80 people went to Dallas emergency rooms 5,139 times in a year

[TwiceHorn 30738]

https://www.wfaa.com/amp/article/features/originals/80-people-went-to-dallas-emergency-rooms-5139-times-in-a-year-usually-because-they-were-lonely/287-f5351d53-6e60-4d64-8d17-6ebba48a01e4

Not posted as a comment on Obamacare or any other health insurance program.  Just an interesting note on medical utilization in the US.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

One of the elements of white or class or educated privilege that has become vivid to me over the years is encapsulated by this passage:

Quote

Michael Johnson is 57. He’s from Dallas. He’s diabetic. He has a job in fast food. He rents a home. He gets by.

Until recently, no one ever explained to him how hospitals, doctors and emergency rooms work. 

“My momma always told me when something’s wrong with you, go see the doctor,” Johnson said. 

There are some people, probably a startling number, that even Obamacare and Medicaid aren't going to help.

[Lhorn 4862]

Not trying to be an ass, but I'm not seeing how that passage relates to white privilege or any privilege, except that Michael Johnson, 57 yo from Dallas, Tx might be dumber than Forrest Gump. It is surprising that he can rent a home working a fast food job.  Maybe he's a manager, but then how does he not know the first thing about how to access healthcare?  

[HenryJames 64950]

46 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Michael Johnson is 57. He’s from Dallas. He’s diabetic. He has a job in fast food. He rents a home. He gets by.

He's got a daytime job. He's doing alright.

[DaysOff 7674]

He don't give a damn about trumpet playing band.

[Huckleberry 32154]

11 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

Not trying to be an ass, but I'm not seeing how that passage relates to white privilege or any privilege, except that Michael Johnson, 57 yo from Dallas, Tx might be dumber than Forrest Gump. It is surprising that he can rent a home working a fast food job.  Maybe he's a manager, but then how does he not know the first thing about how to access healthcare?  

He specifically said educated privilege, so you are indeed showing your ass.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

16 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

Not trying to be an ass, but I'm not seeing how that passage relates to white privilege or any privilege, except that Michael Johnson, 57 yo from Dallas, Tx might be dumber than Forrest Gump. It is surprising that he can rent a home working a fast food job.  Maybe he's a manager, but then how does he not know the first thing about how to access healthcare?  

Even if this is not a great example, there are things that most of us raised according to a certain standard of living take for granted that are very much acquired knowledge for vaster swaths of society than we might imagine.  A lot of it is not a privilege based on race at all, although members of certain races are more likely to have or lack the "privilege" than others.

Our parents have jobs with health insurance and 401ks.  A fair number of people have parents that don't and they don't know the difference (they're not hoping for that promotion or better job for the 401k or the health benefits, maybe the latter).  Therefore the parents don't automatically pass knowledge along of how to have/acquire and use health insurance or how to use a 401k or otherwise save money.  They may not even have checking accounts and certainly not savings accounts, so none of that gets passed down either.  They don't own a home, and  . . . . so on and so forth ad infinitum ad nauseam.

[PRONG HORN 3085]

16 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

He specifically said educated privilege, so you are indeed showing your ass.

 

It's not commas separating the words, Those are "or"s.  

 

[Brisketexan 103193]

Look, dammit, sometimes you fall just the right way, and million-to-one shot, man, stuff just happens....

[Billy Pilgrim 1868]

Here’s part of the problem- there’s no accountability for people like Johnson. Going to the ER doesn’t cost him anything so why the hell not go?

 

I, on the other hand, have a co-pay and a deductible that could run into the thousands if I go to the ER before the insurance even kicks in. Therefore, I don’t go to the ER if I’ve got a cough, or I think I’ve got the flu, a stomach bug or cut myself on glass. These are all ailments that don’t require an ER visit but people visit the ER all day, everyday for them.

i don’t know what the answer is for people like Johnson but there needs to be some accountability for him. Mine is a financial penalty that I don’t want to incur. He needs something similar to curb his visits.

[Brisketexan 103193]

8 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

You've been on a curious kick lately Twice. Not saying good or bad just curious.

"Curious" is how you end up with a bottle up your arse.  Just sayin'....

[Guest]

Limit their entitlements...and yes this absolutely is one.

 

[Brisketexan 103193]

1 minute ago, BurntEyes said:

Don't look at me... My anus has and will always remain bottle free.

Like you didn't leave out a detail or two in your "I fell down the stairs and totally busted my head' story.  You can't fool this audience.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

I wonder if there really is some way to handle this.  If you go more than 25 times in a year then you need to get a doctor to verify that you have some condition likely to expose you to repeated ER visits or you get put on some do-not-respond list.  Is the occasional mess up related to that list worth the money saved and abuse reduced?

[Deej 76086]

We had two people in our office, who had perfectly good health insurance provided by our employer, who went to the ER for every little thing. Cold, allergies, scrapes and cuts...you name it. I guess it was just too difficult to pay the $30 co-pay for an office visit, or for White Glove to come by the house or office to give them some meds. 

[El Diablo 4232]

12 minutes ago, Deej said:

We had two people in our office, who had perfectly good health insurance provided by our employer, who went to the ER for every little thing. Cold, allergies, scrapes and cuts...you name it. I guess it was just too difficult to pay the $30 co-pay for an office visit, or for White Glove to come by the house or office to give them some meds. 

Girl in my office had to leave work early the other day because her husband had gone to the ER and "it must be serious, he's NEVER sick!". I hear her husband is in the ER and I'm thinking he's severed a limb or some shit. Nope.

[Biff Tannen 44929]

Go on...

[El Diablo 4232]

Just now, Biff Tannen said:

Go on...

She has tits. Two of them in fact.

[Buffsoldier 1895]

Drug. Seeking. Behavior

[Lhorn 4862]

2 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

He specifically said educated privilege, so you are indeed showing your ass.

He also said white privilege and I also said “any privilege” to be inclusive of other forms of privilege. 

Quit being a cunt. 

[Bigbend1812 12864]

This happens at hospitals all over the country. This is a small snap shot. 

[TwiceHorn 30738]

3 hours ago, PRONG HORN said:

 

It's not commas separating the words, Those are "or"s.  

 

I am normally a pretty strenuous adherent to the Oxford comma.  But like burnt says, I'm in a curious frame o mind these days.

[Anastasis 23191]

1 hour ago, Bigbend1812 said:

This happens at hospitals all over the country. This is a small snap shot. 

Similar data from Austin CommUnityCare a few years ago.  Can't find the article, but basically a small handful of people drive the ER utilization in Austin. Just stupid numbers. It works on a broader scale as well.  The vast majority of healthcare costs are drive by single digit percent of utilizers.  Over eighty-five percent of costs driven by two broad disease states. 

[Neonmoon 38126]

Some people do not want to get better. Some people do not want to see a primary care physician. Yet we insist

[immortal13 4059]

Fuck all of these people

[Trey3216 15298]

10 minutes ago, thestud said:

 

Ha. Just went and queried the address of one of our moderately regular customers. Since October 1st she has called 9-1-1 One Hundred Sixty Seven times. 167. Last time was at 9:12 this morning.

 

That’s damn near 5/7 days every week.  Good God 

[immortal13 4059]

11 minutes ago, thestud said:

 

Ha. Just went and queried the address of one of our moderately regular customers. Since October 1st she has called 9-1-1 One Hundred Sixty Seven times. 167. Last time was at 9:12 this morning.

 

Someone needs to break her fucking phone

[bschoolprof 6219]

pardon my ignorance, but he gets charged something for going to the ER, correct?  And he just doesn't pay these bills?  Can't they garnish your wages for unpaid medical bills?

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

3 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

pardon my ignorance, but he gets charged something for going to the ER, correct?  And he just doesn't pay these bills?  Can't they garnish your wages for unpaid medical bills?

no.

[Skipper 5955]

28 minutes ago, thestud said:

 

Ha. Just went and queried the address of one of our moderately regular customers. Since October 1st she has called 9-1-1 One Hundred Sixty Seven times. 167. Last time was at 9:12 this morning.

 

Fuck a safety net for people that abuse the system like this.  If you hit a reasonable cap and don't have insurance your ass doesn't get picked up.  If they end up actually sick and die, well, sucks for them, and good for the taxpayers.

[Anastasis 23191]

10 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

pardon my ignorance, but he gets charged something for going to the ER, correct?  And he just doesn't pay these bills?  Can't they garnish your wages for unpaid medical bills?

LOL @ "garnish wages". 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Did anyone really think the ACA was going to end this practice ?  It's just made it easier.

[Bullneck 18618]

6 hours ago, DaysOff said:

He don't give a damn about trumpet playing band.

It ain't what they call rock and roll.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

It does appear that people that enter the system via ER never pay for medical care and are rarely if ever denied it.

Can a person receive treatment for a chronic disease, let's say diabetes or arthritis this way?  Crohn's?  Cancer?

[zork 629]

similar to 911 abuse penalties, it seems like there ought to be a threshold for the system, medical or otherwise, to recognize the serious, clear, abuse and warn then fine the abusers till they stop.

[babysdaddy 2708]

That is unbelievable. One of the items about the ACA was to remove unpaid medical bills from impacting credit scores. So there is literally no incentive to pay ER bills. They legally cannot refuse to treat a patient and the patient does not have to ever pay.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

3 minutes ago, babysdaddy said:

That is unbelievable. One of the items about the ACA was to remove unpaid medical bills from impacting credit scores. So there is literally no incentive to pay ER bills. They legally cannot refuse to treat a patient and the patient does not have to ever pay.

The vast majority of the people doing this have no credit score and would never receive any type of credit.  I dont think the ACA had any effect on this whatsoever.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

The vast majority of the people doing this have no credit score and would never receive any type of credit.  I dont think the ACA had any effect on this whatsoever.

But it damn sure was supposed to. Unecesary ER visits would go away because people would have access to doctors thru their newly acquired health insurance.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

A buddy of mine is a fireman / EMT and has worked downtown Houston. In a typical shift, they spend most of their day peeling Kush casualties off the sidewalk and dropping them off at Ben Taub, where they detox for a few hours, and then walk right out the door looking for more Kush. (That fake weed shit that is more like bath salts if you don't know.)

[GottaB 585]

"Curious" is how you end up with a bottle up your arse.  Just sayin'....

It was a million to one shot Jerry

[TwiceHorn 30738]

17 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

A buddy of mine is a fireman / EMT and has worked downtown Houston. In a typical shift, they spend most of their day peeling Kush casualties off the sidewalk and dropping them off at Ben Taub, where they detox for a few hours, and then walk right out the door looking for more Kush. (That fake weed shit that is more like bath salts if you don't know.)

I think you mean Kratom.  I havent messed with weed of any kind in 25 years, and I know Kush is legit.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

I think you mean Kratom.  I havent messed with weed of any kind in 25 years, and I know Kush is legit.

No, that shows your age, and mine for that matter. Kush used to be a strain of weed. Now the name has jumped to describe what was fairly recently known as K-2 or "spice."

[TwiceHorn 30738]

Oh well, more than happy to be ignorant of all that shit.

[immortal13 4059]

7 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

No, that shows your age, and mine for that matter. Kush used to be a strain of weed. Now the name has jumped to describe what was fairly recently known as K-2 or "spice."

No

[Bullneck 18618]

So, 80 people?  Statistically, that's nothing.  To try to extrapolate that into the broader health care discussion is absurd.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

Three people visited DFW ER's 500 times in one year.  Eighty people 5,000 times.  You can extrapolate that ERs are not being used for emergencies by a significant number of people for a very significant number of visits.

[TwiceHorn 30738]

18 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

No

Actually, if you google it, seems to be a Houston thing.

[cactusflinthead 26805]

Is there an equivalent use of the ER in other countries? 

[TornACL 7652]

14 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Three people visited DFW ER's 500 times in one year.  Eighty people 5,000 times.  You can extrapolate that ERs are not being used for emergencies by a significant number of people for a very significant number of visits.

That extrapolation doesn't really make any sense. 

Can't you also argue, with the numbers in front of us, that the vast majority of useless ER visits are being caused by an incredibly small number of outlier patients? 

[Anastasis 23191]

46 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

So, 80 people?  Statistically, that's nothing.  To try to extrapolate that into the broader health care discussion is absurd.