Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]My daughter was born in Princeton in 1994. The total bill was around $10,000. We are talking about a totally uncomplicated vaginal delivery, with just one night in the hospital. Fortunately, most of it was covered by insurance--I was working for AT&T back then, and in those days we still had the traditional, gold-plated health insurance. However, legally the patient is still responsible if something goes wrong with the insurance. In our case, the anesthesiologist's office had misspelled my last name (not uncommon...) and so the insurance refused their bill of $700. It took 10 months to resolve this little issue, with me receiving more and more threatening letters from the hospital. But at that point I knew that we would be moving to Belgium within a few months, so I did not care. In the end, things were fixed just before we left the US. Having experienced the health care systems in 6 countries in my adult life, I have to conclude that the US one is deeply dysfunctional, despite the world-beating excellence of its doctors, hospitals and drug companies. Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ YNWA On Apr 6, 2012, at 9:55 PM, Richard Man wrote: > Hi Joseph, our fee is fairly typical :-( > > I was assuming that we would be liable for may be $1200-$1500, but the > final assessment was a shock. April is a particularly cruel month for us > since it's Tax Day and also the time when the real estate taxes for CA is > due. Also flood insurance that we are *forced* to get because we have a > mortgage etc. We will also talk to the hospital about a payment plan... > > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 2:12 AM, Joseph Yao <jkfyao at gmail.com> wrote: > >> Richard, >> >> You mean you have to pay that much for ER in the US?? What happens to >> those >> who cannot pay? >> >> I used to be an ER doc and ER was free in HK until Nov 2002 when the >> government imposed a flat charge of HK$100 (approx. US$13) per visit. >> This >> has not been increased since. >> >> Joseph >> >> >> On 5/4/12 10:47 AM, "Richard Man" <richard at richardmanphoto.com> wrote: >> >>> I know it's not Friday, but bill came in disregarding the day of the >> week. >>> Please indulge me. >>> >>> Well, an ER bill with ~$4000 not covered by insurance so here goes. >> Paypal >>> OK but please use "living expense" option because it is. Shipping via >>> Priority Mail etc. at cost. Oversea via Express Mail. Thank you. >>> >>> All the glasses on the lens are clear, no scratch or fungus. >>> >>> Perar 28/4 Triplet. Serial #55. Includes the hard to find Skylight UV. >> It's >>> not sold out yet from source, but you know it will. It works great on the >>> M9 and is not the smallest M lens. $670 >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/1-20120404-_4048334.jpg >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/2-20120404-_4048335.jpg >>> >>> >>> M9 "Street Shooter." It holds the M9 with smallest lens to your belt. >> Works >>> great even with 50mm lens. $70. >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/4-20120404-_4048337.jpg >>> >>> >>> IR converted Olympus E-330. This was one of the first camera with good >>> liveview with a second sensor purely for that function. ~7 Megapixels but >>> the IR images make it quite sharp. Includes one battery. Works with all >> 4/3 >>> (NOT Micro 4/3) lens. $150. >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/5-20120404-_4048338.jpg >>> >>> >>> A Leica Summicron 50mm R converted to XPan with RF coupling!! Sadly, the >>> focus is only good to around 8 feet and then you must use the distance >>> scale. It covers ~52mm of the pano frame at distance and of course covers >>> the normal frame too... The mount adapter is removable (so other R lens >> can >>> be used on the XPan) and the lens can be converted back to R function by >>> SKGrimaes. The white tape just tells me not to turn the lens past the >>> closest focusing point for the XPan $400. >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/8-20120404-_4048343.jpg >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/9-20120404-_4048344.jpg >>> >>> >>> Hasselblad XPan II with the 45/4 lens. This is the lowest priced XPan II >>> you will ever see. It's my back up body. It looks quite beat up, but >> takes >>> great images. No problems with any function whatsoever. The strap shown >> is >>> NOT included. (will throw in a generic strap) $1600 >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/11-20120404-_4048346.jpg >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/13-20120404-_4048348.jpg >>> >>> Olympus 50-200 SWD. Everything works great. Includes box and caps. Works >>> wonderfully on the E-3. Does NOT include the teleconverter shown on the >>> images. $700. >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/15-20120404-_4048350.jpg >>> >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/16-20120404-_4048351.jpg >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> http://richardmanphoto.com/PICS/FS-2012-04/.jpg >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > > -- > // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >