BPR: The costs of Covid-19 are felt in many ways, but as a Texas man is finding out, merely being tested carries a staggering 5 digit fee.
When Travis Warner, of Dallas, Texas, decided to get tested for Covid-19 at the free-standing SignatureCare Emergency Center in Lewisville, Texas, he was relieved to later find out he was negative for the sickness. His satisfaction at being able to return to work quickly turned to dismay, however, when he saw the $56,384 bill for his visit.
The bill included the PCR diagnostic test, which Warner received as well as the somewhat less accurate rapid antigen test due to the urgency in being able to return to work, which accounted for $54,000. The remaining $2,384 was generated from taxes and other miscellaneous administrative costs. Demonstrating just how arbitrary the price was, his wife, who received the same test on the same day at the same facility, was billed “only” $2,000.
Warner is self-employed, and his health care plan is a personal one via Molina Healthcare (his wife has a separate plan with them). After having to negotiate with the hospital, he managed to get his bill down to $16,915.20, which Molina did agree to cover. Molina later told National Public Radio (NPR) that “This matter was a provider billing error which Molina identified and corrected.”
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Okay… I’ll leave the price-gouging etc. to others. My query is:
He’s “SELF-EMPLOYED” but wanted to be tested in order to “return to work”?
I might have to try one of these scam-work from home-get rich quick websites so I can afford some “Health Care”. *sigh*
/Salute
Pretty good profit for a test that cost the hospital about 25.00 to run.
@Janitor – that was my first thought as well. Then I thought a little further and thought maybe he has employees or contractors or customers that he has to consider before going back to work.
As far as the bill goes, that doesn’t seem plausible. That’s what I question about this story.
My 98 yo motyher5 is in the hospital. She’s been in there for 2 days. Only way I can see her is if I’m tested or get the jab. Jab isn’t happening – EVER! Her nurse told me not to get tested since she’ll be discharged today. I told my mother this would happen if she insisted on going to emergency. Only thing wrong with her is she’s low on sodium. I warned her going to the hospital might give her the variant. She thought she was dying so I called an ambulance. No way was I going to sit in an ER room with a bunch of homeless people getting their drugs and taking up space. Without me there, things went smoothluy for her.
You can now walk into a drug store and buy a home test kit for about $25. You read the results yourself; the whole process takes about 15 minutes. The most important thing for me was that there’s no paperwork, no record. The results are mine and mine alone; they don’t go to some govt medico-bureaucrat for entry into a fraudulent data base.
The test kits contain two tests, the second one to be taken one or two days after the first for confirmation.
Is he going to fire himself if he doesn’t get the jab?
izlamo delenda est …
$16k for a fucking COVID-19 test? Fuck that.
So? Don’t pay it.
These insane bills are caused by a number of factors.
One is the utter greed of healthcare administrators.
They bill exhorbitant amounts simply because they can…
there is no one to hold them accountable.
Second is often the bill is in error….the people in healthcare
tasked with actually doing the billing are often just whoever
answered an ad for a job. They get On The Job Training and are
then cut loose to clime the paperwork mountain that is involved
with EVERY aspect of healthcare including reimbursement. So screw
ups are frequent and often ridiculous.
Another factor is the penchant for secrecy. There is a multi tiered
billing system that bills different amounts for the same thing depending
on numerous factors. A system guaranteed to result in gross inequities.
The actual provision of healthcare in America can work miracles….then
turn around and kill you with the related incompetence.
It is ALWAYS about the money and not people as the insincere gaggle of politicians and health insurance entities claim. ALWAYS.