Guaranteed Healthcare

In October 2007 I was driving from Gainesville to Orlando on I-75 for a morning meeting. An ache in lower back right side suddenly flared into a sharp pain and then I broke out into a sweat and felt nauseous. Fearing that I was having a heart attack I left the Interstate and drove directly to a nearby emergency room and walked in the door.

The pain subsided somewhat and after a brief wait I gave the nurse a urine sample. He took one look at the small quantity of dark liquid and told me I was passing a kidney stone and not having a heart attack. He quickly set me up with an IV and 90 minutes later I walked out with prescriptions for pain, antibiotics, a steroid, and a diuretic, with instructions to drink lots of water. Excellent care; very efficient.

But before I was released, hospital policy required one more test. Ten years previous when I had a similar passing the hospital used an ultrasound procedure to check me out. So when they rolled me into the CAT scan room I was surprised but did not think to ask to talk to the doctor. Ten minutes later I was the proud recipient of two CAT scans. A consulting radioologist looked at the CAT scans and a few minutes later the doctor walked in to tell me that I would be fine; a second stone was waiting to pass but it would be no problem. No surgery needed.

I was shocked to learn that the bill for the hospital was over $4,500 with $3,300 just for the CAT scans. The nice lady offered me a 30% discount because I was uninsured and I paid $500 on my credit card and left. I later received separate bill for the radiologist and the doctor. Total cost is over $6,000 for a 90-minute IV in the ER.

After I wrote the hospital protesting the high cost of the testing, I learned that federal law prohibits ER doctors from talking to patients about the cost of treatment. I have no problem paying for the treatment and medications I received, but I have a huge problem paying over $3,300 for two CAT scans and then learning that the doctor was not allowed to talk to me about how he would use the test results, the cost of the tests and if the tests were even necessary. Federal law should not prohibit doctors from talking to patients about the cost of treatment.