Health Care Costs Disputed at Slidell Memorial Hospital

 I recently watched the CBS Report by Steve Kroft on Sixty Minutes- Hospitals: The Costs of Admission all about unnecessary tests and admissions. This actual happened to me.

 I am right now in the mist of disputing the over $6,000.00 I was billed by Slidell Memorial Hospital when I went one time to get an EKG. Early one morning I had a sever chest pain and called my nurse daughter. She said to get get an EKG at the hospital. I drove to the emergency room thinking this would be a short simple process. Well what happened was I was strapped in a bed and spoke with a nurse for 5 minutes. A series of test were begun. Blood, X-Ray and finally the EKG. A doctor came in to visit about 5 minutes and told me the test were negative but he was keeping me for observation? I assumed I would wait there a few more minutes instead a nurse came in and said they needed my room and would move me to another. I was placed in a ward and laid there for hours. Another blood test was taken and another EKG about 5 hours later. The fellow next to me recounted a similar story and decided he would simply leave and tried many times to get a doctor to come see him. I was more patient waiting to find out why it took so long for me to simply get an EKG? After 8 hours a different doctor came in to tell me the second tests were also negative and he was releasing me. It took about 9 hours total. I should have left sooner. All test from the first on were negative. The delay and additional test were useless except it ran my medical bill up to $8,000.00. That's for going to get an EKG. I could have waited 3 more hours and go to a walk in clinic and the bill would have never been in the thousands of dollars. I am disputing all of the bills especially $1,600 for a doctor I spoke to for 5
minutes.
 After seeing the report from Steve Kroft on Sixty Minutes I am sure what was done in my case is the same thing. Unnecessary tests and unnecessary admission to run up a profit. Shame on the Slidell Memorial Hospital for doing this. I am sure they did the same to the other fellow in my room. He was objecting loudly asking why was he in the hospital when all he had was a stomach ache? I paid for the tests and doctors who read the tests, all under one hundred dollars. The hospital bill was reduced to $3,000.00 but several hospital or emergency physicians still claim $1,400 in doctor fees. One I never saw or met, the other two I saw less then 5 minutes each. I am fighting those and disputing the hospital bill as it should not cost $6,000 to go get an EKG.
 I will never set foot in Slidell Memorial Hospital again. It is a shame they do this to people who are in pain when they come to a hospital.