While I know MUSC does some really great things, I just had a VERY interesting conversation with a lady there. My son was involved in a motorcycle accident in Houston Texas on May 11th and has been hospitilized since. A guy pulled out in front of him and my son sustained a very severe break of his lower right leg, he will be released from the hospital later this week and I needed a orthopedis locally to check him out here since he will be recouping here for several months before heading back to Houston. He has no insurance and I explained that I would be paying cash for his visit or visits, I was told they were not accepting that type patient, only patients with insurance. I was a little taken aback by that answer and asked if MUSC was a state supported school, I knew the answer, lady said it was. So my tax dollars are supporting a hospital that will not see my son even though I am willing and able to pay cash money for his visits. Asked the lady how he could possible be seen and was told for me to take him to the emergency room and they have to see him, no questions asked. Something is terrible wrong with this. Lots of people know where I work, MUSC comes by very frequently for donations for the many charities they put on, I’ll be there next time they stop by. Oh by the way, he was wearing a helmet, motorcycle jacket, gloves and boots he is a very smart young man.
MUSC is a state entity, but I believe that applies to the university as a whole. The hospital, I believe, was separated and is it’s own “authority”, in fact billing is handled by the MUSC Hospital Authority. And even with the state designation, less than 10% of the operating budget is supported by the state.
Even with that, I’m surprised that the orthopedic clinic stated that they wouldn’t take cash. Generally, the clinics can tell you up front what the costs will be for visits/treatment and you could pay up front for the services. They should be happy to receive payment since generally, their recoupment runs in the neighborhood of 30% of billing and that’s with insurance, including medicaid.
At least, that’s my understanding.
tom
This makes no sense at all! Not only do we accept cash, but we will extend a discount to someone who pays cash up-front. There is obviously a misunderstanding here. If there is a way to get this individual to contact us we could hook them up with the right person and straighten this out. So sorry that you have received misinformation!
Please email woolwinh@musc.edu and I will help you get to the right person to get this worked out.
HMW
Heather it made no sense to me either but that is what I was told. I contacted Charleston Bone and Joint and spoke with a very nice and helpful lady and she has started the ball rolling for me there. If for any reason things go wrong there I will certainly contact you. Thank you for responding to my topic, I was very frustrated with the answer I received from that lady at MUSC. Son has been released and we head for Charleston in the morning, again thank you for your help.