by P. Payne

Created on: June 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 07, 2009

Going to a hospital emergency room should be the choice at the bottom of the list for medical treatment if a clinic or doctor is available. But there are times pain or problems come at a time no other choice is feasible. When that happens, be prepared to pay dearly for help with your problem.

Those without insurance can plan to spend the equivalent of their monthly house or car payment at the emergency room, and then use the money for the utility bills to pay for the prescriptions written by the doctor on call. While there are many legitimate expenses related to running a hospital and manufacturing the drugs that help us get well, someone is raking in major profits at the expense of patients, regardless of whether they have insurance.

My 22-year-old grandson lives with me, but is working out of town during the week. He developed an ear infection, and called for advice. After trying normal remedies and consulting with a pharmacist, nothing worked and the problem continued to get worse. By the time he got back to town on Friday, no doctors were available, and clinics were closed. When the pain continued to worsen, he finally decided to go to the emergency room.

During the paperwork process, of course he informed those doing intake he had no insurance. He was, after a time, taken to an exam room, where he watched television for two hours while he waited to see a doctor. The doctor came in, looked in his ears, decided he had a severe infection, and wrote three prescriptions. There were no tests done, no blood drawn. Nothing but sitting in a room. For the luxury of sitting in an exam room instead of the lobby, he was charged $650. Another $50 was tacked on for the doctor's fee.

This young man makes $9 an hour. With travel and food expenses, his net pay isn't much. But he still had medicine to purchase. I knew he didn't have the money, so I sent him to the all-night pharmacy to pay for it with money I can't really afford to part with, but he couldn't work without medication. He was gone a while, and came back without the medication, almost in tears.

A prescription for two pills was more than $33. Another prescription for a dozen pain pills was more than $11. And then there was the kicker. A tiny bottle of ear drops, about half an ounce or so, was $141.

Fortunately for my grandson, I had the money in the bank to pay for the medication. He had no alternative for getting it, so I went to the pharmacy myself. But I was very angry. An ear infection cost almost $1,000. Thank God it wasn't something more serious, or something that required any kind of tests or blood work.

I am still angry that people who go to work every day and try to exist on the wages they make cannot be sick without being financially devastated. Insurance is not available to everyone, and not everyone can afford to pay half their monthly income to buy their own policy.

I have no specific solution to offer to resolve the problem of health care costs in this country. But I do know that people without insurance and insufficient income to purchase it, cannot pay the exorbitant amounts they are charged for basic care.

So, not only are they charged a month's income for an emergency room visit, they are blamed for rising health care costs because they can't afford to pay the bill. It is a complicated problem. But I'll never be convinced it costs $33 to make two pills, or $141 to produce half an ounce of medicine. Someone is making money, and it isn't the patient.

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