An American girl suffering from a rare disease was reportedly charged for crying during a visit to the doctor's clinic.
NYC YouTuber Camille Johnson shared the eye-watering itemized receipt on Twitter on Tuesday, sparking outrage on social media over America's "broken" healthcare system.
'Charged Her More for Crying Than a Hemoglobin Test'
"My little sister has been really struggling with a health condition lately and finally got to see a doctor," Johnson shared. "They charged her $40 for crying."
Indeed, the bill showed she had been charged $40 for "brief emotional/behavioral assessment." In fact, it was more expensive than the four other tests and procedures she underwent while she was there.
My little sister has been really struggling with a health condition lately and finally got to see a doctor. They charged her $40 for crying. pic.twitter.com/fbvOWDzBQM
— Camille Johnson (@OffbeatLook) May 17, 2022
"They charged her more for crying than for a hemoglobin test. They charged her more for crying than for a health risk assessment. They charged her more for crying than for a capillary blood draw," Johnson wrote in the thread.
"She has a rare disease so she's been really struggling to find care. She got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless," she added.
"One tear in and they charged her $40 without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing." She concluded the thread with plea to one US lawmaker who she thought would do something about it.
"@BernieSanders I've always wanted to tell you i love you. Maybe you will see this. Thank you for your work," she tweeted.
Twitter Reactions
Johnson's post instantly went viral on Twitter with nearly 500,000 likes and over 75,000 retweets. The tweet also racked up thousands of comments with some users sharing similar experiences during a visit to the doctor while others expressed their anger over the "broken" American healthcare system.
Holy shit so I just had an appointment a few months ago and I decided to check the explanation of benefits.
— Lovely GeekessðŸˆâ€â¬› (@LonelyGeekess) May 17, 2022
The assistant only asked me "have you experienced anxiety or depression lately?"
I said "Yes."
They charged my insurance $9 for that. pic.twitter.com/mpjxOdGRYD
— Lynn(VEVO) (@regfunkid) May 17, 2022
One user shared a tweet of a patient being charged $11 for a display of "brief emotion" during a mole removal surgery.
Wow, they're REALLY jackin' up the cost of crying. This sounded very familiar, so I searched my timeline and... bam! *less than a year ago*.https://t.co/qp6DbK3BeD
— Mirel (@MirelLeLian) May 17, 2022
"Tell me you live in America without telling me that you live in America," wrote one user. Another user pointed out that the U.S. healthcare system even charges mothers for holding their newborn child immediately after birth.
Yep. My daughter was charged $44 for "skin to skin contact". In other words when they flopped my grandson up onto her chest after the umbilical cord was cut. I guess the cheaper alternative was letting him fall on the floor? 🤷
— Driley (@Drileymack) May 18, 2022
Some users pointed out that the girl was charged for a mental health assessment and not because she displayed "brief emotions."
"brief emotional/behavioral assessment"... that means they gave her a mental health assessment, not that she displayed brief emotions
— John Fee (@Fiocho) May 17, 2022
this looks like it stands for 'brief emotional/behavioral assessment'. I don't think it's for her crying. it's still messed up being billed separately for being asked about certain symptoms but yeah, it wasn't because she cried. pic.twitter.com/XVDLdkOFJT
— Rich Mommy (@jodadobado) May 17, 2022
