Although it's far too early to assess the complete financial impact, I can make a few observations: As of the end of February, I ran up a tab of close to $4,000 from the orthopedic clinic, emergency room, and an x-ray consulting service, most of which was for the day of the accident and the first visit to the clinic. Each follow up is less than $100. The ambulance bill was $350 and I got as much Percocet I ever wanted for $8 (I've been extremely lucky regarding the pain, and haven't touched the stuff for at least four weeks, and used less than half of my 110-pill supply). I have paid some $300 out of pocket, thus far. The rest has been covered by insurance. Each visit to the clinic is relatively simple: Two x-rays and a five-minute examination, not exactly rocket science. $200 is my deductible for physical therapy. I don't know how much they charge yet, but one visit could last one hour those days I have both PT (working on the shoulder) and OT (Occupational Therapist, working on the wrist and elbow), and they're dedicated professionals who take their jobs seriously.
It's a lot of money in absolute terms, but not that much in the twisted world of American health care. The advantage from a cost perspective seems to be that this is an established kind of injury that follows the rule book: it's not a hard-to-diagnose decease with many different methods of treatments and testings. The recovery is long and hard, but relatively straight forward. It can be measured in the abduction hight and rotation angles, and the increase in exercise weights.
I'm lucky to have a physically light job, and very understanding management, that allowed me to work part time for a couple of weeks without any salary cuts. The financial impact could have been huge otherwise.
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