Past Rants 5

POSTED 05-10-00

HEALTH CARE

This rant is about something that is kind of serious in todays society. This is my story, it happened about four years ago. It was just one of those bad things that sometimes happen to people. I had originally submitted it to MSNBC for a story that they are working on about health care in the US. After I was done writing it, I thought that it might also be appropriate for this list.

I have a health care story for you. I had just started a new job and been there for two months when I found out that I was pregnant. Since most companies (retail) require an employee to work for three months till they are eligible for insurance I was not covered. Two weeks
after I found out I was pregnant. I started bleeding, frantically afraid that I might lose the baby, I went to the emergency room. This was late at night on a Wednesday and there was only one person in the waiting room. I signed in to be helped and was told to wait. During
that time, some people came in who had insurance and were assisted right away while I sat waiting. A nurse finally called my name and sent me to the examination room. After another hour went by a doctor came and did an examination. He told me not to worry too much and to come back if it got worse.

Three days later I woke up in the middle of the night with severe cramps, I was having a miscarriage. Again I went to the emergency room (neither time did I use a ambulance) I went to the same hospital and waited, again, for about an hour for someone to help me. The
whole time I was waiting, blood was streaming down my legs. I was in so much pain I could not sit in the chairs. Three people who came in after me were helped by doctors first. One man who was helped before me had a strained wrist from playing volleyball. Finally a nurse
showed me to a room where I waited another hour and a half. By then the pains had started to subside. The doctor did about a 20 minute examination and told me that I had miscarried and that it was too late to do anything about it. Devastated, I asked the doctor why it had happened. He told me that "these things just happen sometimes, and that it probably was just a fluke genetic disorder." I was given two advil and sent home with instructions to come back in two weeks for a check up.

Two weeks later I went in to the regular women's clinic at the same hospital. I was to get a typical gynecological exam. Starting to get worried about the cost, I asked the doctor what they charged for examinations. She told me that she wasn't sure of the exact charges,
but that they were about the same as anyone else. (Previous to this experience, I had always gone to Planned Parenthood, who charges approximately $30.00 per exam) Feeling better, I agreed to the examination. They said that I was ok.

Later feeling very depressed about the miscarriage, I started doing some research and discovered that there were about four tests that could have been run in order to determine the causes of miscarriage. The doctor never even mentioned them to me, even though I asked and
would have been willing to pay the money for peace of mind.

About four weeks after the check up I received my bill. It was for $6,800. I had been examined for maybe one hour max. I was charged $30 for those two advil they gave me, $350 for the general gynecological exam and the rest was all for the emergency room.

This happened six years ago, and I have just now finally paid off my debts.