the Price of Hospital Stays

In April of 2006 my wife had brain surgery. At the time, we were with an HMO that charged us a simply flat rate of $250 per hospital admission whether the stay was 1 night or 20. This $250 was all inclusive and the only out of pocket cost we paid for her surgery and 9 days in the hospital.

I cannot say enough good things about the service we received. First of all, the price was amazing. I have talked with people who have had similar surgeries and staying in the hospital a far shorter time and have paid $5000-,000 in out of pocket expenses for their surgery. But with our HMO, we paid one simple fixed price for all of our care within their network.

Outside of the price, the service at the hospital was incredible. Our surgeon was an internationally recognized brain surgeon and the staff of nurses that cared for my wife were kind, competent, and went out of their way to make us both feel welcome. In spite of the often negative things people have to say about HMO service, we loved ours.

When it comes to making health care cost effective, an HMO is definitely the way to go. True, you do miss out of some of the more personal service you can receive while on other health plans, but if you have a history of major complications or think that may be in your future, I would suggest getting on an HMO. It will save you a lot of money. But do your homework first! Not all HMO's are the same and we were lucky that the one we were on was rated one of the best in the state.