Learn me : Hospital ER Bills

Not ER related, but took the kiddo in for her last bit o' work (asthma specialist) and they were about to flip out because I have no insurance at the moment. The visit was ~$122.00, they asked if I wanted a bill sent, I said no I want to pay it now. So I did, they ran my debit card, I signed, away we went.

Five weeks later I receive a bill for $131.00. I sent them a nice letter with the bill, pointing out that I had already paid it. Two weeks later, I get a bill for $9.

It's pretty bad when the doc's billing people can't handle something that simple.

I do have a couple of ER related horror stories, they piss me off to the point that I won't post them. Well, one small part: a $375 splint for a greenstick leg fracture that I wore for all of 10 minutes, once I put it on it could not be used by anyone else. This thing was a fabric wrap with stiffening bars in it, looked cheap as hell. I bought a CTi carbon fiber brace, custom made, for $395.00.

I think when it comes down to it, a charge from the ER is less about the $9 brace they give you, and more about the cost to maintain a facility that operated around the clock every day of the year with enough staff and equipment to handle everything from accidents and gunshot wounds, to the Dilaudid addicts who like the food and never pay their bills, and come in on a daily basis. Hard to itemize that on a bill charge.

When I crashed my motorcycle and cruched a few bones(broken foot and thumb) I was sitting in the ER with some guy bitching about a bad cough. You know that guy isn't paying for it, even with insurance my medical bills ended up costing me personally over 2000$, no surgery, no nothing.

The other people I was in there with a stubbed toe or bad cough couldn't have been paying their own insurance, thus me Mr. Moneybags comes in and I pickup up the bill for those other people. Not one doubt about it. Then the hospital is a lot like a body shop, they want to deal with an insurance company so there aren't any cost restriction. I actually got pissed off at the radiology department when they wouldn't x ray both my hand and foot in the same sitting, incuring another co pay. That really got me, they are looking to run the bills up in the hospitals favor. They want to run up as much bills as they can to pay for all these deadbeats and illegals.

I got a dozen of those stories too. 16 years of riding motocross and downhill mountain biking can beat the crap out of a body and rack up serious medical bills.

Someone should do someting about how are current medical system works. Like some sort of "healthcare reform"...

NEW UPDATE:

I had my mom send me the bill she paid so I could see what's going on. Contrary to what she said, this bill is for a dermatology appointment I had 3 months ago as well. $461 for them to cut one mole out! I am literally never stepping foot in a doctors office again! What the heck is insurance supposed to cover?

Just got off the phone with the ER people. They are going to send me an itemized receipt. They also said that none of it was covered by insurance so it looks like I need to give them a call next.

I also called the dermatologist billing people and they close at 3:30 pm so it looks like I will have to try tomorrow.

Can't believe $1240 just went out the door!

why wouldn't your ins cover an ER visit ... especially for an actual injury ?

wbjones wrote: why wouldn't your ins cover an ER visit ... especially for an actual injury ?

Depends on the plan. High deductible plans, catastrophic only coverage plans would all be out of pocket.

Sigh, just got off the phone with insurance.

Oldtin called it. Apparently I have a high deductible plan (mine is $3000). Nothing is covered except for preventative maintenance which is 100% covered with no deductible or co pay. My fault for not knowing and next time I will adjust accordingly.

I've never had any illnesses/injury so I've never had to deal with this stuff. Plus, since I am under 26 I can stay on my parents insurance plan they have through work. Since I have siblings my parents plan wouldn't get cheaper if I was off of it (family plan) so I just pay them my share. Never really looked into what was covered/deductible and what not.

Who would have thought that the most painful part about getting a hook stuck in your finger would be the bill 3 months later! Note to self, next time that thing is getting ripped out no matter what!

nocones wrote: Don't freak out but that is probably just the bill for the er. You will get the doctors bill soon.

Will be waiting for this one! Can't wait!

I've got almost 6k worth of bills sitting here for two nights and three days in the hospital from what appears to be a black widow spider bite.

The bills have slowly trickled in for a couple months now. Hospital, doctor, radioilogy and a couple others not counting all the time we've been double billed.

Every time I go to my primary doctor, even though my insurance pays 100% of doctor visits, I get billed in full. Make a phone call and get "oh we see that it was paid, ignore the bill" every single time. It's not an accident, I wonder how many people just pay the bill without questioning it.

people with more money than we have

I don't pay until at least the third notice. More often than not, it's the exact same scenario, insurance already paid or they haven't recieved the bill yet.

I saw a patient today. I charged her $25. There was no insurance involved.

u do teh maths.

oldtin wrote: You may be getting a couple more bills soon .The ER bill is for the facility, nurses and supplies. The physician may have their own bill for their part of the service. If there was lab work or imaging, that could also be a separate bill, or part of the ER service - kinda depends on how things are set up financially. Don't mean to scare you, just a realistic view.

I had a small blood issue and got my doctor, three other docs, three labs, and the hospital sending me bills. And I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

I called and some were willing to take interest free payments. The hospital said I can pay a $35 minimum on a $600 bill that BCBS didn't cover. Okay...

Keven wrote: Sigh, just got off the phone with insurance. Oldtin called it. Apparently I have a high deductible plan (mine is $3000). Nothing is covered except for preventative maintenance which is 100% covered with no deductible or co pay. My fault for not knowing and next time I will adjust accordingly. I've never had any illnesses/injury so I've never had to deal with this stuff. Plus, since I am under 26 I can stay on my parents insurance plan they have through work. Since I have siblings my parents plan wouldn't get cheaper if I was off of it (family plan) so I just pay them my share. Never really looked into what was covered/deductible and what not. Who would have thought that the most painful part about getting a hook stuck in your finger would be the bill 3 months later! Note to self, next time that thing is getting ripped out no matter what!

Pardon my ignorance- but with a high deductible plan (at least the ones I deal with) I generally see an HSA/FSA setup to cover at least part of it, with a portion of it matched by the employer. Is there anything like that with yours? It might take some of the stress out of 1200$ in bills.....

Dr. Hess wrote: I saw a patient today. I charged her $25. There was no insurance involved. u do teh maths.

That's why I real with the chiropractor I deal with, 10$ a visit, first visit was 45$ to cover x rays. Been going to him for years, when I had insurance he didn't charge me a thing, even though I was supposed to have a 25$ co-pay. Still beats the hell out of meds for my lower back.

You can some questions about the bill. It's their obligation to provide you the information.

Health care is expensive. Example, I just went through ultrasounds and biopsies to check for prostate cancer. I was in the doctor's building for less than two hours total. That's over 3 visits, and then there's the lab to check the biopsy samples. Total amount billed to the insurance company.....$3700. I may owe $579 of it, but I'll bet that bill never shows up.

Update: Got the doctors bill for another $300. Just over $1581 in medical bills now. I called about the $300 doctors bill and they wouldn't make a deal with me. My plan is to wait a little and then try again with the ER bill. Any other suggestions? When does this hit my credit report?

Prolly when it hits collections, which can be 30 days or even longer like 120-180 days.

Forget trying to make a deal, tell them to provide the exact service received/given and the results from that service. If it was some 30 sec in and out deal, that is when you tell them to pound sand.

No matter how much you end up having to pay get in touch with the Billing people and set up a payment plan.

When my middle child was born we had crappy Ins. My wife got on the phone and we pay something like $50 a month to the hospital.

I have to go in for surgery soon. Hydrocele and a hernia. Neither is dangerous, but they have to be taken care of. I am covered to some degree by Medicare, but fear what I will have to pay. Will be in for probably two days at Broward General Hospital. Any input on this?

Do you have a medicare supplement insurance plan? If yes, you won't get hit for much.

Crikey! The six months I spent being treated for a blood clot cost me absolutely nothing, except for the cost of the prescription ($25) month. That includes emergency room visit, monthly check-up, x-ray, catscan, ultrasound, bi-weekly blood-testing and a visit to a blood specialist. Much as I love y'all's climate, guess I'll stay up here!