$13,000 for 3-days stay in hospital!!!

[makapaaa]

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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - $13,000 for 3-days stay in hospital!!!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>Chi_Ko_Pek <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Apr-7 9:32 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 29) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>47327.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>I was reading the report about the Thai teenage girl whose legs got cutoff by the mrt, feel sad and pity her, but what shocked me was the following:
IT COST $13,000 FOR HER 3-DAYS STAY IN A PUBLIC HOSPITAL!!!
Ok she's a foreigner, most likely not subsidised, but the act of a public hospital billing a patient such an exorbitant amount is akin to robbing the unfortunate.
It's a public hospital, and most likely she's staying in a C-class ward, how on earth can a public hospital charge such an exorbitant rate!
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[Lestat]

The bill is not subsidised. Plain and simple. So what's the big fuss with a $13k-3-day-stay bill?