The Absurdity of it All

I just returned from a quick walk to my doctor's office. They are convenient in that the office is only three blocks away from my house so a nice easy walk.

I wasn't there because I was ill, but to ask them about a bill I got. Getting a bill from a medical establishment is nothing new, but this one took me by surprise. Not because it was high - far from it - but because it was a bill for eighteen cents.

Yes, you read that right. Eighteen cents. What was it for? A shot I got several months ago. The shot cost $4.00. Insurance paid $3.82. So they billed me for the remainder.

Yes, I understand the logic behind the bill. Costs have to be covered. But come on. You figure with the cost of the paper, the ink to print up the bill, the postage to mail it, etc., it probably cost them at least triple that to mail the darned thing to me. (see calculation below).

So I paid it. In cold hard cash. Eighteen pennies worth of cold hard cash to be exact. I guess I could have paid it with a credit card... but I didn't want the hassle of that. Oh, and I asked for a receipt. Hey, if they're going to be that anal about it... So I figure it cost them... let's see...
.10 paper to print bill plus ink (and it's in color so that's even more expensive)
.05 for two envelopes (the one they mailed it to me in and the return envelope)
.42 postage to mail it
3.00 (time for the billing clerk to process it - figuring $12.00/hr for fifteen minutes of her time)
.05 paper and ink to print out the receipt

3.62 total their cost
.18 paid in full

And people wonder why medical expenses are so high.

**********

Teasers: What's the most absurd amount you've had to pay for something - beyond the current cost of gas?

Thought for the day: "Thurber did not write the way a surgeon operates, he wrote the way a child skips rope, the way a mouse waltzes." - E.B. White