The health care numbers

We returned home from vacation to find a number of bills from Carilion.

On August 15, I went to see a physical therapist about my low back pain, per doctor's orders.

Carilion charged $455 for me to spend an hour with a man who said, essentially, "Yeah, you have no muscle strength in either your back or your abdomen." He gave me one exercise and told me to come back.

I have not been back. That is a little steep for an hour with a physical therapist, even if my insurance covered all but $52 of it. I personally think that $52 is about right for that hour. Not $455.

Carilion also charged $1,787.25 for my five-hour visit to the emergency room for chest pains on September 2. The breakdown on this is: observation/trtmt room, $115.50; radiology, $104.50, lab/hematology $57.75; lab chemistry, $400; supplies/imp/graft, $24.75; emergency room, $976.75; EKG/Echo, $108.

My share of this is $251.53. Anthem, my insurance carrier, said that $115.50 of Carilion's total charge was too much, and paid the remainder.

The doctor's bill for overseeing my care in the ER was $265, of which I paid $40, and Anthem said $77.50 was too much.

I have not received additional bills for the lab work nor have I yet received a bill for the stress test I took on September 21. Without insurance, since August 15, I would have had to pay out $2,507.25.

I suppose, on the surface, this makes insurance look like a good thing. But we have paid $4,037.50 ourselves this year so far to the insurance company. This is just for my insurance. My husband's employer pays his share, and that's another $3,010.00. So our insurance company has recieved $7,047.50 from us so far this year.

That $2,507.25 doesn't look so bad when you look at it from that perspective.

But to be fair, we've spent, out of pocket, $2,103.86 for various medical expenses. My records indicate a breakdown of $1,211 paid out of pocket for prescription medicines, and $852 paid out of pocket for doctor visits. I do not know, though, how much Anthem has paid but let's assume it's triple that amount. That would be another $6,311.58.

So we're still coming out ahead with insurance, I suppose, but not by much. We are, I feel, health-care poor.

I really think the health care system in this country leaves a lot to be desired. The doctors know little about true health care; all they know how to do is prescribe a pill. They don't look for cures; they cover up symptoms. And who knows what all of those drugs do to your system.

I am not a politician or a doctor, but it seems to me the patient sure does get lost in all of this, particularly when all that seems to matter are the dollar signs.