or, What a Scorpion Sting Teaches Us about Hospitals and Insurance
By, G. Keith Smith, M.D., http://www.surgerycenterok.com
A woman recently received treatment for a scorpion sting in the Chandler Regional Medical Center emergency room in Phoenix and was billed $83,000, $80,000 of which was for the new anti-venom serum, Anascorp.
According to an article in the Arizona Republic, the patient’s insurer paid more than $57,000, and the hospital is asking her for the balance of about $25,000. This is said to be the “out of network” cost.
This is scandalous, but not because her “insurance” company didn’t pay enough on this claim. Actually, part of the scandal is that the insurance paid as much as it did! Continue reading