Sickened at hospital charges

[vettechick99]

So a month ago I came down with some crazy sickness. I had a fever for 5 days and no other symptoms. I normally wouldn't worry too much about that, but I am pregnant and was worried about the baby. So I went to the ER on the 5th day and they ran some tests and gave me fluids. I was there for about 4 hours. Other than a painful IV of fluids, they did/gave nothing to help me get better. Just sent me home and I just happened to start feeling better the next day.

I get the bill and it's $3,000.

$700 for the honor of taking up a room.
$300 to check my calcium levels (which was pointless because my OB says pregnant women's calcium levels are off anyway).
$1,000 for the differentials/CBCs.
$225 to check for the flu. Even though I've had both vaccines.
$300 for fluids.

I could go on and on. 'Til I hit $3,000 of course.

I mean this is riduculous. Thank God I have insurance that is covering a good chunk. But still! Can you dispute charges? I know I can negotiate a lower price with this hospital because I've done it before. Usually about 25-30%. Is that my only option?

 

[Jennasis]

I did that once when I went in for what I thought was a broken foot (it was a sprain). I got hit with some outlandish bill...I understood the x-rays and such but the charge for the doctor said something like "ER procedure- $600". I was there for 2 hours! What procedure? So I called and inquired about it and was told it was for the doctor "casting your foot". I didn't get a cast. I was given one of those cheap foam pads that go under the foot with some velcro straps to hold it in place. AND the ER doc didn't put it on. He was missing the pizza that had been delivered for lunch so he asked the nurse to do it. Nurse walked to the supply closet, grabbed the "shoe thingy" HANDED IT TO ME and said "put it on" and walked out.

$600? For that? I think not.

I disputed the charges and wound up getting like 20% reduced.

 

[Lintasare]

Since you have insurance I would wait and see what they pay first and what your share is. Insurance companies almost never reimburse based on billed charges which can be enormous. In a hospital setting they will allow a certain amount based on what is billed in terms of diagnosis and procedure codes. At least that is how the company I work for does it, I am not sure about others. The insurance company will come up with what they will allow to reimburse based on the codes and the hospitals contract.

Then if you have coinsurance, a deductible or copay they would take that out of the allowed amount and reimburse based on what is left.

I would wait for the explanation of benefits from your company to see what your share is.

I hope I made sense.

 

[MomRN]

Here's a good one for you...a few weeks ago my son had macaroni and cheese and a rock in his ear. I was able to boil the mac and cheese out with peroxide, but couldn't get the rock out (at the time I did not know it was a rock, my ds only confessed to mac and cheese). Take him to the peds office the next day so they can flush it out. Literally takes 5 seconds for the rock to come out...

My out of pockets costs, after co-pay and the insurance discount... not to mention my employer is affiliated with this group of doctors and I carry this employers insurance....

5 seconds= $125+

That's $1500/min or $90,000/hr.

 

[vettechick99]

Since you have insurance I would wait and see what they pay first and what your share is. Insurance companies almost never reimburse based on billed charges which can be enormous. In a hospital setting they will allow a certain amount based on what is billed in terms of diagnosis and procedure codes. At least that is how the company I work for does it, I am not sure about others. The insurance company will come up with what they will allow to reimburse based on the codes and the hospitals contract.

Then if you have coinsurance, a deductible or copay they would take that out of the allowed amount and reimburse based on what is left.

I would wait for the explanation of benefits from your company to see what your share is.

I hope I made sense.

Insurance is very confusing to me. And I just got a new plan - UHC HRA. Which means they pay the first $1,500 (co-pays and drugs, etc) and then I pay the next $1,500. Which counts as my deductible I think. So I've already used up my $1500 this year and now they are paying $2400 of this $3000 and I've got to pay the rest. So I don't think UHC is kickin' in any more. I am just so annoyed that a 4-hr visit costs someone $3,000. It makes no sense. If I was UHC, I would be mad too.

I am having a baby at this hospital in August (c-section) so that's another $12,000. I guess I'll start sending them money and then maybe when that amount hits, I can negotiate a nice discount.

 

[bumbershoot]

You know you can get flu even if you've had the shot, yes? So it's still worthwhile to check for. In addition, you could easily get a strain that isn't in the vial of additives and preservatives that is injected, even if by chance you did develop an immunity to the ones they put in the vial.


Yes, ERs are expensive. Took us over a year to pay off the ER when DS got a burn. And we weren't even there for 4 hours, and they did nothing but look at it, put on a salve and a bandage, and make sure that we hadn't purposely burned him. That time was superfun as the *day* before we had signed up for a high deductible plan (retroactive to the beginning of that month), so we got to pay it allllll.

 

[hentob]

$1,000 for the differentials/CBCs.

This costs $44.99 on privatemdlabs.com

http://www.privatemdlabs.com/lp/complete_blood_count.php

 

[NAVY CAPTAIN]

That really sucks. I think health care in the US has ruined many families financially. Your neighbours in Canada would have paid $0 because of public health care for all citizens being available.

 

[vettechick99]

You know you can get flu even if you've had the shot, yes? So it's still worthwhile to check for. In addition, you could easily get a strain that isn't in the vial of additives and preservatives that is injected, even if by chance you did develop an immunity to the ones they put in the vial.


Yes, ERs are expensive. Took us over a year to pay off the ER when DS got a burn. And we weren't even there for 4 hours, and they did nothing but look at it, put on a salve and a bandage, and make sure that we hadn't purposely burned him. That time was superfun as the *day* before we had signed up for a high deductible plan (retroactive to the beginning of that month), so we got to pay it allllll.

Yes, I do. And I'm sure that's why the PA (not doctor) checked it anyway. But being that the fever was my only symptom, flu was unlikely. I just wonder if they see I have insurance and go to town ordering tests.

$45. Nice.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I had a horrible cramp in my leg when I was pregnant with Bryan. Had to go to the ER on a Sat night. What fun. Ended up sitting in the room for a couple of hours waiting and then was taken for a leg ultrasound. Then I got to sit in the room again for a little over an hour. I think the bill ended up over 5000 almost 6. Thank God I had already hit my deductible.

What turned out to outrageous was that once you have the baby they get their own bill. When I had my others we just had 1 bill.

 

[BEloveDisney]

Hospital bills are ridiculous! I had a baby in March who had a number of complications, was in Children's Hospital for seventeen days, and ultimately passed away. Anyway, my point is that is was $800, 000!!!! Luckily insurance covered that, but I paid for most of the $50,000 in doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, etc before that and that's only from January to March. November to January I paid a lot too, but I'm not sure how much.

 

[Poohlovr]

A few years ago, my grandson hit his hand on something, It swelled up a little, and he was complaining that it hurt.
Took him to his pediatrician who took x-rays. The ped thought he saw a break and sent us to an orthopedic surgeon.
The ortho looked at the x-rays and said he saw a small hairline fracture. He had a tech put a black nylon and velcro brace on it (you can buy them at Walgreens for $17.99). We saw the orthopod for about 45 secs while he explained what he saw on the x-rays and felt Shawns hand.
The bill was almost $1000. Over $400 of it was for "surgery". The $17.99 brace? Almost $200. The remainder was for the office visit and reading the x-rays.

 

[WDWAurora]

I'm with you! I was SHOCKED at how much it cost to have this wonderful little boy I'm currently feeding. I have state employee health insurance, and my portion of the bill for just anesthesia is like $900. Insanity. That's not even hospital or delivery charges.I don't know what the uninsured or people who make less (and we don't make a lot) do.

 

[themilesfamily]

My trip to the ER to pass a kidney stone cost about $15,000. And I think the medical professionals earned every penny of it having to listen to me yell, "It hurts!" about 8,000 times.

I would have paid any amount for morphine at that particular point. Heck, I would have mortgaged my house.

What's strange is that I was in a serious car accident back in 1997 and was in the hospital for a month and had major surgery. That bill only came to roughly $50,000. Medical expenses must have gone up a lot in the past 10-15 years. Also, I was at a university teaching hospital, so maybe that defrayed some of the expense?

 

[southernbohemian]

Yes, I do. And I'm sure that's why the PA (not doctor) checked it anyway. But being that the fever was my only symptom, flu was unlikely. I just wonder if they see I have insurance and go to town ordering tests.
.

I know this is definitely the case at our pediatrician. My son is covered by my DBF's insurance, but when he was first born there was a mistake on some paperwork so I just paid for the visit and immunizations. It wasn't that much, like $200 for everything. The next time we went we used our insurance again. The copy of the bill was over $600. I thought it was maybe due to different prices for the vaccines, etc., but all of the base prices were much higher. Because we had insurance.

The same went for my MIL who had dental work - she got a huge bill from her insurance that wasn't covered by her plan. She called the dentist and he admitted that they always charge the most of what they think the insurance will pay. He nicely then dropped off the extra cost of her bill.

 

[Piecey]

You can dispute charges... I know that much.

I've disputed charges for things we didn't have done before. I went through the insurance company, though. They're great and handled it all. I just got a letter letting me know the results (generally, that the charges were dropped) and a new EOB.

$3,000 is ridiculous.
I went to the ER with severe pain when I was 21 weeks pregnant with DS1. I had fetal monitoring on the L&D unit before I was sent back to the ER...then bloodwork, an IV (with pain medication), a room for about 7 hours, an ultrasound and my bill was $1300.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My brother had a cyst removed from his throat and didn't have insurance (but makes too much to be covered by anything offered by the government). He was at the hospital for about 5-6 hours (not overnight). The bill was $32,000. He set up a payment plan and a lady from the billing company called and said they reduced it to $22,000. About six months later he called to see if he could reduce the amount of the payment (not the balance amount) but without even asking they reduced it to $11,000. It's so ridiculous.

I went to the doctor a couple of years ago when I didn't have insurance for just a general check up. I saw the doctor for 25 minutes and he drew some blood (well he didn't, a nurse did) and ran one test and it cost me a little under $900.

I'm glad you and the baby are ok though!!

 

[KristaTX]

Hospital bills are ridiculous! I had a baby in March who had a number of complications, was in Children's Hospital for seventeen days, and ultimately passed away. Anyway, my point is that is was $800, 000!!!! Luckily insurance covered that, but I paid for most of the $50,000 in doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, etc before that and that's only from January to March. November to January I paid a lot too, but I'm not sure how much.

I'm so sorry about your baby .

 

[krcit]

Here's a good one for you...a few weeks ago my son had macaroni and cheese and a rock in his ear. I was able to boil the mac and cheese out with peroxide, but couldn't get the rock out (at the time I did not know it was a rock, my ds only confessed to mac and cheese). Take him to the peds office the next day so they can flush it out. Literally takes 5 seconds for the rock to come out...

My out of pockets costs, after co-pay and the insurance discount... not to mention my employer is affiliated with this group of doctors and I carry this employers insurance....

5 seconds= $125+

That's $1500/min or $90,000/hr.

I don't mean to laugh but this cracked me up...a rock AND mac and cheese?? How did he manage that?? I shouldn't talk though because I got a bb in my ear when I was 12 I just put it in there and my dad did everything he could think of to get it out but eventually took me to the ER...it fell out while I was waiting for the Dr and they said 'Oh just let us clean out her ear." My dad wouldn't let them b/c he said they would charge $500 for peroxide!

 

[si-am]

I agree that medical charges can be ridiculous.

However, I have to ask why you'd go to the ER for something like that instead of calling either your regular doc or OB/GYN?

I've never gone to the ER because I know how expensive it is. I'd go to Urgent Care if I couldn't get an appointment with my doctor.