My $3000 ER visit and what I should have done with the money instead

Let’s set the stage. Winter in New York City on my honeymoon. You know how NYC is. Large, lots of walking, and cold in the winter. With all the walking and shivering from the cold, I ended up with a stiff back and hurt it when taking my luggage down from a rack. I couldn’t move. So, my newly-wedded husband rushed me to the emergency department of NYU Langone Health. After being administered a few pills, I was handed a hospital bill for $3000.

As someone who grew up outside of US, it still astounds me how much healthcare costs in the US. It is well-known that the US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. In 2015, the OECD estimated that over $9451 was spent per capita on healthcare in the United States, while average per capita healthcare expenditure globally was $3814. To compound on the cost, the problem is more complicated than anyone can comprehend. One would have to factor in administrative fees, physician salaries, more specialized fields, and many other reasons.

Even in pharmacy, we, as pharmacy interns, see upset customers at pick-up all the time due to deductibles, “donut-holes,” and higher Tier medications. However, there is nothing we can do about it except to apply a coupon/call the insurance company and hope that the customer does not yell at you. Not only that, there are so many different insurances that things get very confusing, and patients have a hard time interpreting their own plan.

However, it is somewhat understandable why and how US healthcare is complicated and expensive. The United States is one of the most medically innovative and advanced countries in the world, and there are many countries that benefit from this fact. In addition, few studies have suggested that other countries do not pay healthcare professionals enough compared to US. So, there are definitely benefits to the way US healthcare works. Unfortunately, with US being so diverse and with so many changes it has to implement, I do not see a single solution for it.

To go back to the story, I remember being very upset and unsure of what to do. I did end up being able to pay for it, but now that I think about it, I could have done so much with that $3000. Here is what I should have done instead: fly to Korea (~$2000), find a nearby emergency department (~$200-$300), enjoy Korean BBQ ($100), do some shopping at the airport (no comment), and fly back.  Even with all that, I would still have enough change to uber back to my apartment.