maxverse

I lived in Boulder for 2 years, and it's not just that there are gorgeous places to explore in CO - there's a culture of adventure and exploration here; everyone is much more likely to finish work early and go hiking, or take a snowboarding break in the middle of the day. It's encouraging and awesome.

Same here. I wonder if it's intentional - what are the chances we were both off by the same single digit?

> The ER visit ultimately cost $38.92.

The ER visit ultimately cost $38.92, after:

1. He tried to negotiate the bill: "Dhaval Bhatt made numerous attempts to get the hospital to reduce the charges. He also appealed to UnitedHealthcare to review the charges."

2. The hospital refused: "His efforts failed....the hospital would not adjust the bill."

3. The hospital sent his bill to collections: "While Bhatt was trying to reach the patient advocate by phone, his bill was sent to Medicredit, a collection agency, which began sending him notices and calling him."

4. The hospital forgave the bill due to bad PR: "After KHN [Kaiser Health News] contacted SSM Health, Bhatt received a call from someone who worked on "patient financial experience" issues at the hospital. The hospital agreed to forgive the $820 facility fee."

> The system worked out exactly as it should have.

Could you clarify?

I think this is satire?

Which system are you referring to?

Emphasizing this from the article:

> Martand received almost no medical service. A nurse practitioner looked over the toddler, listened to his heart and stomach, and looked in his nose, mouth and ears, according to provider notes prepared by the hospital and shared with KHN by Bhatt.

> The nurse didn't change the dressing on the wound or order any testing.

> Emergency visits are usually classified for billing on a scale from 1 to 5. Level 1 is minor and routine; Level 5 requires complex care for life-threatening conditions. [...] Despite the lack of severity of Martand's wound and the absence of medical care, his visit was classified as Level 3, a moderate severity problem.

> In an email, Zoller Mueller said the charges were "appropriate" based on the "acuity of condition, discharge instructions, vital sign monitoring, traumatic wound care [and] numerous assessments."

> She added: "A patient does not have to receive additional treatment — procedure, labs, x-rays, etc. — to validate an ED [emergency department] level charge."

NPR has a series of these "Bill of the Month"[1] articles about surprise medical billing, and I am not exaggerating when I say they are the single most depressing, scary, disheartening thing I read on the internet.

The patients in these stories seem well-intentioned and well-prepared. They double check that their doctors are in-network. They triple-check what charges they should expect. But there's always a gotcha. There's always some hidden, between-the-lines reason hospitals come up with to charge you, and insurance won't cover. In one story, the surgeon invited an out-of-network surgical assistant into the surgery, without notice. In another [2], the labor and delivery department was classified as an ER, for a completely routine delivery.

When these charges are dismissed, it's always because NPR reached out for comment, and the hospital backs down, presumably because of the bad PR.

The unpredictably and seemingly arbitrary nature of medical charges makes me feel... queasy. And scared to seek medical help, which I know is what insurance companies want. Even with great insurance, which I'm lucky to have, it feels like there's nothing I can do to prevent medium-to-insane charges. The only way I can think of to try and combat medical billing is to retain a lawyer.

[1] https://www.npr.org/series/651784144/bill-of-the-month

[2] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/22/8919096...

[3] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/27/1049138...

If I am guessing correctly, this is hitting the StackOverflow API and grabbing just the code bits of the answers? The SO upvotes seem to match the star count.

Ex:

1. https://justshowmethecode.com/code-example/ruby-on-rails/1k9...

2. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2369744/rails-postgres-d...

I'm an RC alum, and that sentence also struck me. Recurse goes to great lengths to create an inclusive, accepting environment, and explicitly calls out impostor syndrome. Saying "you're alone in messing up" seems completely counter to that, and I'd also love to hear from the staff.