Patient learns that hospital charged him extra for crying

This is a small piece of news that is doing the rounds of the twitosphere. In the United States, a New York resident saw her health care bill increase because of crying. It was her older sister, Camille Johnson, who, infuriated by this overbilling, decided to boast on social networks on May 17. In a post that has been liked more than 520,000 times and retweeted over 68,000 times, she explains that the hospital added $40 (about €37.70) to her sister’s medical bill, partly because of patient counseling. cried during In all, his sister had to pay a bill of $485. Suffering from a rare disease, the patient had last January consulted a doctor, who passed a battery of tests to ensure the development of his health condition.

“My little sister recently struggled with a health issue and eventually had to go to a doctor. They charged her $40 for crying. My sister was having a hard time accessing medical care. Her frustration and Overwhelmed by emotions because of helplessness”Camille Johnson wrote in the caption of a picture of the said invoice.

The invoice actually indicates a “brief emotional and behavioral assessment”. One reason for invoicing that may sound absurd and which is still legal in the United States. Indeed, doctors can charge for an “emotional assessment” since 2015, when a patient’s health status requires an examination by a specialist responsible for screening for mental illness, depression or behavioral disorders. Camille Johnson nonetheless specifies on a daily basis Independent”That no specialist had examined her sister and therefore nothing was prescribed to her and nothing was done to improve her mental health. She also specifies that “no one tried to understand why she was crying nor tried to help her”.

“We need a step change in healthcare and I thought sharing a real-life story online would be a great way to open up the conversation and help advocate for change”she explained Independent, In fact, his tweet quickly went viral and inspired many others to condemn the misuse of billing, which they may also be victims of. So the case of Camille Johnson’s sister does not seem isolated.