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Paying the Unexpected Hospital Bill! (1 Viewer)

Johnny Angell

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Back in October I was admitted to the hospital thru the emergency room. This was related to my cancer. I stayed 3 days, I think. When in the hospital, the patient is not allowed to take his own daily prescriptions. The hospital must provide them at an inflated cost. This was true for my stays for planned and emergency surgeries.

The hospital submits to medical (but I just learned not to my Plan D RX plan.) Every other time I've stayed in the hospital Medicare has pain for those daily RX's of mine. But not this time because I was considered an outpatient. Today I learned I have to get statements from the hospital to submit to my Plan D. It pisses me off that 1) The hospital won't submit to Plan D, and 2) It takes this long to learn it's my responsibility to submit the claim.

BTW, the 3 days of RX's, which would have cost me (after insurance), probably $15 or less, were billed for $750.
 

Mike Frezon

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Yeah...what John said.

Goes to show ya (and this is from another guy with a lot of hospital stays under his belt) how the insurance industry shields the patient from the cost of drugs and treatment and many people have NO IDEA what a visit to the doctor costs. It's no wonder health care costs have spiraled out of control.
 

DavidMiller

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The real problem is that the drugs shouldn't cost that much to begin with. When we pay $100s for a pill that cost $15 in other countries it really makes you wonder. The whole medical, insurance and drug/service model needs to undergo a massive upheaval. Problem is it will never happen as this country is built on profiteering. I do feel for you Johnny and Mike hospital stays are tough.
 

Josh Steinberg

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My recent negative insurance experience (2015?) was pretty straightforward - it was more of a matter of weird or lax billing practices at the hospital I was being seen at. I got the standard insurance note from my insurer confirming that I was covered and that due to their negotiations and contracts with the hospitals, that they would pay X towards my visit, and that I would be liable for Y but that the hospital/doctor may opt to send me a bill for less than Y or no bill at all; Y was just the maximum they were allowed to charge. All seemed reasonable, and I waited for a bill from the hospital. After 30 days past the insurance notice, nothing came, and I assumed that there wouldn't be an additional charge.

Several months after receiving that insurance letter and lasting for a few additional months from then, bills from the hospital starting trickling in, one at a time, and demanding payment in a very limited window. I was furious. I don't object to paying for services that I need or used, and it's not that I couldn't afford it (more that I would have liked, but not totally bank breaking), but I think if you wait six months to send me a bill, you forfeit your right to payment. It's not right that I went to see my doctor in a January and the hospital in a February and was led to believe that insurance was covering the whole thing for months, and then finally started getting bills around that June-July-August. It'd be one thing if it was a little mom-and-pop operation that was overwhelmed, but for a major hospital network with a professional billing department, that's unacceptable.

I was not able to get them to budge on the amount due, but they conceded that their delay was unreasonable and could not offer any explanation for it (not even a lame b.s. excuse). They agreed that if they were allowed to take six months to send me a bill, it wasn't reasonable to expect me to pay it within two weeks, and they gave me a significant extension. But the whole thing was pretty irritating.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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The hospitals also inflate the cost for patients who can pay to cover the "duty of care" costs of people who walk into the ER and need treatment but can't pay. So a good chunk of that $750 was probably to make up losses elsewhere.
 

Stan

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My recent negative insurance experience (2015?) was pretty straightforward - it was more of a matter of weird or lax billing practices at the hospital I was being seen at. I got the standard insurance note from my insurer confirming that I was covered and that due to their negotiations and contracts with the hospitals, that they would pay X towards my visit, and that I would be liable for Y but that the hospital/doctor may opt to send me a bill for less than Y or no bill at all; Y was just the maximum they were allowed to charge. All seemed reasonable, and I waited for a bill from the hospital. After 30 days past the insurance notice, nothing came, and I assumed that there wouldn't be an additional charge.

Several months after receiving that insurance letter and lasting for a few additional months from then, bills from the hospital starting trickling in, one at a time, and demanding payment in a very limited window. I was furious. I don't object to paying for services that I need or used, and it's not that I couldn't afford it (more that I would have liked, but not totally bank breaking), but I think if you wait six months to send me a bill, you forfeit your right to payment. It's not right that I went to see my doctor in a January and the hospital in a February and was led to believe that insurance was covering the whole thing for months, and then finally started getting bills around that June-July-August. It'd be one thing if it was a little mom-and-pop operation that was overwhelmed, but for a major hospital network with a professional billing department, that's unacceptable.

I was not able to get them to budge on the amount due, but they conceded that their delay was unreasonable and could not offer any explanation for it (not even a lame b.s. excuse). They agreed that if they were allowed to take six months to send me a bill, it wasn't reasonable to expect me to pay it within two weeks, and they gave me a significant extension. But the whole thing was pretty irritating.

Long delays like that are common. I had rotator cuff surgery a few years ago. The bills were fairly timely, but nearly a year later I get a bill from the anesthesiologist. All the hospital stuff was lumped into one bill, but this guy wasn't employed by the hospital so billed separately. Didn't even run it through my insurance, so read carefully and make sure you're not overpaying.

You think you're done paying, then suddenly a little surprise shows up in the mail.
 

Stan

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Waiting patiently for my next round of bills, just as I was almost to zero.

Fell off a ladder and broke my foot, along with almost breaking some ribs, but they're only bruised. Not something I would recommend.

Two ER visits, x-rays, CT-scan "Yes it's broken". See an orthopedic surgeon Friday, pretty gruesome surgery if it's necessary. The pain is phenomenal, my foot turned almost completely purple along with bruises up on my calf. Don't mess with gravity, not fun.

You don't realize how much you use your feet until you can't. Wearing a big "boot", crutches, etc. But it's amazing how little you can do when you can't put any weight on one of your legs.

Pretty good insurance, doesn't cover 100%, so I'm probably going to get some major bills in the next few months. ERs are the worst, but I'll work something out. Thankfully they don't pass judgment, they take care of you, no attitude at all.

One thing I'm shocked by is the kindness of people in this smart-phone, don't bother me era. People opening doors, clerks actually doing my grocery shopping for me, carrying everything out to the car. Complete strangers helping me. I think deep down people are really nice, they just don't show it.

Okay, enough rambling for now <_<
 

Johnny Angell

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Waiting patiently for my next round of bills, just as I was almost to zero.

Fell off a ladder and broke my foot, along with almost breaking some ribs, but they're only bruised. Not something I would recommend.

Two ER visits, x-rays, CT-scan "Yes it's broken". See an orthopedic surgeon Friday, pretty gruesome surgery if it's necessary. The pain is phenomenal, my foot turned almost completely purple along with bruises up on my calf. Don't mess with gravity, not fun.

You don't realize how much you use your feet until you can't. Wearing a big "boot", crutches, etc. But it's amazing how little you can do when you can't put any weight on one of your legs.

Pretty good insurance, doesn't cover 100%, so I'm probably going to get some major bills in the next few months. ERs are the worst, but I'll work something out. Thankfully they don't pass judgment, they take care of you, no attitude at all.

One thing I'm shocked by is the kindness of people in this smart-phone, don't bother me era. People opening doors, clerks actually doing my grocery shopping for me, carrying everything out to the car. Complete strangers helping me. I think deep down people are really nice, they just don't show it.

Okay, enough rambling for now <_<
Ow! Ouch! Aaaargh! Sympathy pains for you Stan.

I liked what you experienced with people helping.
 

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