For context, I will share another story of when we lived in Juneau, Alaska.
Our daughter got really sick with a high fever that didn't respond to the usual treatments like Tylenol, etc.
We took her to the ER, and they sent us home telling us to give her more OTC stuff. Her fever got higher and she started having crippling diarrhea so we took her back. They gave her some more OTC meds and sent her home again. She got sicker and her fever was higher so we took her back a third time. This time they admitted her to the hospital and by then she had bloody diarrhea and they started her on IV antibiotics. This was late at night. They diagnosed her with typhoid fever.
In the morning the on-call pediatrician came on duty, examined her, and said she was ordering her to be medevaced to Seattle "before this hospital kills her".
Long story short, she didn't have typhoid fever, she had salmonella that went septic, and the antibiotic she was on was the wrong type. The on-call pediatrician was right. She probably would have died if we didn't transport her to another state for treatment.
The medevac bill we received was over $108,000.00. I remember opening the letter from them that said..."Your insurance has been billed, this is your portion" and feeling sick to my stomach. Eventually the insurance company did pay it.
Edited to add: The experience had a profound impact on her, and she decided she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. She later became valedictorian at Keaau High school and got a scholarship and went pre-med. After a few years she realized we didn't have a million dollars to take her all the way through medical school so she became an RN instead. So if you're wondering why there aren't enough doctors... well, that's because middle class families don't have enough money to finance that.
Our daughter got really sick with a high fever that didn't respond to the usual treatments like Tylenol, etc.
We took her to the ER, and they sent us home telling us to give her more OTC stuff. Her fever got higher and she started having crippling diarrhea so we took her back. They gave her some more OTC meds and sent her home again. She got sicker and her fever was higher so we took her back a third time. This time they admitted her to the hospital and by then she had bloody diarrhea and they started her on IV antibiotics. This was late at night. They diagnosed her with typhoid fever.
In the morning the on-call pediatrician came on duty, examined her, and said she was ordering her to be medevaced to Seattle "before this hospital kills her".
Long story short, she didn't have typhoid fever, she had salmonella that went septic, and the antibiotic she was on was the wrong type. The on-call pediatrician was right. She probably would have died if we didn't transport her to another state for treatment.
The medevac bill we received was over $108,000.00. I remember opening the letter from them that said..."Your insurance has been billed, this is your portion" and feeling sick to my stomach. Eventually the insurance company did pay it.
Edited to add: The experience had a profound impact on her, and she decided she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. She later became valedictorian at Keaau High school and got a scholarship and went pre-med. After a few years she realized we didn't have a million dollars to take her all the way through medical school so she became an RN instead. So if you're wondering why there aren't enough doctors... well, that's because middle class families don't have enough money to finance that.