On Sun, 10 Apr 2016 09:45:29 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> I spend 4 days in ICU and another 3 nights in the hospital. I was billed
>> nothing for all that.
>
>My God. If that was in the USA, you would face a bill of (just
>guessing) over $20K.
>
>That night 7.5 years ago that I had severe asthma and was stuck
>sitting on the toilet all night - very labored breathing and even a 7
>step walk to the phone to call for help would have killed me. After
>spending about 8 hours on the damn toilet with very labored breathing
>all night, I was finally healed enough to get up, dressed, and I drove
>to a "minor emergency clinic." Very labored breathing even for that.
>
>As soon as they heard that I had no insurance, they treated me quite
>shabbily (imo). They didn't want me there and acted like I was some
>bum off the street after free medical care. I was told that the doctor
>was running a bit late and I should go to the emergency room.

A clinic would not have told you to drive to the ER, they would have
called an ambulance.

>I told
>them that I was doing ok just sitting there and waiting but to get up
>again would be a hardship. I'm not leaving.
>
>So then she told me, "You know, this could be expensive"
>I told her, "I've got money, I'll pay for this today"
>She still didn't seem convinced. Again, I was made to feel like some
>bum.
>
>So I finally got to see the doctor. They treated me there and I was
>good to go plus I got prescriptions. Funny how just 1/2 hour treatment
>in the doctors office fixed me when I really almost died of asthma
>attack

That's why you need medication at home, you should have an Albuterol
Sulphate inhaler on you at all times, and a nebulizer at home... with
a neb treatment at home you'd be fine in ten minutes.

>just hours earlier in the bathroom and then ferrets in cage
>would have died too, if I did.
>
>Doctor visit was $75 plus treatment...total $150. No big deal and I
>paid before I left.
>If I had gone to the hospital's emergency room for that, it would have
>cost way over $1000.

Had you dialed 911 an ambulance would have arrived and the EMTs would
have treated you and/or brought you to the ER. If you had no
insurance they'd still have to treat you.
If you're an Asthmatic why didn't you have a rescue inhaler?
You really shouldn't have driven a car in your condition... don't you
have a neighor who could drive you in an emergency?
Why don't you have medical insurance, if you're over 55 you can get a
very inexpensive plan through AARP... it would cover your Asthma meds.
which aren't very expensive to begin with, the pharmaceutical
companies will supply meds for free too, and your primary care doctor
has samples, ask. With AARP insurance many of the basic Asthma meds
are free, no co-pay... it's a lot less expensive to give you a dollars
worth of meds for free than paying your hospital bills. Sitting on
the toilet all night struggling to breathe is a definite indication of
mental illness.