Even though the number of uninsured Americans has been on the decline for over a decade, the cost of healthcare is still astronomical, especially if you are uninsured. A perfect example of this story was recently shared by TikToker Cinthanie McAllister, who told a hilarious story about a bill she got for having a nasty case of gas.
Obviously, high healthcare costs aren’t funny, but sometimes, a good laugh can make the pain a bit more bearable.
“I bet you didn’t know that you wanted to know how much it costs to fart without insurance in an ER in the United States,” McAllister starts her video from the kitchen.
“A little while ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with the most excruciating abdominal pain I have ever experienced in my life,” she said while doing her best to hold back the laughter. “I was doubled over. I couldn’t walk. I had to literally crawl across our bedroom floor to wake my husband up to get him to take me to the ER. They had to come out to the car and wheelchair me into the ER because I couldn’t walk because I was in so much pain.”
i have to laugh to keep from crying because this is insane
@cinthanie i have to laugh to keep from crying because this is insane #storytime #ervisitstorytime #emergencyroom #fyp
The pain was so severe that healthcare workers tried to give her morphine for relief. But McAllister didn’t want any. “I was like, ‘No! I don’t want any f*cking morphine; I just want to know what’s wrong with me.'”
The staff had McCallister take a CT scan because they were concerned, as were the McAllisters, that she may have a ruptured appendix. If not, then why would she be in such terrible pain?
While she was waiting for the scan results, nature called and McAllister went into the restroom. It was there she realized what was causing all of the abdominal distress.
“I let out the world’s fattest ripper you’ve ever heard in your life,” she said, trying to keep it together. “It was so ungodly smelling. It was so unwomanly. It was so wretched. Like, I’m positive that if there were bugs in the walls in that hospital, they were bug-bombed out. It was so f*cking bad.”
“Anyways, needless to say, after letting out the world’s biggest ripper, I felt pretty good,” she admitted. “They ruled it as gastrointestinitis. The CT scan came back clear and they sent me on my way with some suppositories.”
“How much do you think it cost me to let out that fart in the ER with no insurance? I’m telling you right now, you’re wrong. It’s more. It’s more than what you think,” she says. “This fart cost me $8,621.10.”
“The price of gas in this country is outrageous,” Sarah Staten wrote. “Happened to me once… spent hours in the ER for the Dr to say I had a ‘fart stuck sideways,'” D added.
Many people gave her advice on how to avoid paying the bill.
“Get an itemized bill and tell them you are a cash patient. That should cut it in half or more. Then, just tell them you’ll make payments. Send them $20 a month. They’ll take it and do nothing,” SeaChelleAviatrix suggested.
Upworthy has contacted McAllister for comment and has yet to receive a response.