How much does an emergency room vist cost?

It should be displayed on your insurance card, maybe on the back.

My card doesn't say anything about cost. I checked my insurance company's website and they have an estimation calculator for typical costs. It says around $1000 for ET visits but I'm pretty sure they are just averaging typical ER costs to come up with that figure.

depends what is wrong with you, and what sort of tests need to be done. by the way, your rectal bleeding is most likely an anal fissure, going by statistics. out of curiosity, how long was your wait?

Expect a bigger bill than seems reasonable. A few years ago my wife had what turned out to be kidney stones. We didn't know the symptoms and thought she was dying and went to the ER. Even with decent insurance, we wound up paying about $4,000 for the trip.

My HMO (BCBS) used to be $100 co-pay for ER visit, but they bumped it up to $300 co-pay to discourage people from going.

I went when it was $100. That was all I had to pay.

I wouldn't go again and pay $300, I'll force myself to wait until Monday or call my doctor's answering service.

stop having buttsex

Depends where you are:

USA= $300+

Canada, Most of Europe, Australia= Free

Land of the free my friends.

let it go, dude wrote:

depends what is wrong with you, and what sort of tests need to be done. by the way, your rectal bleeding is most likely an anal fissure, going by statistics. out of curiosity, how long was your wait?

Doctor already told me it was hemmarhoids based on visual observation. I waited about 3 hours. I was low priority so most of the urgent patients were seen before me. All they did was check my vitals and did a quick rectal exam to test for blood. I can't imagine this costing that much money. I went to get checked for peace of mind, now I'm anxious about getting the medical bill.

smd wrote:

Expect a bigger bill than seems reasonable. A few years ago my wife had what turned out to be kidney stones. We didn't know the symptoms and thought she was dying and went to the ER. Even with decent insurance, we wound up paying about $4,000 for the trip.

Pretend to be an illegal, fake a Spanish accent, pay nothing, if hospital worker tries to call you on them then call them "racist teabaggers."

I went to the ER in June. Quite different than your scenario.. fainted/hit my head. I got a bag of IV fluids and a CT scan of my head (I was pretty out of it). The hospital (just outside of NYC) was a true shithole (unfortunately I mean that literally). To give you an idea of costs-

They charged:

$2300 for CT scan and hosp. bed for 4 hrs.

$50 for blood test

$820 for the doctor, who saw me for about 30 seconds and ordered the test

-----

$3170

My insurance paid $1,215 and I paid my copay of $75 when I got the bill later.

Oh yeah, I took an ambulance there. The ambulance company charged $911 for a two-minute ride & drawing blood, of which insurance paid $546 and I paid $0.

I'm completely apolitical but I can truly say our medical system is total shit. I'm not basing that opinion on this one experience, but many others. Not sure what the solution is though.

For what you had done I wouldn't expect more than a grand, and because you have insurance, your insurance should be able to negotiate a lower rate than what the ER will actually charge you. Your plan material should note what your ER copay/coinsurance is. If you have a deductible you may need to satisfy that first.

Best of luck brother.

Don't worry if you can't pay it. Hospitals average out the costs and donors pay any bills that can't be covered. It's like going to a world class private university like Cal Tech or USC where some rich alum always covers tuition if you can't afford it.

MIkal wrote:

Depends where you are:

USA= $300+

Canada, Most of Europe, Australia= Free

Land of the free my friends.

Yep, what he said.

In the civilised world it's free.

trollism wrote:

MIkal wrote:

Depends where you are:

USA= $300+

Canada, Most of Europe, Australia= Free

Land of the free my friends.

Yep, what he said.

In the civilised world it's free.

It certainly isn't "free" in any sense of the word. You might not pay at the ER, but you pay before and you pay after.

You should have said "I have no insurance". You would have gotten treated for free then. Hospitals can't say no to someone with rectal bleeding.

Oh, and 0/10.

Ok, fair enough.

In the civilised world, we pay for it with our taxes.

And in America everybody with insurance pays for it by getting overcharged so the hospital doesn't go bankrupt.

We need government to make the cost of ER services free. It's simple, really. Government simply repeals the current laws of economics and replaces them with ones that society finds more palatable, and voila! Free healthcare. Other countries accomplish this by efficiently forcing doctors and hostpitals to do as their societies please. If the doctors are not willing to obey the society, they simply are not allowed to practice. The "high achievers" who want to make money are forced into other professions, where their ability to make money is used to fund free medical care. Service to society, not money, is the noble ideal that doctors must be forced to strive for.

Averaged out wrote:

Don't worry if you can't pay it. Hospitals average out the costs and donors pay any bills that can't be covered. It's like going to a world class private university like Cal Tech or USC where some rich alum always covers tuition if you can't afford it.

Ok, how does that work? I happened to go to the ER for the hospital that I've gone to before so my information is already on their records. I have a hard time believing that an insurance company will waive payments just because someone can't afford it. What if I have to go to the hospital again to see a doctor for a routine check-up? Are they going to deny me because I couldn't pay my ER bill?

Some perspective on what doctors are forced to deal with on a regular basis under the current healthcare system. A letter from a young physician to the POTUS:

Dear Mr. President:

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.

While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,

ROGER STARNER JONES, MD