for absence......addressed to the nurse!!

I got called by the nurse today to tell me my middle kid was not well. I said just to send her home. They sounded horrified till I pointed out that our garden borders the school playground. I think they pictured her hiking miles alone.

Bob - glad things turned out well after all the hassle
We have Kaiser Permanente down here in San Diego, and despite it being maligned by many (almost always by people that have never had it), we've been more than happy. Over the twenty or so years we've been with them, my wife and I have had several major surgeries and hospital stays with little or no out of pocket expense on our part, and my son was the result of their excellent fertility program - again at practically no cost. Conversely, I have coworkers that absolutely hate Kaiser, but opt not to get certain treatments and tests because they can't afford the copay that their own HMO demands. One friend, who has no qualms about telling me how Kaiser kills people, was recently experiencing blinding headaches and her primary MD ordered a CT scan. She had to refuse when she found out her copay was over $300 (ours is $25 for everything except the ER, which is $75)). And this from an HMO with premiums almost twice what I pay at Kaiser.
ER visits vary - I separated my shoulder a few months ago, and they took me straight in, but my wife has severe asthma and that's been a bit of a learning curve. If she gets so bad that the inhalers don't work, it's imperative that she gets a breathing treatment now, if not sooner. The first couple of ER trips resulted in waits that saw her get significantly worse, and on one occasion she ended up being admitted for several days. We've now learned to bring her in a wheelchair, with her giving a performance worthy of an Oscar and me freaking out as though she's ten months pregnant and already crowning. As yet, they haven't seen us outside the ER getting into character, and it's worked well enough that we haven't yet had to resort to plan B - her lying down and doing the dying fly on the floor of the waiting room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdX9eOm7yyY

I had to go to ER last Thursday as I was getting chest pains. (I thought I was either going to be really embarrassed as I was having really bad heartburn or I was having a heart attack and was going to drop dead! Overreaction I know!) I began to freak out so much about it that I began to hyperventilate and got pins & needles in my hands and then feet and legs. I could barely walk into the ER. I had an EKG and an ultrasound and 3 lots of morphine along with a couple other drugs. I got there at 6.15am I was home by about 1pm. I was given a prescription for a pain killer and a anti nausea pill. Turns out I have gallstones and need to have my gallbladder removed. The ER visit has jut shown up on my health insurance account, doesn't say how much I am liable for yet though as it is still being processed. It is showing $4,914.97. My op to have my gallbladder removed currently stands at $833 unless I meet my deductible, which is looking likely with this impending ER bill! I am opted to go with a different surgeon to the one the ER recommended as it would save me $900 but where I have chosen do not take payments by installments and need to be paid in full 2 day before surgery. First time I've been to ER and I don't want to repeat it.

I had my gallbladder removed mid-June and the hospital bill alone was $33k. This was for non complicated day surgery (had operation at 9am and was out of the hospital by 1:30 pm same day) However, I had met our deductible but we still owe 10%! So $833 sounds like a good amount to me!