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Had a kidney stone removed via lithotripsy (ultrasound demolition under general anesthesia).
Received a statement from the hospital:
If you were uninsured this procedure would cost you ~$27,000 but because we have a deal with your insurance company, we are "only" going to charge you ~$8.000 for your copay.
I'm sure the insurance company didn't shell out ~$19,000.
15 minute procedure plus putting you under and bringing you back out.

PP

My medical insurance pays for very expensive injections in Mrs OFSO's knees five times a year. Er no, three times. Make that two times. Nothings changed except restrictions on what they will shell out. Health-driven medical insurance? Don't make me laugh. It's profit-driven.

PHX, I'm a bit curious about how that can possibly be justified.
I've had lithotripsy a few times (free of charge on the NHS!) for a reluctant kidney stone. The actual process takes about ten minutes and is no more painful than being zapped with a small rubber band such that it's quite possible to have a chat about Life, the Universe and Everything with the operator while it's happening.
Aside from the absurd price I would personally be far more concerned about the effects of being given an unnecessary general anaesthetic.
Do you get given any options about the level of treatment given?

PHX, bear up, someone has to pay for the overheads.

I have a medical cash plan. It works well at our age as we tend to dip in each section, except childbirth, and max out on dental and eyecare. Even during Covid we managed to max out. This year they even gave everyone a free month because of Covid.
And there must have been a few who picked up £1,000 for hospital stays because of Covid.

John:
Had it done twice.
Both times knocked out, no choice.

PP

Before my bowel cancer procedure, conducted in New Zealand, I happened to be in California and attended a free - yes ! - talk at UCLA on the subject, after which I approached the Dr. lecturer and asked if he could look over my clinical notes and give a second opinion as to my decision to go ahead with the proposed surgery ? Yes, he replied, call my sec'y. tomorrow. When I did I was told that Dr. X would see me, but I must pay $650 on entry before he could see me ! This I did.

The Dr. gave me the confidence that I was going to follow a good procedure, but he wasn't a specialist colo-rectal surgeon, his colleague could see me but it would cost me a further $1400 ! I passed on that suggestion.

The whole consultation lasted about 10 minutes, and no, I had no insurance cover for that.

What's with lack of capital letters?

When did Police Constable become Pc?

When did Carbon Dioxide become Co2?

When did Carbon Dioxide start being spelled with -xc - ( sorry, couldn't resist - blame Windows spellcheck ! )

THE Cambridge vice-chancellor who was at the centre of a free speech row has resigned saying that the pandemic has made him reassess being far away from his family.

Professor Stephen Toope, a Canadian, will step down at the end of September next year after five years in office saying that coronavirus had made him realise that being close to his children and grandchildren is “more important than ever”.

If he is resigning for family reasons why doesn't he foxtrot Oscar now?

Received a text from the NHS this afternoon asking me to book my booster covid jab. Followed all of the instructions and result was website not found, did it again with same result.
It is the NHS so nothing will be simple..

French-registered BMW SUV pulls up outside, could they see the house NOW. I said no, not convenient, eating supper, tomorrow or Friday afternoon. Says they want to see house NOW, only take two minutes. I say no. Man puts car in gear, never says a word, drives off. Rude bastard.

Dealing with French is impossible. They only want cheap run-down houses they can restore with workers and materials from France, working illegally at the weekend. None of the work including extensions is declared in Spain.

Well thanks for nothing FIFA

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58656257

PC became almost unusable with ads everywhere and some causing streaming sites to crash.
Did a little exploring and soon realized that my ad blocker had stopped running.
All is better but I have been unable to restore start menu/task manager.
Machine may have to go in to he fixer of such machines.

PP

Went online to eBuyer and ordered a 6ft long audio lead to link my desktop PC to new speakers. Ordered in a hurry and only later did I notice that eBuyer were charging £12 to ship a £2.97 cable to "Scottish Highlands" via Royal Mail. I put an adverse review on TrustPilot which resulted in eBuyer refunding my £12 whilst reminding me to read the costs which are clearly displayed on their website, and that this was a one-off refund. I thanked them for the refund but pointed out that Royal Mail do not differentiate between "Scottish Highlands" and the rest of the UK and they certainly don't charge £12 for a package weighing about 2 oz. The eBuyer chap said that he would pass my comment on to the "appropriate team".

ricardian wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:02 am

Went online to eBuyer and ordered a 6ft long audio lead to link my desktop PC to new speakers. Ordered in a hurry and only later did I notice that eBuyer were charging £12 to ship a £2.97 cable to "Scottish Highlands" via Royal Mail. I put an adverse review on TrustPilot which resulted in eBuyer refunding my £12 whilst reminding me to read the costs which are clearly displayed on their website, and that this was a one-off refund. I thanked them for the refund but pointed out that Royal Mail do not differentiate between "Scottish Highlands" and the rest of the UK and they certainly don't charge £12 for a package weighing about 2 oz. The eBuyer chap said that he would pass my comment on to the "appropriate team".

A pox on these postal cost price gougers...

Oh well ricardian, at least you are not one of those hi-fi fundi's that are prepared to spend ridiculous amounts of money, to purchase impedance free gold braided cable, to bring their favourite vibes to the pristine wax of their ears, when a £2.97 cable will do the job just as well!

https://robbreport.com/gear/electronics ... available/

Another small rant from someone who doesn't like to spend a lot if there is no reason for it. I wanted to buy a new card for the camera. I asked for assistance from a salesperson at the physical store and I was shown straight to the 64 Gb ones - the largest capacity ones and more expensive. Why do the go for the most expensive and they don't suggest something better priced? At the end I found two unused cards and I didn't buy a new one.

TheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:20 am

Oh well ricardian, at least you are not one of those hi-fi fundi's that are prepared to spend ridiculous amounts of money, to purchase impedance free gold braided cable

I've still got my "monster" cables that connect the amp to the main speakers. These, hopefully, are still effective from 40 years ago. My hearing has deteriorated to such an extent I don't think I would know anyway.

SD cards - more important than capacity is the transfer speed, indicated by the number on the card. Cheap ones don't perform well in some functions.

Speaker cables - I always used 1.5mm twin core lighting flex. However for years it's been headphones, hence the tinnitus today!

TGG wrote:A pox on these postal cost price gougers.

It is fascinating to 'browse' on Amazon for an item - let's say it will cost around £12. Select Display 'price low to high'. There you may well find the same item for 0.01p (postage £13.20). Do folk acually buy from these listings?

TheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:20 am

Oh well ricardian, at least you are not one of those hi-fi fundi's that are prepared to spend ridiculous amounts of money, to purchase impedance free gold braided cable, to bring their favourite vibes to the pristine wax of their ears, when a £2.97 cable will do the job just as well!
https://robbreport.com/gear/electronics ... available/

Even more ludicrous than expensive speaker cable is this mains cable - 2 metres for a mere 599 pounds sterling.
And how about a 3 pin plug for just 12 pounds sterling!
Do these people think about all the mains cabling & fuse boards prior to their super-duper plug and cable?