Level9TraumaCenter

How many guesses does the president get at the Gold Code for the day?

For an extra level of security, the list of codes on the card includes codes that have no meaning, and therefore the president must memorize where on the list the correct code is located.

Internet Book of Critical Care page on Covid-19.

Is the acrylic cast in the right shape and used "as is," or are they cast much larger and ground down to the correct size?

Are they poured and cured under vacuum to keep bubbles from forming?

We are shooting for temperatures over 2000 degrees F - that really limits materials. Especially if you are trying to keep things cheap and environmentally friendly.

Hopefully a materials scientist will chime in here, but two come to mind, if you've not already considered:

Sheetrock is comprised of calcium sulfate; the melting point of calcium sulfate is 2,660F. Its primary disadvantage would be whether there is any dimensional change as it reverts back to hydrate, which would happen if the heater were allowed to cool and ambient air was introduced.

Another is kitty litter, comprised of sodium bentonite: it melts above 1200C (about 2200F).

But I don't know about the dimensional stability or strength of these materials at such high temperatures; there may be better options. Maybe there's a refractory concrete that can be cobbled together in a cost-effective fashion.

I used to work in insurance billing; I did the database work and data entry for my BIL's office (a physician employing ~10 people).

Rule of thumb is that insurance pays out about 15-20% of what is billed. This is the contractually-obligated amount that is prearranged between the insurance company and the provider.

So, for example, when I get bloodwork done, the bill is about $230 to my Blue Cross insurance. I get my paperwork, I see Blue Cross pays out about 15% of that. Of course, if I could pay cash instead, I wouldn't need insurance for that.

More recently, I went to the hospital for some staples. The first thing I signed was to the effect that there are providers on staff that are not employees, and they will be billed separately. The ER physician is an independent contractor, and billed out about $1800 for ~7 minutes' worth of talk, and presumably an equal amount of time spent documenting and giving instructions to the physician's assistant who carried out the orders.

My insurance was (apparently) not in effect at the time, so I received a bill for $1800, for what I generously estimate was a rate of approximately $7200/hour. I figured I could call and negotiate that down to maybe 1/5th that of the $1800.

Fortunately, a week or two later, I got another bill where it said I received a "discount" by virtue of having insurance, so the bill was reduced to $340- about what I estimated I would have to pay. Still a tidy sum for not having to even put on a pair of gloves to inspect the wound, much less have to do any work, but more-or-less affordable.

So the rule of thumb is that insurance pays out about 15-20%, and the poor suckers without insurance get their own cardiac arrest for receiving a bill for the full amount. This gives the hospital considerable leeway for giving "discounts" in which the patient is put on a payment plan for the rest of their lives, at a 20-30-40% reduction in cost.

And that, unfortunately, has become the status quo. The insured pay a smaller sum, while the hospital remains solvent on the backs of the uninsured- who help pay for those that cannot or will not pay their bills.

EDIT: And this is all on top of what the hospital billed, which was about $3200. So, $5000 ER bill for 26 staples in an uncomplicated wound.