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Tonight, only on 360 why if the disease will not kill you, the medical bills might. Even if you have insurance. Well take you inside one patients bill and show you what the Health Care Industry does not want you to see, line by line, charge by inflated charge, right down to the paper cup in which they bring you your pills. Thats 12, by the way. Sound like nickel and diming . It could cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Also, Jesse Jackson jr. s road from congress to the courthouse. To the possibility of a long stretch in prison. The Campaign Cash he took and what was bought with. Well tell you about that shortly. But we begin with a killing that has captain valeted and confounded millions of people around the world. Captivated because of the shooting death at perhaps the hands of the greatest olympic athlete in modern memory. Its confounding because each day brings more news that doesnt establish in any clear direction whether Oscar Pistorius, the blade return, shot Reeva Steenkamp dead after a long argument, orhether it was a horrific accident. Tonight, for the first time anywhere, the victims brother, adam, says that he and the family are no less confounded, no less torn. Our conversation just ahead. First, pretoria, south africa, and day two of a bail hearing thats playing out more like a complete trial. Robin kern you reports. Police take Oscar Pistorius back to his cell where hell be spending his seventh night behind bars. Hes grieving and i dont expect him to get over it even soon. So hes still in an emotionally tough time. Reporter in court, meanwhile, more riveting details about what prosecutors say happened on valentines day, when pistorius shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. It was a version of events counted vigorously by his defense team. Prosecutors say witnesses heard arguments coming from the pistorius home for an hour before the shooting. The defense argues, the witnesss house was 300 meters, about a thousand feet away. Pistoriuss lawyers say, he thought he was shooting at an intruder in the bathroom. Taking the stand, officers say pistorius used a cricket back to break down the bathroom door. The bat and the cellphone were found splattered with blood. Using a diagram, the officers said pistorius aimed his gun at the toilet, pointing out that he had to turn and fire at an angle in order to hit the toilet. More prosecution evidence, a floor plan of the apartment, which the state shows pistorius could not have crossed the bedroom towards the bathroom, without realizing steenkamp was not in bed. Defense attorneys pressed the Police Officer who admitted that steenkamps body had no signs of an assault or signs of her defending herself. The officer also conceding he could find nothing inconsistent with pistoriuss version of events. Prosecutors say police found bullets in a safe in the home and they say that will lead to charges of possessing illegal ammunition, but later the investigator said they did not establish whose ammunition it was. Prosecutors say theres no way that killing of steenkamp was selfdefense. They cited two previous incidents of Police Encounters with pistorius, that suggests he could be prone to violence. Adding that since they consider pistorius a flight risk, he should be held without bail. Still, legal experts believe pistorius has a good chance of spending thursday night at home. Personally i would like to see him receiving bail at this stage, that the law can take its course, normal course, that we shouldnt have a trial by ambush. Court will reconvene on thursday morning. Robyn curnow is joining us now. Take us inside the courtroom today. Apparently Oscar Pistorius was a lot more composed today than he has been the last two days, is that right . Reporter absolutely. He was not so inconsolable when reevas name was mentioned, when words like murder were read out in court. He didnt just collapse in tears as i saw him in court yesterday. It sounds as if the Police Investigators may have botched some key aspects of the investigation. Is this something that happens often in south africa . Generally how reliable is the police force there . Bungled, botched, messed up. I dont know what kind of words you want to use, but its common. I mean, im sorry to say it. Even in this case, we heard from the investigating officer that he didnt wear protective shoe covers when he went into the house after the shooting. So essentially he just contaminated the entire crime scene. And another example in terms of bad detective work, in this case particularly, they said initially Oscar Pistorius was a flight risk, that they didnt want him to have bail because they thought that he would leave the country because he had overseas Bank Accounts and a house in italy. But the defense put it to the investigator on crossexamination, what is this about a house in italy . How do you know . Do you have proof that oscar has a house in italy . And the investigator said, i just heard he did. You know, thats not the kind of thing thats not the kind of, you know, information a prosecutor the prosecution should be putting across, this sort of really sort of haphazard rumor i heard things that lets build our case out of that. I think there really was the sense by the end of today that not only have the polices case essentially been unravelled, but, you know, the chief investigator looked very redfaced. I mean, i think he really lost a bit of his reputation after coming out of that court today. All right, robyn curnow at the pistorius trial in johannesburg, south africa, thank you. Thank you. Digging deeper into the legal case and especially the forensic evidence on which the case could turn. Were joined by criminal defense attorney mark geragos, coauthor of mistrial, an inside look at how the criminal Justice System works and sometimes doesnt. Also, of course, former l. A. Deputy District Attorney marcia clark, author of the legal thriller guilt by degrees, and also forensic scientist lawrence kobalinski. Of the john j. College of criminal justice. Mark, ill start with you. All this back and forth with the detective on the case. You think the prosecution is unraveling . Yeah, i think its unraveling. And we said here last night that this prosecution when they came up with this kind of hairbrained theory that all of a sudden this guy woke up and decided he was just going to kill somebody who, by all accounts, he loved made absolutely no sense. And then sure enough we had talked yesterday about the urban legends that exist around this case already, which happens, frankly, with a lot of these cases, and once you get somebody up on the stand and you get an officer up there and thats one of the great things about crossexamination, its a great Search Engine for the truth. And all of a sudden look what happens. All of this stuff out there in the ether turns out to be untrue and its nothing but somebody surmising. All in all, it looks to me at least like clearly he should get bail and it looks like the magistrate wasnt buying what they were selling as him being a flight risk. The magistrate said where is he going to go . Clearly he is one of the most recognizable people around. I think this case is unraveling as fast as can be. It doesnt mean that there is no crime here. I mean, there can be a crime here, but its certainly not premeditated murder. Marcia clark, the court system in south africa appears quite different than that here in the u. S. I mean, this bail hearing looks like a trial, and because of that, the prosecution has had to show their evidence very early, almost immediately. You say thats a real disadvantage. Its a problem. Its a problem, jake. The prosecution has only just gathered the evidence. Lets remember this only happened a few days ago and it takes a while for everything to shake out. It takes a while for us to know what the evidence tests out to be. We dont even know if its really testosterone that was found in his house. We dont know what, if any, blood results from pistorius himself are and whether he was under the influence of testosterone. We dont know so much. Yet theyre being required to put it all forward very quickly in this hearing. I can see where things are not quite as tight as they should be. I agree with mark that certain things did fall apart today, and the fact that they were not wearing protective covering on their shoes is a loss. How big a loss remains to be seen because if the floor was not going to provide much evidence anyway, perhaps you havent lost much. But its not good. On the other hand, the fact that they missed on certain things like whether he had a house in italy and the nature of his flight risk doesnt mean that the whole entire case is falling apart. We dont throw the baby out with the bath water. Nor is anybody saying i dont think the prosecution is even saying that he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and decided to shoot his girlfriend. What the prosecution seems to be saying is that there was a nasty fight going on for some time that evening and in the midst of which he targeted her and the scenario that paints itself is that in the midst of the fight she went and locked herself in the bathroom, and he pursued her with a gun and then later said, oh, its because i heard a burglar, et cetera. The fact that she was found fully clothed in the bathroom tends to indicate that she was not asleep in bed next to him and the fact that he first ran to the bathroom and fired shots without first turning to his girlfriend and saying, honey, stay here, im going to go see what that is, or did you hear that strikes me as a little odd too. There are things that need to be shaken out here. We need to find out what all of the evidence is, whether there is evidence of Domestic Violence and whether there was evidence that is credible of a fight between them that night. Theres a great deal we dont know. I think its a little too soon to say that the case is falling apart. Marcia, i dont want to be flippant about it, but obviously you prosecuted another famous athlete whose beautiful blond partner was murdered. And im wondering if this feels at all similar or if its just a completely different case to you. Its completely different to me. There were aspects of the Simpson Trial that were so huge and really distinguished it from any other that you cant compare it to this one, and many of the issues that we had in the case that were the most significant issues are not present here. Domestic violence murder is, sadly, jake, not an unusual thing, and its something that its pretty, unfortunately, common in both countries. I think all around the world. So in that sense i suppose they are the same but in that sense so many crimes are. Lawrence, youre a forensic expert, and you say the ballistics will offer the crucial evidence here, what has been lacking so far. I think that an analysis of the ballistics evidence including trajectories of the bullets fired will reveal an important piece of information. It will either support the story that mr. Pistorius has given or it will support the prosecutor, and the issue has to do with whether or not mr. Pistorius was wearing the pros theeties. If he was, he was taller, and, therefore, the ballistics, their trajectories, would be different than if he were not wearing the prosthesis. An analysis of the trajectories, we know how many bullets were fired. We know that it penetrated a door. We know a lot of information, but we havent heard it all yet, and i think once that is revealed, we will be able to determine whether his story makes sense or it does not. We only have about a minute and a half. I want to get to a few things here. Doctor, first of all, it was revealed today that the Forensic Team left behind a shell casing. Skptd and the detective did not wear shoe coverings, because the police ran out of them. Is that damning to the prosecutions case . Well, i think its terrible. When you hear such a breach of procedure, its terrible. But on the other hand, it may not be a fatal issue. It certainly raises a lot of questions about the prosecutors case. But did it, in fact, change the ballistics . I doubt it very much. We know how many shots were fired and the victim was hit a certain number of times. Yes, its terrible, but it doesnt really ruin the case completely for the prosecution. Very quickly, marcia, what are we to make of this introduction of testosterone and needles found at the crime scene . It seems to me theyre aiming towards showing roid rage, so to speak, that he acted out in rage and that rage was amplified by the use of drugs. Now, whether thats true or not, we dont know. We dont know whether the substance in his house was tested out to be testosterone. They did find syringes along with it, which seems to indicate that it was, but we dont know. We dont know whether they took his blood immediately after his arrest. If so, whether its been tested or not. That would be very important. The mere fact that he has testosterone in a house is of no significance unless we can show that he was under the influence of it at the time of the shooting. Many things have to be known before you can make much of the existence of testosterone in the house. All right. Marsha clark, larry, and mark, thank you so much. Let us know what you think. Follow me on twitter jaketapper. And much more ahead, youll hear from Reeva Steenkamps brother, adam, about how conflicted he and the family are about whether Oscar Pistorius is a coldblooded killer. Later, would you buy an elks head from this man . He had a couple in his old office paid for by campaign donations, and thats not all Jesse Jackson jr. Bought, including possible prison time. His spending spree and guilty plea ahead on 360. Backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] and youll find advanced Safety Technology like an available headsup display on the 2013 lexus gs. Theres no going back. The battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an autoinsurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. [ angry gibberish ] [ justin ] mulligan sir. Mulligan. Take a mulligan. I took something for my sinuses, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] truth is, a lot of sinus products dont treat cough. They dont . [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does it treats your worst sinus symptoms, plus that annoying cough. 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If you are finding it hard to get a sense of whether Oscar Pistorius murdered his girlfriend in cold blood or killed her tragically, accidently, youre far from alone. It turns out the victims family is in the same situation. Reeva steenkamps brother, adam, acknowledged as much when we spoke earlier today about that and especially about the sister he loved. Adam, first of all, our deepest condolences to you and your family. I cannot even imagine how hard this must be. How are all of you holding up . We are all holding up very well considering the circumstances. Weve now had just about a week to let things sink in, and weve had a very busy few days as well. So i feel like we have done the most difficult things for us as a family so far in viewing my sisters body and then attending her memorial yesterday. Were doing okay. Yesterday after your sisters memorial, you said there is now a space missing inside the people that used to know her, and she will be missed by everyone. Tell us for a minute, if you would, tell us who she was, what kind of a woman was your sister . My sister was a beautiful woman outwardly and even more so inwardly. She brought people together. For the family she was i suppose you could consider her the glue that sort of held us together at certain points. Her empathy. She had empathy for people. She was she cared for other people. She put other people fir. She was just a very caring, lovely person. Several family members have said that none of you are focused really on the court proceedings. Youre focused on the here and now. Explain what you mean by that. Well, that is correct. The here and now is just really as a family seeing ourselves focussing on the fact that reeva is not here and coming to terms with that. That is, im pretty sure people can appreciate, you know, such a big thing. How could there possibly be space for anything else . It just so happens that this tragic circumstance for us is slap bang in the middle of an even bigger story. We just dont have the space at the moment to think about the details of whats happening with oscar at the moment. Im sure that will come. Ive read that your sister did not really like to talk much about her private life even with close friends. How much did any of you and her family know about her relationship with oscar . Weve heard mixed accounts. Some reports describing a loving relationship. Others say that there were problems. What was your impression of her relationship with Oscar Pistorius . I had no bad indications whatsoever. I did not actually talk to my sister in any detail about oscar at all. I mean, in fact, i didnt talk to my sister about oscar at all. I wouldnt like to put words into my other family memberss mouths, but everyone is saying the same thing. She didnt talk about it a lot, but there was no indicator that anything was bad. I mean, we know reeva. We knew reeva. She was happy, and if reeva was happy, everything was okay. You know, to us everything was okay and everything was good and everything was normal. Had you ever met oscar . Had you had any dealings with him at all . No, none at all, apart from watching him on the olympics last year. Never met the man. So this is a very difficult question, and i apologize ahead of time, but i just i have to know, do you in your gut have any feeling as to whether this was a horrible accident or if it was something more sinister . I dont have that feeling in my gut. I think im letting my logic dictate where my thoughts go, and the logic kind of leads me towards it could be either way. We just dont know until the truth comes out. I really, really truthfully do not know. I dont know. In the next day or so well learn whether or not the magistrate will grant Oscar Pistorius bail. Do you have any feelings one way or the other . Do you hope he gets bail . Do you hope that bail is denied . I dont have any vengeful feelings. Im not wishing bad things on anyone else. If i were to detach myself from the situation, which i suppose i cant do, under the circumstances, i would think it would be rather strange if someone who quite clearly did Something Like this were to get bail. It wouldnt make sense to me, but i dont know whether that would be right or wrong. Its for the Justice System to decide. Not for us. Its a very difficult question to answer. I think thats really the best that i can do in answering that. Are you and your family following the Media Coverage, or are you purposely staying away from it . We are not purposely staying away from it, but were not avidly following it. We might get the odd glance at the tv, but its really not something that were concentrating on at the moment. As a little time goes by, im sure this will go on for a while, we might start to take more notice. Our thoughts have been completely taken over by dealing with, you know, our grief and the loss of my sister. Thats been our focus. It has to be. Its normal for it to be that way. Your family, as you work through your grief and you try to suspend any judgments, are you able to just hover in an area and not reach any conclusion, or do you go back and forth between different views of what happened that horrible, horrible night . I think each individual within the family has swung either way. Peoples thoughts are all over the place at the moment. I mean, at a time like this when people are grieving, its i think its hard to keep a clear mind on anything, and with the added pressure and the Media Coverage and the interest, you know, from the world looking in to this story, its a rather unnatural situation. So i suppose i would agree with everyone who is flipping from one side to the other. We just dont know. All that we want to know, we want to know what the truth is. And i think thats what anyone else would like as well, you know . To be able to make something of it, to be able to deal with this and have something positive come out of this. And, adam, what do you want the world what do you want the people watching and listening to this interview right now what do you want them to remember about your sister . I want to remember the good that she was trying to do in this country, and in her own small way, apart from having an enormous amount of fun with where her career was going. She studied law. She wanted to make a difference, and she started by making small steps in that direction, following through and starting to support the movement against violence against women, which is, you know, its a very hot subject in this country. She would have taken that even further. It was something that she strongly believed in, you know . The good and the right in people, and thats where i saw her energies were moving towards, you know . She wanted to change things for the better and, unfortunately, that was nipped in the bud. Adam steenkamp, our deepest deepest condolences on your loss. Thank you very much for talking with us. Thank you. One other note because so many people are following this story so closely. Well be devoting a full hour to it on friday night. Blade runner, murder or mistake . An ac 360 special report. You can watch it starting at 10 00 p. M. Eastern this friday here on cnn. Coming up, former democratic congressman Jesse Jackson jr. Pleads guilty to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in Campaign Contributions on everything from a vacation in Marthas Vineyard to Michael Jackson memorabilia. Ill speak with someone who was in the court today. Also ahead, new Yorks Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed pope benedict. Today he was questioned behind closed doors in the catholic closed doors in the Catholic Churchs sex abuse scandal. 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What if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results . Prove it. Lets look up some taco places. I like the left side. Yeah . Okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach . What side do you like better . I like the results on the right. Im gonna go with the one on the left. Oh bing won people prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. The rising political star of former democratic congressman Jesse Jackson jr has fallen to the ground in a streak of misused Campaign Funds. Money he and his wife spent on things you would never even dream of buying. Even on someone elses dime. Elk heads . Fur capes . Two hats formerly worn by Michael Jackson, and memorabilia involving the late martial arts star bruce lee. The tab coming to 750,000. In washington jackson pleaded guilty to federal charges today saying he has no interest in wasting taxpayers time or money with a trial. Leaving the courthouse, jackson apologized. Im sorry i let everybody down. Did you say you are sorry you let everybody down . Im sorry i let everybody down. I really, really am sorry about that. Jacksons father, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, was in court today for his sons plea, and lynn sweet was also there. She had a personal encounter with the former congressman. Shes the Washington Bureau chief for the chicago sun times. And an old and dear friend of mine. She joins me now live. Lynn, thanks for being here. I just cannot get over the scope of this whole thing. Youve been covering this. Did anyone have any idea of the extent that of this fraud that it was this bad . I mean, 750,000 . Elk heads . Jake, actually, there was an elk head or deer head in the congressmans office that they often thought was pretty curious. But jake, what we have here is a scheme and a scam that went on for seven years, much longer than i think any of us anticipated and for what . Also, trips to costco, undergarments, toilet paper, and, yes, lavish expenses for health club, trips. It just its a tragic downfall, but they were it got them caught up in a lifestyle that they could not afford. They used their the Main Campaign fund, jake, as a personal piggy bank. In court today everything came crashing down as they both pleaded guilty. Lynn, you were in court today. Did jackson seem contrite, or did he seem upset that he had been caught . Well, its im not sure yet. He looked awfully sorry. He looked gaunt. This is the first time anyone has really seen him at any extended length since he disappeared in june, surfacing at the mayo clinic took treated for his bipolar disorder. Yes, it looked sad. He looked pained. He was tearyeyed. So was sandy, his wife, now a former chicago alderman. When she pled guilty she had her game face on beforehand, but, my god, when you stand there and the judge says after going through it all of this and that, do you plead guilty, and she said yes, you know, she just reached for the tissue. He was a lot more emotional. A lot more a lot more showing that the enormity of how his life changed has happened today, jake. I think his wife sandy i think until recently maybe thought she could get away without being charged. So she got caught up in this a little later. They both had in court a big display of support from their families. And theyll need it. Theyll be sentenced in a few months, and is he going to serve prison time, almost no way out of it. What exactly did he say to you outside the courtroom . This was a touching moment. You know, i have covered him since he came to congress. I have covered his father for decades, both in chicago and washington. As he passed by me in the hallway at the courthouse, he grabbed my hand, and he said tell the people back home tell everyone back home im sorry, and just tell them that. Im paraphrasing, and it was heartfelt. He grabbed my hand. I was a little bit surprised. Basically he had been muted, been told not to talk. His wife sandy was muted. Frankly, the usual very talkative reverend jackson was not saying anything either. Very touching moment. Had to be on a day that was tough. Im a human being. Its no fun covering these stories. It makes you think what could have been for jackson and his wife, but, yeah, when he grabbed my hand and said tell everyone im sorry, the question i have is what you skruft just raised. Are you sorry you got caught, or really sorry for seven years of using their Campaign Fund as a personal piggy bank . All right, lynn sweet, thank you so much. Hey, jake. Thank you. Up next, one mans journey into hospital billing hell. He got sick, and owed nearly 500,000 and thats with insurance. Wait until you see what investigative correspondent drew griffin found inside those bills and what you should be looking out for. [ nurse ] im a hospice nurse. Britta olsen is my patient. I spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. One night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, when a person dies, she said, someone must open the window so the soul can depart. I smiled and squeezed her hand. Not tonight, britta. Not tonight. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson johnson. Advil pm® or tylenol pm. The advil pm® guy is spending less time lying awake with annoying aches and pains and more time asleep. Advil pm®. The difference is a better nights sleep. A popular kansas city restaurant leveled by a natural gas explosion. We have new numbers on the injured and the dead. Thats next. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. [ male announcer ] make your escape. Twice as rewarding. Earn Double Points or double miles on all your hotel stays through march thirty first. Sign up now at hiltondouble. Com. Keeping them honest. Over the next two nights, in partnership with Time Magazine were going to try to shine light into a black hole that in Many Americans are sucked into every day. Our investigation, of course, has nothing to do with astrophysics. Its about a hidden universe, the Health Care Industry does not want you to see. The Time Magazine special report bitter pill why medical bills are killing us is the result of a sevenmonth investigation by a journalist into why medical bills are so high in the United States and how understanding those costs could hold the key to fixing health care. Its a fascinating read. Cnn investigative correspondent drew griffin has been working the story on this end, and were pretty sure what he has uncovered may make you sick. Welcome to the nauseating world of hospital billing where virtually nothing is free. Not even the paper cup in which you get your pills. Heres part one of drews special report. Reporter bob is finally healthy enough to make a short walk from his front door to his mailbox, but its a walk he dreads because he knows whats waiting. Medical bills. You might think youve heard this story before, but not this one, because the Health Care Industry has managed to keep this largely a secret. This story is about whats actually in bob winecoffs bills and how he, and maybe you, are getting completely ripped off. This full drawer here and this drawer here are nothing but medical bills. Last march a sudden hacking cough put him in a hospital intensive care unit. He was having trouble breathing. I did at some point, you know, make some kind of reference to them that i wanted to breathe and so they put me on a ventilator, and thats where it all started. I dont remember it. It was the bill that could eventually bankrupt bob and becky winecoff. Its nice out. Yes. Beautiful. At 60 years old, struggling to keep a Small Business going, bob had just switched to a discount insurance company. After just four days of treatment, the hospital was telling becky her husbands insurance would not even come close to covering the costs. She said the bill is up to 80,000 already, and she said, mrs. Winecoff, i hope you realize youre responsible for this bill, and i got in the car. My motherinlaw was with me. I think she was scared to ride with me. I was just hysterical. I thought, what am i going to do . Ive worked my whole life. Is this how my life is going to end . Reporter 80,000, it turns out, was only the very beginning. Altogether i did total them up, about 400,000. Well over. 474,016. 60. This is the summary of those charges. Broad categories with few details. Becky and bob decided ask a few questions and began to see just why health care in america is so expensive. Everything bob touched, used, or was given came with a whopping charge. Nurses pricked his finger to check his glucose levels. 190 times. 39 a piece. The total bill . 7,410 just for that. Asking for that ventilator because he was having trouble breathing . 32 separate billings. Total cost, 65,600. If he had been five years older and qualified for medicare, all of these items would have been a tiny fraction of what he was billed. As it turns out, even asking for a urine bottle cost him extra. Arent you surprised they even charged you for that . Isnt there a charge for the room itself . Oh, yeah. Theres a flat rate charge. I dont know whats included. I guess its just a room and a bed and Everything Else is because everything they brought in, whether it be kleenexes, urinal bottle, some kind of tubing i needed for the iv or whatever, all of that was an extra charge every time they did it, they changed it. Think thats outrageous . Take a look at this little white cup. You probably last used one of these getting ketchup for french fries. If you have been hospitalized, you probably recognize it, too. Its that little white cup the nurse carries on a tray to bring your aspirin. Well, i want you to remember this little white cup because in a minute im going to tell you a little hospital billing secret about these little cups that you will never forget. Does anything surprise you anymore as to what particularly a hospital will bill . No. Absolutely not. Pat palmer has made a career battling hospitals over outrageous invoices. Shes now battling for the winecoffs. She and her two daughters run medical billing advocates from her basement outside roanoke, virginia. And each time the phone rings, its most likely a newly discharged hospital patient suffering sticker shock. Just flabbergasted of the cost thats involved in the treatment that they had. They never dreamed it would be that high. So where in the world do the hospitals come up with these prices . That, too, is shrouded in mystery. Hospitals determine their own pricing off a master list called the charge master. Journalist steven bril, reporting for Time Magazine says the charge master is basically a way any hospital can charge any amount for anything. Its a price list, and nobody can really explain how this price list happened, and more important, nobody wants to try to explain what the costs are behind it because its totally irrational. It varies from hospital to hospital. A box of tissues becomes a mucous recovery system. A teddy bear to cuddle . Thats billed as a cough suppression device. Certainly as a patient you think thats a nice gesture, a great gift. Not knowing that you could be charged 128 to 200 for that teddy bear. Remember the little white cup . Its billed as Oral Administration fees. Ive had a patient that had 5,000 worth of charges just for the little white cup to hand you your medication three, four times a day. How do they get away with it . Mostly they dont. In very stark terms, only the uneducated, unrepresented or under or uninsured get charged full price. Big Insurance Companies negotiate discount rates. Medicare goes even further determining preset prices, maximums a hospital can charge. For people like bob and becky, hospitals can charge whatever they want. Can they ruin you . Well, of course they could. Absolutely. Theres no way in the world. If we sold our house and everything we own, it would be maybe a quarter of the bill. Theres just no way. It would kill us, literally. Bob and becky, they are still fighting that bill, and they have asked us for now not to name the hospital fearing it could damage any hope they would have of a settlement, but they agreed to tell this story really as a warning because this one illness of an otherwise healthy guy will literally be costing them for the rest of their lives. Drew, what about obama care . Wasnt that supposed to keep hospital costs down . It was. But in reality, jake, there is nothing in obama care aimed at reducing the actual costs of health care. Some are arguing that obama care, the forcing of everybody to be in this Insurance Plan or pay a penalty, is actually going to increase the costs we are paying because in very simple economic terms, youre increasing the amount of people who will be paying for all the health care, increasing demand, and theres really no incentive for the suppliers like these hospitals, to charge any less. Steven bril, the author of the Time Magazine report said with obama care weve changed the rules related to who pays for what, but we havent done much to change the prices of what were paying. Where does all this profit end up . Yeah, it is flowing right into the hands of hospitals and the insurers. Tomorrow night, jake, were going show you exactly whose hands are literally raking in millions of dollars in all this. All right. Excellent report. One more quick point, time special correspondent steven bril will be on cnns starting point tomorrow morning to talk about the sevenmonth investigation into the hidden world of hospital billing. Just ahead, tonight a massive winter storm threatens 18 states. It is already delaying a pga Golf Tournament in arizona, of all places, with more crazy weather on the way for a huge chunk of the country. We will get the latest from chad myers next. Rone to his underarm. Rone to his underarm. 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Spiriva is the only oncedaily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. Spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fastacting inhalers for sudden symptoms. Tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. These may worsen with spiriva. Discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. Stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. Other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. Nothing can reverse copd. Spiriva helps me breathe better. blowing sound ask your doctor about spiriva. A massive winter storm is bearing down on 18 states and is bringing snow to places that normally dont get much. Tucson, arizona, for one. This storm is gigantic. Were talking 800,000 square miles, 18 states with watches and warnings. The biggest heavy snow threats are in the midwest. Parts of kansas are expecting as much as a foot and a half of snow. Meteorologist chad myers joins me now live with the latest. Chad, you say the snow, the ice, the tornadoes, theyre all coming from one storm system . From one storm. Now, not in the same place. The snow will be in one place. Tornadoes in another and ice will be in another. Tornadoes will be down in louisiana. That kind of all spreads itself out. The size, the strength of this storm is going to go all the way from the dakotas all the down to houston. One side warm, one side cold. Right here, the pink area behind me, jake, this is hard to imagine, 470,000 square miles under winter storm warnings right now. The triple threat were calling it the heavy snow to the north, the ice over parts of arkansas, the Severe Weather across louisiana, and as that Severe Weather kind of dies out but stalls, flooding east of there into the southeast. A big storm. This would be the quintessential western movie tonight, get out of dodge, because dodge city, you are in the middle of a bulls eye. It could be 16 or 18 inches right over you. Anywhere west of wichita right through salina and north even into parts of nebraska. As we move you ahead, theres going to be a monster ice storm over springfield, branson, missouri. Think of an inch of ice coating everything. I mean, power lines are going to be coming down. Trees will be coming down. Finally, by friday morning, chicago gets some snow. Not a lot. Four to six inches, but this is a widespread thing. Look the pictures youre seeing here, this is california yesterday. Arizona, new mexico today. And this is just the preparty. It gets a lot worse from here in the plains, but they need the rain. They need the snow. They need all the moisture because of the major drought right where all this is headed. Thanks, chad. Lets get caught up on some of our other stories. Issa sesay is joining us. The Roman Catholic archbishop of new york who has been talked about as a possible candidate for pope was deposed behind closed doors today in the churchs sex abuse scandal. The questioning came from lawyers representing hundreds of people who say they were molested by priests in milwaukee where Cardinal Dolan led the archdiocese for seven years. Former cyclist Lance Armstrong will not cooperate with the Antidoping Agency that sank his career. Theyve given him until today to decide. In a statement, his attorney said this. Lance will not participate in usadas efforts to selectively conduct american prosecutions that only demonize selected individuals while failing to address the 95 of the sport over which usada has no jurisdiction. Opposition activists say at least 163 people were killed in syria today, including 48 who died in an air strike near damascus. Syrian rebels are now warning hezbollah militants in lebanon to stop their attacks or face severe consequences. A 360 follow up, a body was we have Surveillance Video showing the explosion that leveled a kansas city, missouri, restaurant. A 360 follow up, a body was recovered from the rubble of a Kansas City Missouri restaurant leveled last night by a natural gas explosion. At least 15 people were injured. Listen up. This one is for you. In massachusetts one call, icy this lamp double says as a hand warmer, also has a television and a couch. Jake. Thanks. Well be right back. Make just one heart to heart you you sing to one smile that cheers you one face that lights when it nears you. And you will be happy too. Theres nothing like our grilled lobster and lobster tacos. The bar harbor bake is really worth trying. [ male announcer ] get more during red lobsters lobsterfest. With the years Largest Selection of mouthwatering lobster entrees. Like our delicious lobster lovers dream, featuring two kinds of succulent lobster tails. Or our savory, new grilled Maine Lobster and lobster tacos. 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