A New York YouTuber took to Twitter in 2022 to share her shock at the fact that her little sister was charged for crying during a hospital visit.
By now, we all know that the things you can be charged for during a medical visit, especially in an emergency situation, are out of control. This story from Camille Johnson is one of many glaringly clear examples of it. As you can imagine, people were pretty outraged to see crying out of frustration over an ongoing medical situation being equated to something that requires medical care and not just basic human compassion.
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What was more shocking is that once Camille shared her sister's story, many more like it came to light.
Camille explained that the situation occurred when her little sister sought medical attention for an ongoing issue.
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"My little sister has been really struggling with a health condition lately and finally got to see a doctor. They charged her $40 for crying," she wrote.
"She has a rare disease so she's been really struggling to find care. She got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless," Camille continued.
"One tear in and they charged her $40 without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing."
Now to many people, a $40 charge isn't worth arguing over. Camille offered some additional perspective that might make you think twice about that, however.
"They charged her more for crying than they did for a vision assessment test," she wrote.
"They charged her more for crying than for a hemoglobin test. They charged her more for crying than for a health risk assessment. They charged her more for crying than for a capilary blood draw."
Most people replied with understandable outrage. One reply pointed to another tweet where someone had this happen to them. They were charged just $11 for a "brief emotion," compared to the $40 Camille's sister was charged for a "brief emotional/behavioral assessment."
A medical billing coder chimed in to the conversation offering some more jaw-dropping facts.
"As a person getting a Medical Billing and Coding certificate, I can say sadly… yes there is. There is a code for literally anything out of the ordinary," she wrote.
"These include 'bumping into another person' (W51.XXXA), a hickey (S10.87XA), and complaining about in-laws (Z63.1)."
People have noted that this is why it's crucial to asked for itemized bills from medical providers. You always want to know exactly what you're paying for so that if you object, you can do so.
