So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[ChiTownScion]

I found that Montreal is very much like that as well -- most people there do speak at least enough English to conduct a common business transaction, but they sincerely appreciate the effort when you order "jambon et fromage," even if you have to order that all the time because it's the only thing you recognize on the menu.

One of the things I loved about going to Expos games was that the PA announcements were always made in both French and English. "Frappeur" and "Lanceur" are more picturesque than "Batter" or "Pitcher." And the PA announcer there was legendary for the flourish he would give to certain names. "Le frappeur, John Boc-a-BELL-a!"

I recall watching the very first MLB game, in Montreal, between the Cubs and the Expos on TV: every pitch was met with applause. I thought, what an appreciative crowd!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Montreal was always a great baseball town until that pig Loria and his stooge Selig came in and sabotaged the team. With the Milwaukee Used Car Salesman now out of the picture, I look forward to a new Montreal team one day. I just hope they put in the National League where it belongs.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@LizzieMaine
You never drink coffee, right?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nope, can't stomach it. But I start each day with a big cup of very strong tea.

 

[sheeplady]

This is the way it is here in Texas...and everywhere else I've ever lived too. It's not an easement. Your property line ends 10 feet or so from the sidewalk. Nonetheless, the homeowner is responsible for the upkeep all the way to the roadway, and people tend to think "if I mow it, it's mine".

Huh, interesting. The only property we ever owned in a crowded area was technically outside the "city" although it still had a city address and you couldn't tell you were outside the city visually. We owned from the center of the road with an easement. Perhaps this is the case of it having been rural up until the 1940s.

 

[sheeplady]

Hope you're feeling better, Lizzie.

My last ER visit (visited for the first time and then re-visited for a second time 2 days later) looks like it is coming in at a tune of $6,000+ pre-insurance. I did have an MRI, CT, etc., but dear god.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hope you're feeling better, Lizzie.

My last ER visit (visited for the first time and then re-visited for a second time 2 days later) looks like it is coming in at a tune of $6,000+ pre-insurance. I did have an MRI, CT, etc., but dear god.

I assumed my one-day visit for my kidney stone would run about $5000, but so far only about $500 in bills have come in and I can't get any answers from the hospital, so I'm just waiting. I opened an on-line account with the hospital so they have all my contact info and have been billing me that way - so I know the bills aren't lost or something.

 

[sheeplady]

I assumed my one-day visit for my kidney stone would run about $5000, but so far only about $500 in bills have come in and I can't get any answers from the hospital, so I'm just waiting. I opened an on-line account with the hospital so they have all my contact info and have been billing me that way - so I know the bills aren't lost or something.

How the hospital bills here is piece-meal. If that's the case with you, I wish you all the best luck.

For my ER visit I went to ONE place. I got the following bills:
Hospital Hematology
Hospital CT
Hospital MRI
Hospital Physician
Hospital ER
Hospital Pharmacy

These are all separate billing agencies with separate phone numbers and locations. If you call one place, such as Hospital MRI billing or Hospital ER, and ask if you are paid in full, they can't tell you. Your financial records are not linked. And as a warning, if one of them doesn't get your insurance information pushed out to them, YOU are responsible for submitting the bill to your insurance. If, of course, you can figure out who you still owe. Also, these bills will not be submitted to your insurance at the same time. I once got a hospital bill 2 years after I visited.

Yeah. I can't imagine taking chemo in the hospital if they do it this way. What a hassle.

 

[MisterCairo]

I will never complain about Ontario health care ever again.

Apparently, things could be worse...

 

[LizzieMaine]

How the hospital bills here is piece-meal. If that's the case with you, I wish you all the best luck.

That's how they do it here. My appendectomy was four months ago and I keep getting random bills, which I throw into a pile on my kitchen table. When they finally stop coming in I'll sit down and figure out how exactly much I owe and how I can afford to break it down to pay it.

 

[Fading Fast]

I fully know they are coming and am trying to budget for it - but I've done my part, I made sure they know where to find me, after that, it's up to them.

 

[Touchofevil]

Montreal was always a great baseball town until that pig Loria and his stooge Selig came in and sabotaged the team. With the Milwaukee Used Car Salesman now out of the picture, I look forward to a new Montreal team one day. I just hope they put in the National League where it belongs.

The Expos were my tied with the Red Sox as my favorite team when I was a child. There was so much talent on the team over the years. They always had so much potential and then they would fall short and/or a trade would happen. I do root for Washington, but I call them the "Washington Expos."

 

[Touchofevil]

My monthly cost goes up (currently $1200 but soon to rise) as I downgrade my plan. My co-pay rises. I recieve more bills that my insurance does not cover. I can only get generic medication unless I can prove they cause further damage to my body. It matters not if they are not as effective. And, they sure are a lot of fun to deal with when I am able to get a hold of them.

 

[sheeplady]

The fun part for me is when they refuse to take down my insurance information. I called one place (which falls under the umbrella of the hospital) because they direct billed me rather than my insurance and billing the balance. So I called this one place, and the lady was like, "It's your responsibility to make sure your bill gets paid... NOT OURS."

Ok.... yes... but supposedly you participate with my insurance and... um... like could you bother to send them the bill?

I hate all the tricks and deception. There's a local urgent care here who refuses to submit to insurance. They have a "reputation" that you go there, you give them your insurance info, they "tell" you they are billing your insurance, and then they threaten to send you to collections so you personally pay up. It's a scheme I'm convinced to get money out of people, as they can bill you more than they can bill to a person with insurance due to participating insurance companies negotiating a lower rate. I just went to them and am collecting evidence to send to the Attorney General's office, because that is crooked and evil.

 

[Touchofevil]

The fun part for me is when they refuse to take down my insurance information. I called one place (which falls under the umbrella of the hospital) because they direct billed me rather than my insurance and billing the balance. So I called this one place, and the lady was like, "It's your responsibility to make sure your bill gets paid... NOT OURS."

Ok.... yes... but supposedly you participate with my insurance and... um... like could you bother to send them the bill?

I hate all the tricks and deception. There's a local urgent care here who refuses to submit to insurance. They have a "reputation" that you go there, you give them your insurance info, they "tell" you they are billing your insurance, and then they threaten to send you to collections so you personally pay up. It's a scheme I'm convinced to get money out of people, as they can bill you more than they can bill to a person with insurance due to participating insurance companies negotiating a lower rate. I just went to them and am collecting evidence to send to the Attorney General's office, because that is crooked and evil.

They are Evil and crooked. I am fortunate in that I am for the most part in good health, but the battles people go through are so sadly wrong. My Mother battled them for the last twenty plus years of her life. I hope that you are successful in all of your battles and are able to set right your local urgent care.

 

[vitanola]

When I was fairly young (late 30's) I developed a serious cardiac arrhythmia after a bad case of the Chicken Pox. This was back in the says before the ACA. I had sold my business, so of course I had an (EXPENSIVE, Gilt Edged) individual policy. a couple of months after I returned home from the hospital it was time to renew the policy, and I found that my specific policy was no longer offered. The company would not write a new policy, for I now had a "pre-existing condition". I tried to get in to my state's "High Risk Pool", though the coverage was poor and the cost exorbitant (nearly $4,000/month in 2002!). Before they allowed me to sign up I required a pacemaker. Had to sell a house and two lots to pay for it. The surgery included complications (an iatrogenic infection) and so my eventual bill was well over $100,000.

 

[Stearmen]

Yep, all happened yesterday. I thought it was just cramps at first, but cramps never made me roll around on the floor hunched in a fetal position screaming "HELP ME!" I'm afraid the cat was a bit traumatized by witnessing this.

I didn't scream, all the macho male crud, which was stupid. Still, I would not wish that pain on my worst enemy!

 

[Stearmen]

I'm afraid the cat was a bit traumatized by witnessing this.

The cat was probably thinking, "oh great, who's going to change my litter box now?"

 

[sheeplady]

They are Evil and crooked. I am fortunate in that I am for the most part in good health, but the battles people go through are so sadly wrong. My Mother battled them for the last twenty plus years of her life. I hope that you are successful in all of your battles and are able to set right your local urgent care.

I am so angry at them right now. We have to drive over 1.5 hours to the next closest urgent care.... this one is 20 minutes away. I only went there because it was a simple issue. Then I start talking to people and find out they pull this kind of stuff.

I had my insurance company call them on a three-way call so I'd have a witness... but they still haven't sent out an itemized bill or submitted to my insurance.... sigh.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I had surgery in Montreal in 2004, and it cost me half of what it would have in the States. And the only French I know is "poutine pour le petit déjeuner."

Maybe all that French fries and gravy is the problem.