Ridiculous medical bill stings worse than scorpion
Sep 5, 2012, 5:44 PM | Updated: 7:17 pm
I’ve been stung twice by scorpions.
I’m not telling you this in order to appear to be a courageous superhero waiting for my manly medal. In truth, the first time I screamed like a little girl walking on red-hot coals. The pain went up my leg and I had a hard time walking upstairs for a few days.
My discomfort was nothing compared to the agony a Phoenix woman from the Ahwatukee neighborhood recently experienced when she found out she was being billed $83,000 for treatment of a scorpion sting.
She was not given extreme treatment for shock or allergies. It was the same kind of ordinary scorpion experience most Arizonans have.
The shock came from opening the bill.
The woman says that she had been told about the new antivenom that could quickly relieve her symptoms. What she says she wasn’t told is that each dose would cost $40,000. The woman’s insurer has already paid $57,000 to the hospital but she still owes $25,000.
Obamacare, Romneycare, I don’t care. This is about the madness of American medical costs.
And the pain I’m feeling is as if I sat on a scorpion.
I’m Pat McMahon.
