Is any one here knowledgeable about class action law suits against big health care systems? Part of one, aware of one (or more), understand how the legal system works?
I'm asking because I live in a rural area, and a huge profit driven business took over all the medical care in the small town near me and the city 50 miles away I have to drive to now. When cancer care was pulled out of our local hospital, alot of poor people lost access to treatment. Ticks me off!
Front line staff (receptionists, billing people, aides, nurses, techs, doctors etc.) have been greatly reduced in numbers. Bottom line is now moore important than actual medical ccare!
I've wondered if a bunch of us patients could sue over this!
Open to suggestions....
Written by
PJBinMI
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Wow, how can this be allowed to happen? It's crazy. I'm sorry I don't have any info for you (I'm in the UK) but I believe you're right to reach out to others.
I’m sorry you have to go through this, I too live in a small town, in the United States. We have wonderful health care services here, even a cancer center which is better than the one in the big city I moved from almost two years ago. I recently had a kyphoplasty procedure done and while I was in recovery I was talking to the nurse about Medicare. This medical care is from the government in the United States, for which we all pay for all our working lives, and then are eligible for it when we turn 65 and still have to pay premiums on it. Well this nurse in the hospital that day said a lot of drs are thinking of not taking Medicare any more. They contract with Medicare for lower rates. I last week got my Medicare statement and the kyphoplasy was $65,000 and Medicare paid $16,000! Bottom line is more important than patient care! It’s the same all over. Look at the United Kingdom their drs and nurses are on strike, so the people get no care as they too are all about the bottom line. It’s a very sad situation for the world.
The only people who pay charges on a hospital bill are people with no health insurance.It makes no sense but its true. I had been involved with health care administration for 35 years of my professional life. Mostly, the amount health care providers charged are not based on anything, unlike other commodities. There is an unusually large swing in pricing from one provider to another. Basically no one knows how much it costs a provider to offer specific service. Good luck with calling the hospital in advance and asking what the service will cost. The system is just screwed up.
If you have a large bill hospital bill you may negotiate a discounted amount if you approach the problem without losing your temper. It won't be easy but its worth a try. The bill you get is a summary of the items you used while in the hospital, It is fraught with problems like billing for things that weren't provided, duplicate billing for something that was provided but not twice and on and on. You can request an itemized bill..
I've been retired for a long time. I initially thought i would help people understand their bills and negotiate a discount. The problem was that once you leave that crazy working environment it is hard to go back.
When I scrutinize my now long bill of services from a study I did with (what turned out to be) a Tier 2 facility I can see all these errors you mention. It’s so overwhelming where to start with it that I keep putting it off! But some of it makes no sense at all!. It is incredibly frustrating and time consuming and the last thing any of us need while dealing with our cancer
Great question. Unfortunately unless you caught the healthcare system in some illegal activity there is probably no basis for a class action suit - the bottom line IS money in our capitalistic country. Health care in our country is not a right. We hav e the most expensive health care in the world with some of the worse health care outcomes and inequities imaginable.
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