Just got a medical bill from a hospital stay over two years ago.

Hospitals need up front pricing. Tell me it costs $100 each time they come check something then I decide when it needs to be checked. If I'm paying, that means they work for me.

 

The medical billing is crazy, this was my tab for 3 days in the hospital.

 

This shit pisses me off so much! I had to have leg surgery to clean out a wound and got the bills after, and you have to play the game where you request a audit, and they go back and check what supplies they used in the surgery and how many bags of 100$ saline they used etc and all of a sudden 10k in bills turns into $500
Also op you may want to check on th bill because I'm not sure they are able to send you medical bills at this point with covid.

 

Thats fucking ridiculous.

 

I had this happen with some bills my daughter racked up a few years back. The provider had an audit and messed up their billing. I was able to get the insurance company to send me a file of all of their submissions and what insurance covered. They screwed up, and were in contact before the 2 year limit kicked in. I re calculated the billing for them (which they messed up a second time) and told them I’d settle it for 70% of what was owed if they never darkened my door again. They went for it. Be prepared to invest some time in this.

 

I hooked up with a stunner at The Open Bar in Pacific Beach. Back to her place in Bird Rock, just South of La Jolla.
Her and her sister lived there, oceanfront..
20/30 feet over the ocean.
They ran a medical/insurance billing company.
House was easily worth $8/10 million and that was 15 years ago.

They barely worked, had a crew doing the billing etc.

I thought I was gonna die about 3 years ago.
Couldn't breathe, laid on my patio gasping for air.
T'was like a fish outta water. Gasping for breath every 5/10 seconds.
My brother bought me B12 vitamins...but bought the wrong shit.
This crap was for serious weight lifters and loaded with Niacin.
I'd guess I had an allergic reaction....turns out it's Niacin Flush.
Went to the ER, $1300 (no insurance)
Got a bed for an hour or so, glass of water and most likely a Xanax to calm me down.
I paid it.
I was was quite happy to not feel like a dying fish.

 

being a T1... automatic ICU for me. Means someone pricking my fingers and guaranteed no sleep.

 

That's normal whether you owe money or not. It's a breakdown of what your insurance was billed for, how much it actually paid, and how much you owe if there's a balance not paid by insurance. It's likely that you'll have separate bills from the hospital, surgeon, radiologist, anesthesia, and probably others. It can be a huge PITA keeping track of it all.

 

Shit... y'all need to get to Canada !!!
Seriously hope all of you have coverage !!!

 

Best advice I ever got from my insurance agent was to wait at least 6 months before paying any medical bill. He told me that a lot of providers send out bills hoping some fool pays it and they get 100% and not the 20-25% that the insurance company will negotiate. I get lots of threatening letters while waiting but never had it negatively affect my credit rating or anything.

 

My second cancer round i went through, i had lost my insurance. The medical bills were over $50k for the surgery and radiation. Since I was paying it I had a friends wife who does billing for a local hospital go over all my bills and tell me what I woiod pay. In the end I paid a little over $12k. They charged me $30 per Tylenol, I paid .45. They over charge for EVERYTHING knowing they will only get a percentage from insurance. My room was billed at $4500 per night for 3 nights. I ended up paying $1k per night. Dont settle for what the bill states.

 

Seems to go with doctors calling it a practice. They practice scheduling patients but they can never seem to get it right.

 

Yeah he’s one of the owners actually. I’ve never rolled with him but the result is easily predictable. He’d be bored and I’d be unconscious.

 

Looking into this thanks.

 

Do you have all of your EOB's?

 

The billing dept at the hospital said they billed my insurance and it was sent back in July of this year as “patient responsibility”.

One of the items was a $205 eye exam that I don’t remember getting, but in fairness I was on the drip so things are a bit foggy.

I no longer have that insurance so it will be interesting.

 

here's my take on the current hospital billing scam....Most hospitals are non-profits. They bill 10 grand for a relatively minor thing knowing they will only be paid 1 grand. They then turn around and call the 9 grand as a loss allowing them to maintain their non-profit status. If they were really losing money why would they be on a building spree and out-bidding each other trying to buy their competitors out? I can't wait to see hoe the new regulations requiring transparency in billing affect the process. My guess is they will figure out a way to keep the scam going.

 

Not to get political, but from a foreigner's point of view, this is complete insanity ! Effing Christ !

 

Mail them a picture of your junk back as payment.

 

I had a stay in hospital a couple of years ago. I insisted they send me an itemized bill, it included a bunch of stuff that was in the room in sealed bags that I never used. When I questioned this I was told it was standard practice as they didn't know whether they were used or not and often patients take them when they leave. I told them that's fine as long as they mail them to me as by that account I now own them. Those items got dropped from the bill. I wonder how much of that superfluous stuff gets paid for by the insurance companies when it's not necessary.