the Cost of Emergency Room Visits for Illness

I was bitten by my house cat on my wrist, resulting in two pretty deep puncture wounds. I started having a fever that night, which continued into the next day, and my wrist swelled up pretty bad. The swelling spread three inches down my arm, and I was experiencing pain flexing my wrist.

I had heard many horror stories of people going to the ER too late after a cat bite and requiring surgery and sustaining permanent damage to their hand or fingers, so I decided to go to the emergency room that night, despite being broke and having no insurance.

I was admitted after an hour and the doctor looked at my arm, prescribed me an antibiotic called Doxycycline, and predicted a good outcome. I was also given a tetanus shot.

My total time in the hospital was 3 hours. I explained my financial situation and lack of insurance and the financial advisor worked out a charity rate for me. The hospital bill came out to $440, which she explained was a significant reduction, considering that the room itself was $500, shots are generally around $100, and other fees would probably have put the actual bill at well over $1000.

I was to pay the $440 within 2 weeks and mail in pay stubs from my pay check to verify my income, or I would pay the full rate.

She then pointed out that the doctor would bill me seperately, so the $440 didn't include the doctor's fee.

The hospital was great. Both the nurse and a cleaning lady were cat owners, and had plenty of advice to give me regarding my cat.

Overall though, it's a pretty steep price to pay just to get some antibiotics which I already knew I needed. At least I was able to get them for $4 at Walmart, saving me $45.

Just keep in mind that when you check into the emergency room, it's a mandatory $500 just for walking into the door.

Also, county hospitals are generally cheaper than private hospitals. The one I went to was private. I opted to go there over a closer county hospital because I had heard that they have a really good quality of care there. In the end though, it probably wasn't worth it.