Bits and pieces

The feature story in Time magazine this week, reportedly longer than any feature they have ever run, is the appalling financial burden imposed on most hospital patients who are unaware of what's being done to them. The only time I was ever in the hospital was when I was six years old to have my tonsils taken out so I know nothing personally about this situation except the horror stories I've heard from others. Nick Veasey's article confirmed those stories.

The article itself is over 30 pages long and tells more about the pricing at hospitals, large and small, than anything I've ever read or seen up til now. I'll only touch on a few of the items mentioned but if you're planning a visit to a hospital in the near future, the very best thing you can do for yourself is to pick up an issue of this week's magazine and read every line with a yellow magic marker. It'll scare the socks right off you.

One patient went to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City for an outpatient procedure to insert 'RestoreUlta', a device implanted in the patient's back that is designed to deliver spinal-cord stimulation. He went to the hospital in the morning and was released in the afternoon so he was not an admitted patient and had no room, either of his own or one that he shared with others. He didn't ask any questions about the cost of the procedure because he had over $45,000 remaining on the $60,000 annual payout limit his union-sponsored health insurance imposed. He figured the day in the hospital would cost him five to ten thousand dollars. His bill was almost $87,000. Included in that sum was a marking pen for $3 that is reusable. He was also charged $31 for the strap used to hold him on the operating table.

He was charged $32 for the blanket used to keep him warm. It is also reusable and can be bought on eBay for $13. He was charged $39 for the gown the surgeon wore. Thirty gowns can be bought online for $180. Neither Medicare nor any large insurance company would pay a hospital separately for many of those charges because that's supposed to be included with the facility fee paid to the hospital, which in this case was $6,289.

Of course the big-ticket item was the Medtronic stimulator. He was charged $49, 237. The wholesale list price is around $19,000 and major hospitals get a 5 to 15 percent discount from that price. But even assuming that the hospital paid the full $19,000, it would make more than $30,000 selling it to the patient, a profit margin of more than 150 percent. His total bill came to $86,951. After his insurance paid the $45,000 that he was entitled to, he still owed more than $40,000 and that didn't include his doctors' bills.

The list goes on and on. One Lipitor pill in the U.S. costs the same as three pills in Argentina. One Plavix pill in the U.S. costs the same as four in Spain. One Nexium pill in the U.S. cost the same as eight in France. The United States spends more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia. And before you say that our health care is so much better than theirs, look at this. Our life expectancy is 79, the United Kingdom's is 80, Spain and Australia's is 82 and Japan's is 83.

Joe Bastardi, the long range weather predictor for Weather Bell, predicts March to be the coldest in 20 years with at least one more snowstorm for us so winter isn't over yet. He was right on target in predicting a 45 day snow cover after our pre-Christmas storm but there's nothing in the NWS seven day forecast that suggests either cold OR snow so it will be interesting to watch.

Speaking of snow, the city street crews did the best job ever of clearing snow off the major roads and snow routes since I moved here 18 years ago. I don't know what they did this time that was different from previous times but whatever it was, I hope they keep on doing it. I heard compliments about their work wherever I went around town and since we're quick to fault them when we think they do a sub-standard job, it's only right to praise them when they do the kind of job they did after our last snow storm. Kudos to all of you.

Finally, and sadly, I'll be driving to Lincoln today after my last class to attend the funeral on Saturday of my youngest boy Will's father-in-law.

He died Tuesday night after battling cancer for four years and the last six months were heartbreaking. Even though I wasn't there to witness it, I WAS there to see my father's battle that also ended in death from the same disease and it's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

When my aunt contracted cancer when I was just a child, I remember thinking that by the time I reached her age there wouldn't be any more cancer because they would have found a cure by then. Well, now I AM her age and they still haven't found a cure. Will's father-in-law was only 56 and he died far too young.

That's why it's important to live each day as if it was your last because one of these days you're going to be right. And none of us know what day that's going to be.