woman sheds a tear at the doctors office. It shows up on her bill

[Demovictory9]

youTuber Camille Johnson, from New York, says her sister has a rare disease and has been struggling to find appropriate care.

During a recent trip to a clinic, she says her sibling ‘got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless’.

‘One tear in and they charged her $40 without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing,’ the vlogger said.

In a Twitter thread revealing pitfalls of the American healthcare system, she wrote: ‘They charged her more for crying than they did for a vision assessment test.

‘They charged her more for crying than for a hemoglobin test. They charged her more for crying than for a health risk assessment. They charged her more for crying than for a capillary blood draw.’

For all these other tests, Camille’s sister was charged between $15 and $30, as shown in a photograph of the bill.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/clinic-charged-patient-40-for-crying/ar-AAXpoOh

[elleng]

1. 'Brief,' $40.00

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. Oh banging your head against the wall? $300 dollars please!

[sakabatou]

2. WTAF

[Deuxcents]

3. Write to the local newspaper

Or call a local tv station and expose this place so others can make arrangements to go somewhere else, if possible. This is not health care.

[Meowmee]

4. Report that doctor to the insurance company

And to the state health boards. This kind of thing happens a lot. When I was in icu a doc came in and talked to me for 2 minutes, did nothing for me, asked how I was. That resulted in an $800 charge which my ins tried to get out of paying because he was out of network. I complained after I received a bill and did not have to pay it as well as another similar charge.

[MontanaMama]

5. I was an insurance biller/benefit coordinator

for 21 years. I don’t recall an insurance code to describe this “procedure”. If not, and her insurance was billed, I would recommend filing a state insurance commission claim on this.

[Footay]

25. Everything has a code now

CPT Code 96127 Description. 96127 Definition: Brief emotional/behavioral assessment (e.g., depression inventory, eating disorders, suicide risk, anxiety, substance abuse, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] scale) with scoring and documentation, per standardized instrument.

[FoxNewsSucks]

6. Greedy fuckwads.

[sprinkleeninow]

7. I was charged $300+ for a behavioral med somebody or another.

I do not recall anyone presenting themselves as such.

Then some chart notes said I was whining and had childish behavior.

Good freaking thing I read this after coming home recovering from what I had.

You feel like yer fixin' to depart and not allowed to express yourself. The attending hospital doc would come in, touch my shoulder [I pretended to be asleep] and ask "How ahh youuu tooday?" Oh, just freaking on top of the world!

More bizarre experience that is too much to relate.

I made it outta there and the house of horrors rehab. I got pics of the 'food'/meals they were sending us. I had it up to here and then ordered Chinese and Surf and Turf delivery. A piggy would've turned its nose up on what they called food.

[sprinkleeninow]

8. My hospital tab was almost $63k and rehab joint 5k+.

[smirkymonkey]

15. Insane! Was that after insurance or before?

What? Did they expect you to pay out of pocket?

I had a colonoscopy 5 years ago and insurance picked up the entire tab. I just had another one a few months ago and it was not diagnostic (I was not having any problems, it was routine and suggested by my doctore), and they billed me $790 dollars after insurance!

What an effing rip-off! I challenged the charge telling the it was done at my doctor's suggestion as a routine procedure and I still got screwed (because they coded it as diagnostic). I paid $500 and am putting the rest on a payment plan. It just seems so unfair and wrong!

[sprinkleeninow]

22. You have to be a detective specializing in medical hieroglyphics.

Thanx be, I owed $0 for first ER trip when diagnosed, then later in the week, hospitalization and finally rehab stay.

Medicare A & B and a Medicare Supplemental plan. I am not gloating, simply grateful.

Any charges you have to go over with a fine-tooth comb and ask questions b4 paying anything. They practice obfuscation it seems.

[smirkymonkey]

24. This country is insane when it comes to medical care.

It really is like "Your money or your life."

[uponit7771]

26. +1,

[lpbk2713]

9. How can they bill for an emotional assessment if they didn't even comment on it?

It seems contradictory.

[niyad]

10. "pre visit estimated age 18-39" $350 charge?? WTAF???

[Ms. Toad]

17. That appears to be the basic charge

for an established patient between ages 18 and 39.

[niyad]

19. Thank you.

[MerryBlooms]

11. My best friend went to er last night for pain and leg numbness

Her primary chastised her for taking more ibuprofen then recommended. He wouldn't order tests, other than for regular lab and thyroid, because hers was removed 20 or so years ago. This asshole didn't even know his lab wasn't open! Came home from work, found her crying in pain on our front porch bench. Her son came and took her to the er. Couple of steroid injections, muscle relaxer scrip and scan. Steroids were tremendous help. The er doc couldn't understand why her primary didn't help her. No one should be allowed to leave a doctor's office in such horrific pain and crying, forced to go to an er half hour later. This doc is retiring in November, thankfully!

[yardwork]

27. Report the physician to your state's medical board. He needs to retire now.

[MerryBlooms]

31. The doctor is retiring in a few months, but I'll

Tell my friend your suggestion. I agree with you.

[GregariousGroundhog]

12. When it comes to fixing prices...

Charge 'em for the lice, extra for the mice
Two percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice, there a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the window shut
When it comes to fixing prices
There are lots of tricks I knows
How it all increases, all them bits and pieces
Jesus! It's amazing how it grows!

American hospitals are the 21st century's version of the Thenardiers.

[Demovictory9]

13. lol...I went through a Les Miz addiction years ago... listened to the music over and over

before that it was Phantom of the Opera.

[W_HAMILTON]

14. A lot of these corporatized doctor's offices are doing this.

They are basically just churning through as many billing services as they can to run up their revenue.

I had one do what they billed as something like "end of life consulation" or something. It consisted of them asking me three questions about whether I had an advanced directive and the like, and lasted all of one minute. They billed my health insurance company almost $100 for it, and since my health insurance company did not cover that service, I got stuck with the charge. We've been arguing over it for about half a year now. They seem to just keep resubmitting it to my insurance for reimbursement.

[alphafemale]

18. I call Bulllshit. Not even a good fake

Not the same Font size.

[BWdem4life]

20. Hmmm not sure...

Possible that whoever printed up the bill changed the font size on that item to make it fit better. I don't see any pixellation that might indicate a photoshop. The font is otherwise similar. OTOH it seems like it would have been so much simpler to just move the "BEHAV" to line 2 than to change the font size. But just because they didn't, doesn't mean it's fake.

[alphafemale]

21. It would have fit just fine in the same font size.

Plenty of other things are on two lines.

And even if it was a charge I doubt it was a "single tear."

If she needed to be talked down from an emotional crisis and held up the exam room and needed extra staff time and attention I think the charge would be legitimate.

[BWdem4life]

23. The article is certainly very sensationalized - "one tear"...

And it's secondhand info as well. Probably more to it than what we're reading - but on the other hand, padding the medical bill is a real thing. Not even sure why this particular article caught my attention, but my attention is fading rapidly

[sl8]

29. Sensationalized? A British tabloid story, based on a tweet from a popular internet personality?

Say it ain't so.

[Celerity]

28. another

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[MissMillie]

30. If that woman has health insurance, this is blatant insurance fraud

and it drives up the cost of insurance for everyone.