Wife charged $170 for Swine Flu test.

[SpurNation]

I know....it was my wife.

This is what I'm talking about regarding rate regulation for office visits.

She spent all of 20 minutes at the office.

[clambake]

stop nitpicking.[sp]

plumbers charge that much, but at least they clean your pipes.

[SpurNation]

stop nitpicking.[sp]

plumbers charge that much, but at least they clean your pipes.

:lol Don't know which plumber your using. And I don't know any plumber that charges $510 per hour.

[clambake]

:lol Don't know which plumber your using. And I don't know any plumber that charges $510 per hour.

did your wife make an appointment? $$$

did a nurse have to pull her file? $$$

did a nurse or assistant have to hand her a clipboard to sign in? $$$

did your wife study for the test, or did they have to help her pass? $$$

[SpurNation]

did your wife make an appointment? $$$

did a nurse have to pull her file? $$$

did a nurse or assistant have to hand her a clipboard to sign in? $$$

did your wife study for the test, or did they have to help her pass? $$$

She spent 20 minutes at the doctors office and had a Swine Flu test done. 20 minutes was for the whole procedure...Check in, visit and test.

If your remark about "studying" for the test was a joke...it wasn't an amusing one. But... God Bless you.

[clambake]

i've never had a swine flu test.

sometimes they ask questions:

"how many fingers am i holding up?"
"who is the president?"
"is that an erection?"

[mookie2001]

is your wife sickly or elderly?

you know swine flu is just the flu right?

[clambake]

ok...since you have no sense of humor.....why do you assume the doctors office charges $170 an hour?

you went off.....half cocked, about my plumber, and you don't even know Joe....my plumber.

[Nbadan]

...no wait times are expensive...

[SpurNation]

...no wait times are expensive...

OK. Not so bad after reviewing the bill.

:lol Went off on tangent because of verbal explanation of office visit.

Flu Antigen A test...$23.00
Rapid Strep Test...$27.00
Initial Office Visit Expanded Problem Focused...$93
Flu Antigen B...$22.00

Total...$165.00

Wife verified she had to wait 2 hours at office until tests confirmed.

Was told (by nurse) that if she tested positive for flu, they would have had to do a Swine Flu test that would have cost $500.

[LnGrrrR]

Flu Antigen A test...$23.00
Rapid Strep Test...$27.00
Initial Office Visit Expanded Problem Focused...$93
Flu Antigen B...$22.00


What the heck does that mean? :lol

[clambake]

What the heck does that mean? :lol

it means....for fun.....they used a speculum.

[Wild Cobra]

OK. Not so bad after reviewing the bill.

:lol Went off on tangent because of verbal explanation of office visit.

Flu Antigen A test...$23.00
Rapid Strep Test...$27.00
Initial Office Visit Expanded Problem Focused...$93
Flu Antigen B...$22.00

Total...$165.00

Wife verified she had to wait 2 hours at office until tests confirmed.

Was told (by nurse) that if she tested positive for flu, they would have had to do a Swine Flu test that would have cost $500.

This stuff gets expensive.

Just one cost alone, the insurance the doctor pays. As a general practitioner, it is probably around $120,000 a year. If he works 2400 hours a year, he has to recoup $50 per hour just to pay insurance. Granted, the Doctor maybe only spent a whole 5 minutes with you and your records, but the staff, building, supplies, etc. used all add up.

The $500 seems high for the specific flu test, but maybe not. You see, someone spent hundreds of millions, maybe billions of dollars, making a genetic test getting all the markers and separation right. Anyone you uses this test pays part of that development cost.

[Wild Cobra]

What the heck does that mean? :lol
It means someone panicked over the possibility of it being swine flue, so they spent more time ruling it out.

[boutons_deux]

Like Gardisil, swine flu shots are BigPharma scam.

anybody have any studies that these shots work against this flu?

Anybody have any long-term studies about secondary effects of these shots?

They don't have enough vaccine, so they're adding filler (and it ain't Hamburger Helper), which is another mysterious crap injected into your body.

I read where these shots, if they work at all, mean that you shave 1 day off your flu, NOT prevent your flu.

[SpurNation]

It means someone panicked over the possibility of it being swine flue, so they spent more time ruling it out.

I wouldn't say "panicked". It was requested that all who work there got tested since 2 children from where she works tested positive for swine flu last week.

She was ill during the weekend with flu like symptoms.

[Wild Cobra]

I wouldn't say "panicked". It was requested that all who work there got tested since 2 children from where she works tested positive for swine flu last week.

She was ill during the weekend with flu like symptoms.
So there was a scheduling rush, right? Over that possibility?

[SpurNation]

So there was a scheduling rush, right? Over that possibility?


Not sure. Could have been.

In retrospect...I guess it's not as expensive as I once thought given the circumstances and situation.

But in retrospect as well...if 20 million people had to visit an emergency clinic facility just because of a possible outbreak.... and didn't have the financial resources to pay...that would be $3,300,000,000...(that's trillions)...needed to be compensated by tax payer money for just this single threat.

It's mind boggling.

[Shastafarian]

It means someone panicked over the possibility of it being swine flue, so they spent more time ruling it out.

It means they have a category for office visits that are focused on a specific problem. That charge is not based on Swine Flu.

[Wild Cobra]

Not sure. Could have been.

In retrospect...I guess it's not as expensive as I once thought given the circumstances and situation.

But in retrospect as well...if 20 million people had to visit an emergency clinic facility just because of a possible outbreak.... and didn't have the financial resources to pay...that would be $3,300,000,000...(that's trillions)...needed to be compensated by tax payer money for just this single threat.

It's mind boggling.
I would assume that the $500 cost of testing if it was genetically the swine flue would include a carrier to take the sample to the lab and back for a rush order.

[CosmicCowboy]

Whats the point of the tests and "knowing" exactly what to call it...they are all virus's so the treatment is exactly the same...rest, get plenty of fluids, stay at home so you don't contaminate others...

[BacktoBasics]

93 bucks for someone to concentrate on doing their job. Seems fair.

[Wild Cobra]

Whats the point of the tests and "knowing" exactly what to call it...they are all virus's so the treatment is exactly the same...rest, get plenty of fluids, stay at home so you don't contaminate others...
It's part of the reason insurance costs keep rising. People use what they don't pay for directly more readily.

SpurNation, you pay for this yourself, or a co-pay? Would it have made a difference in paying to know she had any specific flue if your out of pocket cost was different?

[SpurNation]

It's part of the reason insurance costs keep rising. People use what they don't pay for directly more readily.

SpurNation, you pay for this yourself, or a co-pay? Would it have made a difference in paying to know she had any specific flue if your out of pocket cost was different?

Out of pocket.

We don't have insurance. As a small business owner...the premiums for my small company adversely conflict with the necessities of life.

[CosmicCowboy]

Man...you got screwed.

I'm serious...my doctor would have told me I had the viral crud and asked me if I really wanted to waste time and money trying to figure out exactly what it was...$70 office visit and I'm out the door.

On second thought...that may be what he would have done before...with all the swine flu hysteria doctors may be required to do the tests and report the results to the CDC.

[nuclearfm]

I have to assume you're in TX. We love charging a shitload for terrible service.

[SpurNation]

Man...you got screwed.

I'm serious...my doctor would have told me I had the viral crud and asked me if I really wanted to waste time and money trying to figure out exactly what it was...$70 office visit and I'm out the door.

On second thought...that may be what he would have done before...with all the swine flu hysteria doctors may be required to do the tests and report the results to the CDC.

I'm sure that may be the case. If it weren't for the fact that 2 children tested positive for swine flu where she works made the circumstances different.

We are not the type that goes to a doctor for sniffles.

But the dollar amount that would have to be paid by tax revenue to just diagnos is astonishing if this turns into a nationwide epedemic.

I believe 20 million would be a conservative assesment in the number of people who might not have the finances to even pay for diagnosis, much less treatment, if found to be tested positive.

[coyotes_geek]

I'll bet if we gave a trillion dollars to the government they'd make things cheaper.

[Cry Havoc]

is your wife sickly or elderly?

you know swine flu is just the flu right?

Nothing like an educated opinion early in the thread to make things funny. :lol


Like Gardisil, swine flu shots are BigPharma scam.

anybody have any studies that these shots work against this flu?

Anybody have any long-term studies about secondary effects of these shots?

They don't have enough vaccine, so they're adding filler (and it ain't Hamburger Helper), which is another mysterious crap injected into your body.

I read where these shots, if they work at all, mean that you shave 1 day off your flu, NOT prevent your flu.

The novel H1N1 virus has shown to be sensitive to Tamiflu and Relenza. Both seem to work very well against it, but doctors are concerned that overusing it could allow novel H1N1 to develop a resistance to it.


Not sure. Could have been.

In retrospect...I guess it's not as expensive as I once thought given the circumstances and situation.

But in retrospect as well...if 20 million people had to visit an emergency clinic facility just because of a possible outbreak.... and didn't have the financial resources to pay...that would be $3,300,000,000...(that's trillions)...needed to be compensated by tax payer money for just this single threat.

It's mind boggling.

And yet other nations seem to get by with affordable health care.


I'll bet if we gave a trillion dollars to the government they'd make things cheaper.

Is anyone else in this forum aware of the following:

Medical bankruptcy is a term that is almost completely unique to the United States. Nowhere else in the developed world do people go bankrupt paying for their medical bills. We do not have statistically better health care than other developed nations, and yet we pay MORE here for LESS coverage and still have people who aren't insured. Wouldn't it be nice to pay less money for better coverage and then be able to afford it for everyone?

I can only imagine a virus that would wipe out a significant number of people the United States because the poor were unable to afford to go to the doctor's office to be protected against it.

[coyotes_geek]

Wouldn't it be nice to pay less money for better coverage and then be able to afford it for everyone?

Sounds great. I'm all for it. Now can we go back over the part where giving the government $1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years accomplishes that? Sorry to be a stickler here, but seeing as how everything the government touches costs more and delivers less than we were originally told I don't feel like I'm being too big of a cynic to believe that the government might just end up making this worse.

[101A]

The strep test is B.S.

My wife used to work for a company that makes them....they are only 60% effective. The results are meaningless if they come back negative. Docs love em 'cause they are quick - and they can make a quick buck (or 20).

[Wild Cobra]

But the dollar amount that would have to be paid by tax revenue to just diagnos is astonishing if this turns into a nationwide epedemic.

But beyond testing for the flue, there is no need to determine the type.

How many people actually go to the doctor for the flue anyway? I never have in my life. No need to unless things get severe.

[TDMVPDPOY]

lol in australia that shit you just went through, its free down here hahahaha....

[Nbadan]

Sounds great. I'm all for it. Now can we go back over the part where giving the government $1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years accomplishes that? Sorry to be a stickler here, but seeing as how everything the government touches costs more and delivers less than we were originally told I don't feel like I'm being too big of a cynic to believe that the government might just end up making this worse.

Yeah, better to give $1 trillion + dollars to a insurance company only to be denied coverage when you need it most...if you really think govt. delivers less, than get your own police, get your own firemen, get your own military....otherwise, quit making generalized statements without backing them up with facts...

[coyotes_geek]

Yeah, better to give $1 trillion + dollars to a insurance company only to be denied coverage when you need it most...if you really think govt. delivers less, than get your own police, get your own firemen, get your own military....otherwise, quit making generalized statements without backing them up with facts...

I asked how giving $1 trillion to the government will make healthcare cheaper, not whether or not the insurance companies suck. From the looks of things you don't have an answer.

[KenMcCoy]

Healthcare cost's won't go down until doctor's insurance costs go down...which by the way won't go down until there are better limitations on malpractice suits.

[jack sommerset]

Man I wish the government can do something about these cost. 170 bucks for flu shot. Good lord!

[rjv]

Man I wish the government can do something about these cost. 170 bucks for flu shot. Good lord!

the US government does not generally set the market for drugs in america. that would be the pharamaceutical companies.

[jack sommerset]

the US government does not generally set the market for drugs in america. that would be the pharamaceutical companies.

I forgot for a moment that we live in a free society. These days it is hard to remember.

[clambake]

I forgot for a moment that we live in a free society. These days it is hard to remember.

what have you been prevented from doing, jack?

[Wild Cobra]

Healthcare cost's won't go down until doctor's insurance costs go down...which by the way won't go down until there are better limitations on malpractice suits.
I've been trying to tell these people that for some time now. They just don't seem to understand.

[ElNono]

I've been trying to tell these people that for some time now. They just don't seem to understand.

The problem is that the numbers don't really support your claim.
I think comprehensive tort reform should be part of the solution, but it's nowhere near the cash saver people like you make it out to be.