the Cost of Emergency Room Visits for Illness

I went to the emergency room of an HMO because I was having uncontrollable vomiting and shaking.

I was seen for $100, had a bunch of tests run for free, and got medication for $25.

I saw the triage nurse immediately, then waited about an hour to be officially admitted. When I was admitted, I lay on a bed in the hall for another hour until apparently somebody got tired of me throwing up in public and put me in a room.

Once in the room, it took about 45 minutes for the nurse to come in and attach an IV (at this point, my boyfriend was in there to keep me company, but he had to sit on the counter, as there were no chairs). Then, about an hour after that, the doctor came in and asked me the same questions as the triage nurse had. He ordered a bunch of tests and left.

The nurse came in to take blood for the tests and change the IV. The doctor had said that he would tell the nurse to turn the IV "up" (make it go faster) but the nurse didn't want to so my boyfriend did when no one was looking.

Then it was time for the shift change, so I got a new doctor and nurse and had to explain everything all over again. The doctor said he would check on the tests and disappeared for almost another hour.

After six hours in the ER, I was finally told that they had no idea what was wrong with me and given a prescription for anti-nausea medication.

Obviously, this service was less than ideal, but due to my health insurance, I didn't have a choice about where to go. The hospital was crowded and stark and dirty with way too many patients and not enough staff.

I guess this is something that you should think about before choosing an insurance company, if you get a choice. See if you have options about where to go for services and talk to people who have been to those hospitals.