Word: miami
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When the sharp abdominal pain hit me earlier this summer, I thought it might be appendicitis. By the time I arrived at the emergency room of a nearby private hospital here in Miami, the pain was excruciating. I wanted to die - no matter what it cost...
...that added up to $12,000 is an object lesson in how health care expenditures have run amok in this country, and how critical it is that whatever reform bill comes out of Washington this year tackles this economy-wrecking mess. That's especially true in a market like Miami, which holds the dubious distinctions of having one of the nation's lowest median incomes yet its highest medical costs. According to a study released Thursday by Families USA, a Washington-based healthcare watchdog, family health insurance premiums for Florida workers doubled over the past decade, rising four times faster...
...doctors are gorging on it: the number of CAT scans performed in the U.S. each year has leapt more than 200% in the past decade, and a third of them are likely unnecessary, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. The overuse is acute in cities like Miami because doctors and hospitals feel they have to justify the glut of CT machines and related personnel they have on hand...
...doctor's decision." But his call amounted to what was probably a redundant 30% of a $12,000 bill. "Physicians and radiologists and the like, they all make up their own protocols for the scans," says Dr. Alan Whiteman, associate dean of health services at Barry University in Miami. "A lot of that needs to change...
...fair, the E.R. care level often has less to do with the severity of the case than with the diagnostic work required of the physician. Still, $3,000 for diagnosing a kidney stone "is unfortunately all too typical in Miami," says one South Florida healthcare expert - a big reason the average annual private healthcare provider costs for a family of four in the city is a remarkable...