The high cost of hospital TV (CBC Marketplace)
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- čas přidán 2. 03. 2017
- We're looking at the cost of hospital TV. Prices, policies, and services vary widely across the country. We show you how to fight back against unfair hospital TV charges.
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Don't tell the United States about this, it's the only insane charge that isn't on our medical bills here.
Hospitals in the united sates cost and arm and a leg
@@amazonqueen5694 yes, $50 for one pill of Tylenol, u can get 10 bottles over the counter lolx...$250 for gloves...which you dont even get to use...
They already did. A lot people try to defend the high medical cost, the secretaries, the receptionists, the fancy furniture, oh, don't forget TV.
I cannot really good in their medical skills. I just assumed if they graduated Georgetown, Berkeley, or UCLA medical schools, they must be good.
One dentist was able to save the cost by getting cheaper chair. He hires two dental assistants. During the busy time, the dentist and dental assistants took terms answering the phones. Oh, the dentist n assistants do teeth vleaning. Oh, beside the X ray machines and other medical necessities, his office is boring. There is no TV.
The other office hire receptionists, secretaries, billing clerks, dental assistants, n dental hygienists. The office is gorgeous with nice sofas, tables, doors, and of course, TV.
Those are added to our bills just like the high medical cost defenders said
Okay, so they have so called " FREE " healthcare paid in HIGHER TAXES and also have to pay ourages prices just for TV. Tell me how that is better?
Blame expensive medicine on insurance.
give me free wifi and i don't need your tv
Alex FYI uhn offers free wifi
We have the problem of overpriced hospital TV in Australia too. I often feel that it is targeting older people because they are less likely to have a smartphone or other device that can access wifi, even if it is available.
hence why they don't... yeah...
it should be free, end of story.
viva la venezuela
The high fees are a result from low compensation from government single payer health insurance. Since hospitals are limited to what they can charge for health services by the Canadian government, they are finding alternative means to overcharge for other services to remain profitable and pay their staff's high salaries.
Rinoa Super-Genius yo rinoa
There lies the problem. Just like teachers and many other government workers it's the
very high salaries.
Rinoa Super-Genius in a America that's the only thing in the hospital that is free
We in the USA would GLADLY pay $600 for a 6 week hospital stay LOL
Yes
Was only the tv though.....i wonder how much the hospital stay cost?
gladly... who.. that like 6 jordan...
@@NVGEAR Okay, so they have so called " FREE " healthcare paid in HIGHER TAXES and also have to pay outragous prices just for TV. Tell me how that is better?
600 just for tv that doesn't include healthcare lmao
I was in a USA hospital for 2 days, 47 hours, exactly. I had free TV, no WiFi, no radio, local phone service or I could use my mobile phone, TV limited to 20 TV channels. But the TV service was free. The hospital room was $1,275, a day ! Yes, $1,275. a day U.S. dollars. So maybe it's not so bad in Toronto. How about we ask Parliament to cost out the actual cost of TV and WiFi in all Canadian health facilities and bring the cost down to what's actually reasonable, about $2 a day, I'd guess.
the reason why tv costs so much is because hospitals need additional money to take care of all the people. they don't get enough money per patient from the government and they can't charge people for healthcare so they gotta make money from other sources
Okay, so they have so called " FREE " healthcare paid in HIGHER TAXES and also have to pay outragous prices just for TV. Tell me how that is better?
bring in your own laptop and a CD case full of dvd's, that way you don't need a TV or WIFI, If you can't do that just read some books, there's never anything good on TV anyway!
Pennywise true
That is what I do. And I have my Ipod with over 2000 songs and a book. I'm not a huge tv watcher anyways.
Exactly!
Pennywise live up to his name
When I spent a month in the hospital I ran out of things to watch and read. You literally have nothing to do but sit around, you run out of things to do quick.
I was recently in the hospital for three days, and got Tv service from "hospitality tv". Here are some of the things that I hated about this service:
- It was stupidly expensive, like about $20 a day
- I wanted a sports channel so I had to pay for the "premium package", which was another $3 a day or so
- The tv was an old tube tv, with a terrible picture. The tv mount made a horrible creaking when I moved it around at all
- The tv was almost at a 45 degree angle. There was no way to straighten it out
- For my money, I got maybe 20 channels. Many of them were poor quality, very bad picture and sound
- Most of the "premium" channels didn't actually work
- Perhaps worst of all, I sent an email to Hospitality Tv to tell them about my experience and the response? SILENCE
That's really bad and unprofessional. They don't care once they have your money.
@@jaggirl problem with private hospital... it more for if you don't want your company to know how bad is your health...
It actually shocks me that you have to pay it at all.. I've never seen it in any country that I've visited or lived in here in Europe.
In england, the same thing happens here.
Even in the US, they might charge you $10 for an asprin, but the TV and WiFi are free....
third world country.. goverment hospital also that that expensive if you using share room..
You know whats funny? I when to a Toronto public library in fact 3 Toronto public libraries they to petty fast Wi-if, good internet speeds and to top that of they got new computers all free all funded by taxes so why can't we get at least free internet in Canadian hospitals?? I swear that I think that the Canadian healthcare system is unorganized and if it is organized we wouldn't have these problems
TheVikas KGH in Kingston has free fast internet. I thought that was standard! I had no idea that other hospitals did not have it
I will sit on my laptop all day every day before I waste one hour of my life watching TV, being bombarded with ads!
There is nothing called free, it's paid for indirectly. I don't private hospitals are obligated to provide those services. You can simply bring tour phone and turn and use the internet as you wish
JuhsPinoy Ok but the money made by sell internet and parking tickets don't go to the hospital they go to private companies and what the Canadian gov needs to do is to invest money into research where are ways to give they same type of care for the less cost and we can save money and not have this problem.
jsebean Well we need better laws then
Canada's hospitals are only partially funded by federal and provincial spending and the gap that the hospital has to overcome on it's own is fairly large. So it's no wonder, they participate in fund-raising, parking fees, fast-food leasing, vendor programs and the TV prices. CBC marketplace should get the whole picture instead of just focusing on TV - the true cost of "free healthcare".
You see everyone...this is the real problem in our country. The average person looking past the whole point of what this story is about. It isn't about the money. It is about who is in charge and are their practices ethical? If they do this for TV, you think they are doing this in other, more important, avenues of health-care? The US pays more per capita on their health care and have received a lower ranking according to WHO. And Canada pays just slightly more than France and we are ranked 30 while they are number 1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita. France created a stress free system which can actually lower health care costs when the body doesn't react to cortisol stress hormones imposed by poor hospital diet and these shady money sucking schemes all disguised as 'its for the greater good, the hospital!' Facts don't lie. Educate yourself.
Thanks Terence! I imagine they did since hospital parking rates in Toronto, at least, were frozen for a bit. However, I wanted to point out that in a system with financial scarcity, hospitals look to any number of resources to fund the gap. I don't like it myself but who's looking for a long-term solution.
Andrew S thankfully an education is about understanding facts and not just collecting them. A fact like my comment and you assuming that the four sentences in my comment was the summary of my understanding of this video. It wasn't.I had to point this out because it seemed like you took a couple jabs at me personally and as an average person I didn't appreciate that. Now on the matter of ethical practices and your general sentiment about the handling of our healthcare system, I couldn't be more in agreement with you.
1. You had three sentences and not four. 2. You made a conscious choice of forming those words in your statement which, to me, shows a poor lack of understanding of the video. Did you even watch the whole interview? She is asking simple questions about the ethics and he is not answering them. How can CBC ever hope to get your 'whole' picture as you described if they can't even come clean about these TV practices? 3. Your point about getting the whole picture is flawed (I direct you back to my reply on my reason why).
Andrew S did you want me to keep discussing with you?
OK so let's talk about the breakdown of the service he put on the giant whiteboard. Cable infrastructure is already built into the hospital and rarely if ever has to be worked upon. TVs and brackets are incredibly cheap nowadays, especially for those tiny TVs you get at the hospital. They receive a discounted rate from the cable company, which of course they should for such a large order. The cost to replace TVs should be pennies on the dollar for the customer because of how cheap the TVs are and what was mentioned above. When the company calls this a "revenue stream," we know they're aren't referring to recouping infrastructure costs.
My grandmother has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks now, our hospital charges about $10. Similarly the wifi costs $10. I'm not sure how i feel about it, some how I'm torn between thinking that she's getting great healthcare (without us ever seeing a bill) and we can pay the $10/day. However at the same time I believe it's possible to provide either wifi or tv for free or a discounted price at the hospital.
TV is unnecessary because we have wifi and smartphones and laptops.
Human greed that is what.
Just suck it up and stop watching TV. If you can't pay, don't use it
Simple fix.... you get free healthcare, if you want non-nessacary things you should pay.
In Nova Scotia you have to opt into their crap cable plan, and you can just use the free wifi to watch what you want online. So unless the cable and cable charge is mandatory people should stop complaining. They should go to the USA for health care instead if they are bothered so much...
Our hospital TV is free. And WIFI is free. But phone is paid. So sad 😢
I would not have it, bring your own audiobooks! Everyone is ripping you off everyone. I cancelled my tv services.
When my father was diagnosed with neuroblastoma the only joy he had left in life was watching the hockey games. For the 3 months he had left in his life i payed over $600 in tv and parking bills just for me to visit him. my other family members shelled out hundreds more this practice is predatory and needs to be fixed with legislature.
lol that wifi code on the whiteboard.
Now that is how you get free wifi.
I always thought Canada was a good place to live but, after watching Marketplace so many times, i totally changed my mind.
I can see paying for it, and I can understand charging for a profit, but when the service costs 2X, 3X or 4X what people are charged for home service, that's just heartless and unfair. Looks like another thing for the government to regulate.
Greed. That's it. Shame on these hospital top executives; their main focus is to make money from sick people than providing the best care and saving lives. They charge their patients for everything they can think of. Soon or later, they will have an entrance fee for anyone who want to enter their hospital.
all of those hospital executives and politicians need a pay cut. Use that money to fund health care!!
Wow.....just.....wow.
What’s also ridiculous is that if you have extra day purchased not only do they not refund anything but they don’t even allow you to transfer the remaining days to another patient in the hospital or in your room
asking a patient how long he/she is going to be in the hospital so we can charge you for the TV is just about the most inconsiderate thing you can ask...
Wanna hear something crazy? I've had a bunch of surgeries on my back and knees. When I had to have emergency gall bladder surgery, I asked the surgeon if he would use staples or sutures to close the three incisions. He said staples, which I have had before and had complications with. He got angry and said, Look, I don't need you, you need me if you aren't going to use my experience and judgement, why are we even speaking? The ER nurse was nice enough to threw him out and report his conduct. Note, I just asked nicely and didn't say another word. The Internist who was directing my in-hospital care had another surgeon come in for a consultation, he said he had no problem using sutures, he knew that staples don't bend with your body and that rigidity can hurt especially on the chest or tummy. He did say that he can close a 10" wound in 20 seconds with staples and sutures may cost me another 10-20 minutes of operating room time as well as surgeon and assistant surgeon fee, but he had no control of either. Yes, the day of and the day after my tummy hurt like bloody hell,, but once home I was fine, immediately went to work, did whatever I wanted and after 7 days and nicely healed wounds I removed the sutures myself with no discomfort at all. With staples they have to be yanked out with pliers, it hurts.
I know this is old, but I've not really heard of anyone using staples for something outside of very firm places where you're not going to bend, e.g. for me having surgery to my stomach, used stitches, wasn't even a case of having to ask, it was a given.
Nothing is free and certainly not Canada's Helthcare, we pay a lot of money to fund the hospitals as taxes and they still have to get more, we have serious issues with government funding but also in how well the money is used for healthcare. People in office are only responsible to those who pay their bonuses(Special interest parties) and not their wages(tax payers). Health Canada is completely useless in regulating pharmaceutical drug prices that are purchased and imported.
seriously??? in the USA we have free TV everywhere, including hospital rooms, waiting rooms, hallways etc.
But you don't have free healthcare. I'd take the free healthcare any day over the free TV.
Matt Sezer even though I live in the US (although I've been thinking about moving to Canada for some time now) I totally agree with you. I don't watch much TV (except for the news) and it's on my phone. (I have a TV but I use it for gaming and I don't have cable) instead I would do puzzles or something.
Lets see free healthcare...you pay for TV...sounds fair to me. But then again I live in the US so I am jaded.
I was sick on my birthday and was admitted to the hospital from the ER. When I turned on the TV in my hospital room it said "Happy Birthday Danielle!". Living in the US. I had no daily TV charges.
I was in the hospital for a week and I don't think I was ever charged either. I wasn't happy that they didn't offer headphones though. My roommate kept me awake for a few hours. She was sicker then me and I didn't feel right saying anything. But good karma because her relative brought milkshakes and I got the extra one and balloons! I gave the balloons to the maternity ward though. One to each new baby born. There were 5 balloons so one went to four girls and the blue one went to the first boy!
Awesome!
At the time it felt like crap so it wasn't awesome to me until about a week later.
Those televisions should be free. But you can also opt to not have a television which is nothing more than luxury
Greed has no morals or compassion. For such a large country with such a tiny population you would think they could manage themselves better. I guess not. Puts canadian economic problems in perspective though.
Seems like everyone is looking to soak people these days..even if you're sick or dying. SAD!
Wait, so what if you don’t turn on the tv, are you still charged?
Even if you're in COMA, You still pay for the TV charge? OMG!
The high fees are there to compensate the medical providers for the lack of government payment for provider services. If you understand how little government pays medical providers you would understand why they overcharge for non-health related items. These high fees are a direct result from government single payer health insurance.
Mmm and 10,000 dollars is better?
Here in Australia. In the E.R tv is free, but when you get moved to a room you have to pay $10 up, for one of the largest public hospitals n victoria, the longer you want to "book" the tv, the higher the price. I thought it was an error, but nope spoke to the person runnng it. it goes up to $15 if you stay in hospital for about 2 weeks.
I remember when I was in the hospital as a kid, they turned on my roommates tv by mistake and not mine. So my mom complained *cough I complained* , but they didn’t do anything about it.
... we all remember plenty of countries don't have any public health care right?
Talk about first world problems!
Remember you got free health care in Canada.
a puleo It's not free! Do you know how much government taxes Canadians have to pay in order to fund the health care system?
May Lee only a couple percentages more than the us, without the deductibles and premiums.
Im paying 85 $ monthly for health care in canada wtf its free??? To see specialist we should wsit for 3_ 5 months.....doesn't matter how our illness can be dangerous...
In America, free TV at all Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. Had no idea what a big benefit this is.
A big fraud.
Greediness is taking over the whole world !
Good to know; if you go to the hospital bring a small 18-20" LCD and an antenna to get free over the air channels, and ask someone to download Netflix movies and TV shows on your tablet to watch offline at the hospital, it's like $13 a month.
Can you do USA?
Do what I do when traveling. I take an 8TB external hard drive along with laptop with more movies/tv shows than I can ever watch while I'm doing nothing on a plane or in their case in a hospital.
Thanks Wynne
My mother had a heart transplant so obviously she was in the hospital for a good amount of time. We have NEVER had to pay for TV before where we live but that sure did change at the hospital that did her transplant (good ol temple) in Philadelphia PA - she already had ALOT going on since its not a normal surgery - worrying about paying for cable is/was an unnecessary stressor - she also had to have a nurse approve phone calls to cell phone numbers an to numbers that were not a Philadelphia zipcode - wasn't a great experience smh.
I love this show.
those people got charged $510 for the month of tv and you trying to "save" em $130?
What a joke.
They should just not watch tv, then when people stay there for months and slowly go crazy as there mental health deteriorates, then more tax money can be spent on psych ward bills.
it's only $8 a day, and Canadians are complaining about it.
In the U.S, the same kind of bill would probably be anywhere around 10000-20000 times of that.
Jh - In the US it's free TV and Internet in hospitals. It's also free food, toilet paper, sheets and pillows. I hear they charge for everything in Canadian hospitals.
@@2ndamendment383Wrong. Everything is free in this neck of the woods. It depends on where you live in Canada.
They should change the package (Hospitality Network). While I would agree that you cannot base your profit chain on guesses since it is business it should be concrete, What I can suggest is a different strategy to earn profits.
For example. If the daily charge of TV is Canadian $10.95 per day, how about giving it a "graced" charge of $3-$5 or whatever the daily fair price for television charge for normal Television at cable for a week? For example $5 then the difference $5.95 you accumulate then charge the surcharge on the second week? Just explain it to them. By week's end, patients would have a ballpark on how long they would be staying. If the stay was less than a week then you would have only charged them $5 (or whatever the fair price is). Then it is not a ripoff. Of course that would mean the company shouldering the difference in actual amount. This is just an example.
Damn, here in the United States wifi & Tv is completely free here.
that doesnt help much when in the US the room is costing over 1000 a day not including treatment cost
yeah, you win some, you lose some.
@@hironyx You do not need to watch TV.
Okay, I totally disagree with the outrageous parking fees they are charging, in some cases 30+ dollars a day. It is complete highway robbery. But people generally have no choice when visiting their loved ones in the hospital. As far as television goes however, you do have choices (albeit limited perhaps) in your entertainment. Bring a portable DVD Player, Ipod, magazines, small radio, etc. Hospitals are becoming increasingly cash strapped and this another revenue generator. People can choose to contribute, or they can decline and find something else to stay occupied. As long as they informed up front what the costs are and not surprised with a bill later on.
Hmm, have to remember to upgrade the data plan on the cell phone if hospitalized. But to be frank, the various times I've been hospitalized, watching TV was not a high priority for me.
I have been a patient in a hospital for almost a week. I brought my own device and tapped into free hospital wifi. TV / internet in hospitals, just like phone services for inmates in Canadian and American prisons, is a ripoff. It is worth buying your own device, even if you are there for just a week.
Why are there charges for a tv? This is not the dark ages! What a racket!
Dunno why people bother to watch TV while in hospital. While you are in the hospital, you are either in pain or under or sleeping or with people visiting you, hardly having any time to watch TV. And if you find TV expensive, why don't you bring a portable DVD player to watch some movies or read a book or better yet, get some rest? Everything in the hospital is expensive.
FROM CANADA WHEN I AM IN THE HOSPITAL YOU HAVE TIME TO AT IT LOTS OF MONEY JUST WANT GO HOME
if the hospital must make a profit, honestly better this than parking.... I guess that is what you get for free healthcare. In america its a bit different thankfully!
meh, it was still better paying for cable/internet for 5 weeks as opposed to paying for my stay, 4 surgeries, and numerous tests over that span...
Audible and Flipboard are the best for long stays.
My grandma was in there a week and never watched tv still got billed for it
Forget about the TV, what about the rates for the phone? That seams like a more desirable thing in a hospital, they are just as expensive. I guess the similar agreements are in place, and they are that price for similar reasons.
Patients are already suffering, no one goes to the hospital on vacation, you're there coz you're not well. Instead of easing the suffering, these vultures make money off of vulnerable patients. It's a very shameful and disgusting practice.
Wow ... your hospitals have TV???????? I'd pay to have THAT option!!
Yes, They are all free in our neck of the woods. It depends on where you live in Canada.
I hope, Wendy never has the possibility to use her tv credit.
Now I'm glad i didn't watch tv when i had my Surgery a couple of days ago. The funny thing is that the nurses kept asking if i wanted it on, and i said no thanks. I'm already going to be ripped off enough so i don't need to pay anymore than i have to. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. They don't really care about anyone.
I use my iPad when im in hospital and thats alot im not charged
glad the hospital i go to regularly its free
Okay, so they have so called " FREE " healthcare paid in HIGHER TAXES and also have to pay outragous prices just for TV. Tell me how that is better?
charging for tv ? no way , that's crazy
Hope the plug connectors are the correct type
I was in the hospital for 3 weeks or so ad was billed almost $400 for the TV. I also did NOT sign off on their phone but a family member called me on it and even though I never piked up, they began charging me daily for it from that point! I'm not a naive patient or a pushover so I got my money back for the phone. As for the TV, well, I knew what I was signing up for.
You guys need to do a story on hospital wifi costs because it is riduculous
A predatory company
Good thing the hospital I go to in the US doesn't charge.
OK I agree the price is high. But the purpose of being in the hospital is to rest and recover and most importantly to ambulate! Plus most hospitals provide free guest WiFi so I think it's OK for this high price.
well said.
UHN, sickkids, mt sinai for example
hell0h0bbit Are you talking about Free Wi-Fi in patient's rooms? Because in the new Humber River hospital the only free Wi-Fi your going to get is in the food court.
I pay 12$ for broadband internet a month. 20 including Mobile internet and all that.
This is sick!
Imagine making monies out of the sick and captive market.
Is there a hell?
Oh wow, didn't realise this was a thing
the more i hear about canadas health care system, the more im convinced the US model is better. i dont pay for my hospital stays, the hospitals provide free, high speed wifi, & free basic TV channels, with a few movie channels, i got my own room for 2 weeks, with 4 meals/day, a 11foot x 9 foot glass window wall, my own bathroom/shower, my own phone line for free. honestly, i dont see why your system is the way it is. people always say 'universal health care' , that just means you all get the same crap care, here you can pay for better, but the minimum is way better than your best. im not remotely rich, your system is broken, my hospital stay for for a impacted tooth that needed to be surgically removed & i had an infection from it. think about that for a second, a tooth. id bet my stay was far better than people in canada who are having serious surgery.
It’s free here in the states! That’s crazy
But you pay a arm & a leg for your hospital stay.
So in the first place, they design the system to cheat customers. It seems that the people are charged immediately at the end of the day. The fair way to do it is to just log if the customer availed of the service and how many days. When finally leaving, look at the number of days, then maximize the number of weeks/ months that the customer avails.
I'm glad in my country tv, and wifi in hospital are free
They charge $10/day at the hospital I work. Recently they introduced wifi, much to the excitement of everyone!!!!!! Many more patients are watching on laptops, phones, and tablets. However, the wifi is extremely limited and blocks A LOT of content, especially on CZcams. I was looking for Michael Bubles Cry Me a River, no hits! Weird. Went off wifi suddenly, right there.
Lol I just heard and fell in love with that song last night! He's so talented
I never knew they charge for TV 🙄
Battleford's Union Hospital is $20 per day!
That's crazy It should be free this is why I bring my phone and laptop and simply watch stuff on there.
take care of yourself and do whatever you can to stay out of hospitals, giant money sinks
This is a real thing in Canada lmao!
I am more interested in the wifi rate.
When you dont pay for healthcare, they need to get their money from somewhere
I'm sorry to say this but in Canada you can also choose to not getting a TV and your hospital stay is otherwise completely FREE.
Jonathan except for the expensive price of the ambulance
Can you just use ur phone internet. Canada does have free over the air tv?....
this so disgusting to charge a fee for tv oh come on tv dont cost that much these pple that charge sick pple must be some sort of a crimal really these pple getting away with stealing ur money
It is criminal. It is FREE TO AIR TV. So why dont they charge you to have it in your house ? But charge in Hospitals ? No thnx.