My recent 6 day hospital stay with surgery for my broken collar bone and all the associated services and follow ups has now totaled to something in the range of 50k. And I still have an upcoming surgery to remove the hardware. I suspect by the time all is said and done after the final physical therapy appointment, it'll be close to 70k.
Thank goodness for insurance. Medical care these days is good, but it's also expensive.
Ken
A room in your typical mid-valley hospital is over a thousand dollars a night. This does not include any provider fees, radiology, lab, RX, etc. Its just a bed in a room. In my MVA related experience the $15K PIP benefit is frequently exhausted before the patient gets to the hospital. There is a mad scramble by transport services, providers, and hospitals to file liens against the patient (regardless of fault) as well as their insurance to guarantee a piece of the PIP. First to file the lien with the respective county is usually the beneficiary of the available benefit. Its a crazy system.
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org]On
Behalf Of Mike Murray
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 8:55 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] was vote, now insurance
M&G McCabe wrote:
"A couple of evenings in the hospital can run more than $10,000.00; the
minimum PIP will only cover, therefore, a couple of nights (or so, perhaps)
in the hospital."
This is a fairly massive underestimation of the possible medical costs. 2
years ago I had a fall at the track with a brief alteration of consciousness
which led to an ambulance transport and level 2 trauma admission to the ED.
My injuries were fairly minimal and I went home from the ED that day without
admission to the hospital. I do not get charged by the ED doctors because I
work for the same company they do and they are my partners. I do, however,
pay the trauma doctors and oromaxillofacial docs whose input to my care was
minimal. I also, of course, pay hospital costs. There was no surgery. In
fact, not that the care was inappropriate, if I had just gone home the
results would have been the same. The bill was near $15,000. I would
expect that it is rare that a 2 night stay in the hospital comes in under
$10,000.
Mike Murray
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M&G McCabe wrote:
"A couple of evenings in the hospital can run more than $10,000.00; the
minimum PIP will only cover, therefore, a couple of nights (or so, perhaps)
in the hospital."
This is a fairly massive underestimation of the possible medical costs. 2
years ago I had a fall at the track with a brief alteration of consciousness
which led to an ambulance transport and level 2 trauma admission to the ED.
My injuries were fairly minimal and I went home from the ED that day without
admission to the hospital. I do not get charged by the ED doctors because I
work for the same company they do and they are my partners. I do, however,
pay the trauma doctors and oromaxillofacial docs whose input to my care was
minimal. I also, of course, pay hospital costs. There was no surgery. In
fact, not that the care was inappropriate, if I had just gone home the
results would have been the same. The bill was near $15,000. I would
expect that it is rare that a 2 night stay in the hospital comes in under
$10,000.
Mike Murray
It is noteworthy to add one point to Mark's sound advice and discussion. The PIP portion of your car insurance can be easily-and cheaply-increased to cover far beyond the minimum amount. A couple of evenings in the hospital can run more than $10,000.00; the minimum PIP will only cover, therefore, a couple of nights (or so, perhaps) in the hospital.
When my wife, Grace, was run over by a car (while on her bike) a 3+ years ago she was covered by more than the minimum PIP and we were very grateful for it! The meth creep that ran her over did not have car insurance, so our insurance had to cover it.
Increasing PIP coverage does not cost much and I hope you never have to rely on it, but it certainly made a huge difference in our case.
PS: Mr. Meth-Head is serving 7 years in prison for his action, but it took a lot of aggressive and persistent action on our part to get the Salem Police and the D.A. to take it on. When they took the case on, however, they did a super job and we commend them for their role.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark J. Ginsberg
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 9:19 PM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] was vote, now insurance
Well, I am home, and my son is now in bed, so here is the longer insurance side of the post from earlier to day.
If you are on a bicycle and are hit by a car, there are many different types of insurance that cover you.
They boil down to three (with subparts)
1. Your auto insurance (But Mark, I was on a bike remember? Yes I know dear reader)
2. Your health insurance, and
3. Auto insurance of the driver who hit you.
there are two main issues:
who pays your medical bills and who pays for your damages (injury, bike damage, the scuff on your $400 sidis)
Bills paid: In order: A. your own auto insurance under the PIP portion, $15,000 minimum, or one year, followed by B. Your own health insurance, and C. the PIP coverage of the adverse driver. All of this is regardless of fault.
Damages: if the collision is the fault of the other driver, then the liability portion of their auto insurance will pay you something (fairly, not fairly, enough/not enough). If the adverse driver is uninsured or underinsured (i.e. has less auto liability insurance than you) you may also make a claim on your own auto liability policy.
Will your insurance go to bat for you? sometimes. Will the adverse insurance be fair? Sometimes.
But, my day job is representing people who have been hurt where there are disagreements about fault or liability or value of the injury. Heck open the yellow pages to "personal injury" (or ambulance chaser) and the hordes are many to offer you help when you are not being treated fairly.
So dear reader, that's what I got off the top of my head, in the first ten minutes since I walked out of my son's room from putting him to bed.
Happy to answer public or private questions.
And of course this ain't legal advice, and this sure as heck doesn't cover every possible fact pattern, but it gives you a start.
Mark Ginsberg
Mark J. Ginsberg
Attorney At Law
1216 SE Belmont St.
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 542-3000
Fax (503) 233-6874
markjginsberg@yahoo.com
www.bikesafetylaw.com
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Well, I am home, and my son is now in bed, so here is the longer insurance side of the post from earlier to day.
If you are on a bicycle and are hit by a car, there are many different types of insurance that cover you.
They boil down to three (with subparts)
1. Your auto insurance (But Mark, I was on a bike remember? Yes I know dear reader)
2. Your health insurance, and
3. Auto insurance of the driver who hit you.
there are two main issues:
who pays your medical bills and who pays for your damages (injury, bike damage, the scuff on your $400 sidis)
Bills paid: In order: A. your own auto insurance under the PIP portion, $15,000 minimum, or one year, followed by B. Your own health insurance, and C. the PIP coverage of the adverse driver. All of this is regardless of fault.
Damages: if the collision is the fault of the other driver, then the liability portion of their auto insurance will pay you something (fairly, not fairly, enough/not enough). If the adverse driver is uninsured or underinsured (i.e. has less auto liability insurance than you) you may also make a claim on your own auto liability policy.
Will your insurance go to bat for you? sometimes. Will the adverse insurance be fair? Sometimes.
But, my day job is representing people who have been hurt where there are disagreements about fault or liability or value of the injury. Heck open the yellow pages to "personal injury" (or ambulance chaser) and the hordes are many to offer you help when you are not being treated fairly.
So dear reader, that's what I got off the top of my head, in the first ten minutes since I walked out of my son's room from putting him to bed.
Happy to answer public or private questions.
And of course this ain't legal advice, and this sure as heck doesn't cover every possible fact pattern, but it gives you a start.
Mark Ginsberg
Mark J. Ginsberg
Attorney At Law
1216 SE Belmont St.
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 542-3000
Fax (503) 233-6874
markjginsberg@yahoo.com
www.bikesafetylaw.com
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Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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