The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Tuesday 7 August 2012

The Cost of a Gash on the Chin?

I had such good intentions of writing a few blog posts on subjects PCT & PCT gear related, but what with the Olympics and a generous helping of can’t-be-arsed-ness, those posts remain unwritten. However, today’s mail has caused me to pick up my keyboard again with incredulity.

You may recall that just over a month ago, on 4 July, I got off a train in San Francisco, walked down the street for a couple of hundred yards, tripped over a curb and landed on my chin. The gash was small, but deep, and wouldn’t stop bleeding, so a trip to the Emergency Room ensued, where the wound was glued back together.

IMG_2557

*Not* a flattering look!

I was in the hospital for a total of about half an hour. About half of that time was spent in the checking-in and checking-out processes, and the rest of was spent in the room pictured above. A doctor was in that room with me for not more than five minutes, during which time she cleaned the wound, applied the glue and had a bit of a chat about walking.

Today I received the bill for the half an hour of use of the hospital’s facilities (but not the doctors fees, which apparently will be billed separately). Nine hundred and ninety one dollars!!!

Wow! Nine hundred and ninety one dollars for occupying a treatment room for a quarter of an hour, and for having some admin staff fill out some paperwork! The mind boggles as to how that can be a justifiable sum for the service received.

Needless to say, we do have travel insurance, and I will be making a claim.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, and they did call a taxi for us.

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  2. OMG! Thank goodness you had travel insurance. Not that i ever thought you wouldn’t have.
    So the important Doctor bit should be about $1800 then.
    I suppose the bulk of the cost will be phoning that taxi. You learn something everyday.

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  3. I'd have glued it up for a tenner...

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  4. I'd have done it for nowt!

    JJ

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  5. Ouch. I know the NHS isn't perfect, but at least we have it...

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  6. Glad to hear about the insurance.

    Impressed at foresight to take photos of adversities to spice up glorious landscapes.

    Looking forward to hearing about forthcoming plans.

    There must be a formula taking in time, distance travelled on last trip, number of ailments sustained and other factors plotted against time elapsed before the desire to set off somewhere else again after returning home. I hesitate here a moment anticipating the production of one of your charts.

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  7. Strueth that is scary.Thank goodness you had insurance.

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  8. Anyone in any doubt about the benefit of an NHS such as we have should read this and pray we never end up like the States!

    It's a salutary reminder to check and double check your insurance before you go - that you have renewed it, and that it covers you for what you are doing!

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  9. Wow! I wonder what the insurers will think of that.

    I've enjoyed catching up with your entries and look forward to your slideshow at Stockport in due course.

    And thanks again for sorting out my 'Postcard' problems last month. Much appreciated.

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