D
daltonr
Guest
Re: Bertie Ahern: Good deal or bad deal for people of Ireland
Ironically (I'm never sure if I'm using that word correctly).
Mrs daltonr and I spent a few hours in a US Emergency room last night after being rear ended at traffic lights.
I know that there are people who think my only goal is to talk down Ireland, and talk up everywhere else, so you can take this with a pinch of salt if you like. These are the facts.
This was a fairly solid hit directly from behind, and we both had some neck discomfort. I didn't think it was anything permanent, and thankfully it isn't, but the police officer told us how to get to the nearest hospital, it was only a few minutes away so we decided to get checked out.
We have VHI and US Auto Insurance, but no US Health Insurance. I wondered how much it would cost and who would pay. Turns out it'll automatically go through our Insurance and they will pursue the car owners insurance.
We arrived, in what looked like the lobby of a nice hotel, we filled in a very brief form. Literally it just asked for Name, Gender, DOB, details of the injury and Social Security Number.
We were called within 10 minutes to be assessed by a triage nurse. About 10 minutes after that we were separately called and taken to private rooms with our own TV (76 channels), my room had a private bathroom, Mrs daltonr was obviously less important and didn't get a bathroom
The ER had 27 of these rooms, that I could see, most seemed to be occupied. The only person I saw on a trolly outside of these rooms was a woman being wheeled in from an Ambulance.
It took a while for them to process us, first I was visited by someone who could get details of my address, next of kin, more on how I was injured, details of my insurance if any etc. They could have made me fill all this out when I arrived but this way I got one on one help in answering the questions, and all I had to do was sign my name.
I was examined by a physicians assistant, taken to xray, and eventually given some paperwork telling me things to watch out for, the name of a doctor to follow up with if I needed to. Advice on pain killers etc.
The whole process for me took 2.5 hours from walking through the door to being discharged. In between I had my own TV and honestly at times, nearing the end of an episode of Cold Case I was hoping they'd take a few minutes longer before coming back with results.
Mrs daltonr took longer and needed a second set of xrays, but she was all clear too.
We both agreed this was 5-star health care. We assumed it was because Sunday nights are quiet, but I kept hearing the staff referring to being backed up, and other staff members like administrators were volunteering to help out. It turned out that their computers had gone down and as a result X-Ray was backed up. I honestly didn't notice, I can only imagine that if there were no problems I never would have gotten to see who was guilty on Cold Case.
In the end it took about 5 hours to fully sort out Mrs daltonr, but neither of us felt like we'd been kept waiting. One one occasion an orderly accidently clik the Nurse call button in Mrs daltonr's room and a nurse arrived within seconds. Later when she had been taken to xray I picked up the TV Remote and the Nurce call button went off again, must have been dodgy, but again the nurse was there within seconds.
On the way out an Administrator came into the ER to take us out so the medical staff wouldn't have to leave. She brought us to a room to explain that the whole thing would be billed to the auto insurance and we wouldn't be getting a bill.
We had to ask how much this all costs. We'd heard stories and the curiousity was too much for us. Besides, if I chop my finger while cutting a steak, I'd like to know if I can afford this level of care.
"You had x-Rays right", "Yes", "No MRI's or anything like that", "No"
"About $200"
I'm presuming that that's $200 each, I forgot to ask.
That's it. We genuinely could not have been more comfortable if we had been at home on the couch. For one thing we don't have cable TV at come.
The whole visit had the air of a business that was trying to turn us into repeat customers while hoping we'd never need to be. Even the paperwork we were given on leaving expressed appreciation for being allowed to treat us.
$200 is about EUR160. That's only EUR100 more than a trip to A&E in Ireland would have cost. Granted in Ireland there's a 600 a year cap, but what do you really get for that 600. I need to go and look at how much Health Insurance that 600 a year would provide.
-Rd
Ironically (I'm never sure if I'm using that word correctly).
Mrs daltonr and I spent a few hours in a US Emergency room last night after being rear ended at traffic lights.
I know that there are people who think my only goal is to talk down Ireland, and talk up everywhere else, so you can take this with a pinch of salt if you like. These are the facts.
This was a fairly solid hit directly from behind, and we both had some neck discomfort. I didn't think it was anything permanent, and thankfully it isn't, but the police officer told us how to get to the nearest hospital, it was only a few minutes away so we decided to get checked out.
We have VHI and US Auto Insurance, but no US Health Insurance. I wondered how much it would cost and who would pay. Turns out it'll automatically go through our Insurance and they will pursue the car owners insurance.
We arrived, in what looked like the lobby of a nice hotel, we filled in a very brief form. Literally it just asked for Name, Gender, DOB, details of the injury and Social Security Number.
We were called within 10 minutes to be assessed by a triage nurse. About 10 minutes after that we were separately called and taken to private rooms with our own TV (76 channels), my room had a private bathroom, Mrs daltonr was obviously less important and didn't get a bathroom
The ER had 27 of these rooms, that I could see, most seemed to be occupied. The only person I saw on a trolly outside of these rooms was a woman being wheeled in from an Ambulance.
It took a while for them to process us, first I was visited by someone who could get details of my address, next of kin, more on how I was injured, details of my insurance if any etc. They could have made me fill all this out when I arrived but this way I got one on one help in answering the questions, and all I had to do was sign my name.
I was examined by a physicians assistant, taken to xray, and eventually given some paperwork telling me things to watch out for, the name of a doctor to follow up with if I needed to. Advice on pain killers etc.
The whole process for me took 2.5 hours from walking through the door to being discharged. In between I had my own TV and honestly at times, nearing the end of an episode of Cold Case I was hoping they'd take a few minutes longer before coming back with results.
Mrs daltonr took longer and needed a second set of xrays, but she was all clear too.
We both agreed this was 5-star health care. We assumed it was because Sunday nights are quiet, but I kept hearing the staff referring to being backed up, and other staff members like administrators were volunteering to help out. It turned out that their computers had gone down and as a result X-Ray was backed up. I honestly didn't notice, I can only imagine that if there were no problems I never would have gotten to see who was guilty on Cold Case.
In the end it took about 5 hours to fully sort out Mrs daltonr, but neither of us felt like we'd been kept waiting. One one occasion an orderly accidently clik the Nurse call button in Mrs daltonr's room and a nurse arrived within seconds. Later when she had been taken to xray I picked up the TV Remote and the Nurce call button went off again, must have been dodgy, but again the nurse was there within seconds.
On the way out an Administrator came into the ER to take us out so the medical staff wouldn't have to leave. She brought us to a room to explain that the whole thing would be billed to the auto insurance and we wouldn't be getting a bill.
We had to ask how much this all costs. We'd heard stories and the curiousity was too much for us. Besides, if I chop my finger while cutting a steak, I'd like to know if I can afford this level of care.
"You had x-Rays right", "Yes", "No MRI's or anything like that", "No"
"About $200"
I'm presuming that that's $200 each, I forgot to ask.
That's it. We genuinely could not have been more comfortable if we had been at home on the couch. For one thing we don't have cable TV at come.
The whole visit had the air of a business that was trying to turn us into repeat customers while hoping we'd never need to be. Even the paperwork we were given on leaving expressed appreciation for being allowed to treat us.
$200 is about EUR160. That's only EUR100 more than a trip to A&E in Ireland would have cost. Granted in Ireland there's a 600 a year cap, but what do you really get for that 600. I need to go and look at how much Health Insurance that 600 a year would provide.
-Rd
)