Shopping for the best deal .....
I am a healthcare professional, a RN for 33 years working in acute care and the insurance industry. In the past my family has had their share of medical issues.
1. 1995 my 13 yr old son was hit by a Chevy Blazer while riding his bike sustaining a closed head trauma and bumper fracture just below his right knee. I can see how I needed to stop the lifeflight to shop around for the cheapest trauma center. That bill was over 48K in 1995 dollars
2. 1995 (fun year) my 72 yr old father falls down the John Day river bank and has a compound fracture of his hip. He has four ambulance transports and a fixed wing transport to the nearest trauma hospital. Yep, stop everything .... we need the lowest bidder.
3. My 17 yr old son wakes me up at 4 am with a severe belly ache, I call our PCP and was told to meet us at the ER. He is in OR in an hour with a ruptured appendix. So I am to call around to find the LOWEST bidder while my son dies of peritonitis?
Then again.....
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