I have a group of stories that all pertain to the same thing. You’ll see how they intertwine as you work your way down the page.
Let’s get started!
No one likes to go to the hospital. You might go there to visit a friend or relative. Or you might end up there because you are ill.
There is a lot of stuff that goes on at a hospital. I have first-hand knowledge. My Mom has been there several times with various medical issues.
How do we get to the hospital? If you’re visiting, you’ll drive your car, take the bus, or if you’re close enough, you could walk.
If it’s bad, you would take an ambulance. Without getting into details, my Mom has been in an ambulance multiple times. She told me one time that they took the corner so fast, she thought they were on two wheels. LOL! They were traveling to the hospital in an emergency response. This kind of response means they have their lights and sirens on.
They are rushing as fast as they can to get the patient the help they need. These brave men and women face multiple obstacles during these dangerous excursions. They maneuver traffic like they are in a pinball machine. They shift their trucks around stopped traffic and through red lights. They dodge idiots who are going faster than the ambulance and passing it while they are responding to calls for service.
Once you are in the hospital, you get the help you need. There are dedicated doctors and nurses to help you achieve a healthy outcome. They work long hours and under extremely depressing conditions at times. The medical field is a tough field to be in. You see all kinds of things that the normal person will never see.
One time, they were bringing in a person to the emergency room (ER) while I was in one of the ER rooms for those that were not as sick. They have little rooms with a bed and a couple of chairs. They even have televisions in there. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to watch tv. As a son to the most important person in your life, I don’t have patience to watch tv. I’m more concerned about my Mom. The curtain was open so I could see out into the hallway and down toward the nurse’s station. I could also see one of the critical care ER rooms. This is the room where they bring the people who are in bad shape. An EMT from the local fire rescue was in the hallway. He came by the sliding door and told me he was going to close the door and the curtain. I told him, no problem. They were apparently bringing someone in who was in bad shape. It could have been someone in a car accident, a shooting victim, or stabbing victim. Who knows! Thank God he closed it. I didn’t need or want to see anything that I shouldn’t. I’m a squeamish person as it is. And believe me, I had to grow up fast (and this was when I was in my 40s) and get used to some stuff. I’ve had to tend to my Mom’s wounds and it wasn’t pretty when I had to do it.
Money
Once you are transferred from the ER, you are taken to a room. The room can be occupied by one or two people. Most of the time, she has been alone in the room. This particular time, she was in a room by herself. I can’t remember if this was one of the times she was brought in by ambulance or if I brought her. I’ve taken her a few times myself. Any time she ends up there, she always has her purse with her. It has her ID and Medicare card (for insurance purposes). She did have a secondary insurance but you’ll hear about that later. She doesn’t have it anymore.
They always leave her purse in a cabinet located near the bed or near where they put her clothes. You are given a plastic bag with the hospital name and some checkboxes on it. You put your clothes inside the bag.
I came in the next day to visit her. Visiting hours started at 11:00 a.m. She had just come back from having some tests done. They would take her to other floors to have these tests. They had particular machines that were permanently located in other parts of the hospital. The day after she was released from the hospital, we discovered $100 missing. She had just gone to the bank a few days earlier.
We suspect when they took her to the tests, that a nurse slipped in and stole the money.
After she checked out, she got a survey to do online. We told them what had happened. The response from Security was that she should have put her purse into the safe. They did not apologize or offer anything to her.
Tax Return
One year when she went to file her taxes, she received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) saying someone filed a tax return using her Social Security Number (SSN). We think someone got it off of paperwork at the hospital. Now every year before it’s tax time, the IRS sends her a special code to place on her tax return. This way they know which one is hers. It’s unknown if the IRS has pursued the person who was using her SSN.
Secondary Insurance
She had secondary insurance with a popular insurance carrier. When she had her major medical emergency, they paid but not as much as you would think. It will shock you! They paid 1 cent. Did your jaw just drop? That’s right, they paid one cent. For years, she had been paying over $250 a month. We estimate she paid between $30,000-$50,000 all total from the many years she had them.
Where did the money go?
She called them and asked them why they only paid one cent. She couldn’t get a straight answer. She asked where all that money was that she sent them monthly. They told her that her money was used to pay for other people’s medical bills.
She canceled it as soon as she heard that.
Hospital Foundation
The major hospital that serves our county has a Hospital Foundation. They are a non-for-profit hospital, a community-owned healthcare system. They raise funds through donors and charitable organizations to advance patient care. They buy new life-saving equipment and upgrade their facilities. As a charitable organization, they are committed to helping those who cannot pay for patient care.
The foundation sent my Mom a letter in the mail a short time after she had been in the hospital asking for a donation. One of the times, she had only been out of the hospital for three days.
I don’t like this tactic. This seems very bad to me. How can you ask a patient for money when they have just been through one of the worst things in their life? They’ve doled out who knows how much money for the stay in the hospital. Insurance doesn’t cover everything. And then they want you to fork over more money to them.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. All very interesting, isn’t it?
You might have heard about the new way to direct message (DM) with the writers and readers. I’m going to start putting that option on the bottom of all my posts. So if you ever feel the urge to contact me, feel free to. I’m always looking to interact with my readers and fellow writers.
Until next time, happy reading!
-Matt
Interesting to read. Up in Canada, our system is much different. Money wise. If you're over 65 like I am, all the health stuff is free. Even drugs. But the US dollar is worth $1.36 to one of our bucks.
I'm in my 4th year of a cancer recovery (search for cancer on my Substack home page if you'd like to know the story about that). It didn't cost me a penny out of pocket. Including a serious 3 hour surgery, recovery, follow-up visits with a care nurse, and a daily pill (Tamoxifen). Happy to be all OK now!
I have A LOT of thoughts about our healthcare system here in the US (and they're not complimentary.) I was grateful when the Affordable Care Act passed, because they based the premiums on my income, expenses, dependents, etc. It was...affordable. We should have universal healthcare and I support the folks who want to make it happen (among other important changes that I believe in.)