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<DIV>Vi,</DIV>
<DIV>Everything Sandy said was true. When it comes to the heart you can’t
delay treatment.</DIV>
<DIV>One thing to always remember is if you are not feeling okay don’t let the
ER doc discharge </DIV>
<DIV>you. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ER cannot deny anyone treatment unless they want to break federal laws but
they can discharge </DIV>
<DIV>you once they consider a person to be stable. Also when the bill
comes in tell you friend not to be</DIV>
<DIV>shocked. The amount of the bill does not necessarily mean that is the
amount she has to pay. ER’s </DIV>
<DIV>always charge a whole lot more for the services. (Example: A U/A can
cost $500 in the ER and about</DIV>
<DIV>$30-$50 when sent to the lab from a doctor’s office.) Once she
gets the bill she needs to call the billing</DIV>
<DIV>office. Hospitals have the ability to greatly reduce the bill or even
write off the total costs if her income </DIV>
<DIV>is low. The program is called the indigent program but it also
applies to low income people as well. </DIV>
<DIV>All nonprofit hospitals are required by law to write off a certain
percentage of costs. She should also check </DIV>
<DIV>into some of the low cost clinics and/or apply for Medicaid which may cover
the full cost or she </DIV>
<DIV>could have a share of cost that is much lower than what the bill would be
for private pay.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If she has Medicare then she can ask if the hospital will accept the
Medicare assignment as payment</DIV>
<DIV>in full. Some doctors and hospitals will do this but you have to
ask. The doctors and hospitals don’t </DIV>
<DIV>usually advertise this. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What ever she does she needs to have a regular doctor. When it
comes to the heart a person cannot ignore </DIV>
<DIV>it. One of the biggest risks with A-fib is blood clots.
My recommendation for anyone who is ordered Coumadin is</DIV>
<DIV>to always go on the name brand instead of the generic warfarin. The
reason is that generics can legally have</DIV>
<DIV>15% more or less of the main ingredient. With warfarin (generic name)
it is harder to stabilize the person because </DIV>
<DIV>they may not have the same generic each month so there can be a difference
in the amount of drug they are </DIV>
<DIV>receiving. That can lead to increase testing and the need for an
increase in med or being prescribed other meds</DIV>
<DIV>if the blood is too thin. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We are sending heart healthy drool to your friend. I hope that she
can soon find a way to be able to get some type</DIV>
<DIV>of coverage because she needs a doctor.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Droolz,</DIV>
<DIV>Karen and the Dog House Gang </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>