Better off at the emergency room

Recently, I made a trip to the local ER for what turned out to be nothing. While there, I was well treated by the ER doc and the knowledgeable staff. All kinds of blood and fluid tests, urine tests, EKG and X-rays were taken. Modern medicine’s approach is to go overboard with tests, as most of us know.

I am on Medicare.

I received a breakdown of the charges for my stay — almost $13,000. A charge of about $1,000 to $3,000 would be high, but understandable. But even more ridiculous by a factor of 1,000 is that all Medicare paid the hospital for my visit was $363. My out-of-pocket expense was less than $100.

So the moral of the story is that next time I want to go to the doc, I’m better off going to the ER — it costs less, has very little waiting, I can go on my own schedule at any time of the day or night and I get all kinds of diagnostic tests run. They might even serve food in the ER — I’ve never asked.

It seems that the only industry that makes any money is the supplier of paper and printer ink. Maybe that’s as it should be?

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Better off at the emergency room."