Example of ER bills for an uninsured

[Anonymous]

What was your “emergency?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am uninsured because ACA is not A for me, it's Unafforadble (UCA). I am not entirely low income but in the very uncomfortable middle for whom ACA costs are too expensive. Monthly premiums higher than 1,000 and a deductible of $18,000. What would the ACA coverage help me with in this case? Nada, for $1,000+ a month, I would have to pay this 2,350 bill out of pocket as part of deductible!

Ok so it sounds like you’ve come out ahead.

Yes, I have. My only regret is that I didn't wait until the morning to go to urgent care. I think this case was minor enough to wait. I really did not know that the ER would be so horribly expensive! So, just mentioning this for others, who might be in a similar situation, insured or not. I think the ERs have a new practice now too--maybe starting this year only, where they bill separately for the ER and then you get aggressive messages with a second bill for the doctor. And not all insurances have these doctors in-network, so even insured people can get stuck with a huge bill unreimbursed by insurance. Just avoid the ER like the plague for minor things that can wait till the morning. Always choose urgent care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I’ve worked with ER billing on some huge payments (because at the time I had a really high deductible and sadly 2 ER visits in a month)….. they let me negotiate it down to 50% if I paid within 24 hours.

I did. That knocked off thousands. But I had to pay thousands all at once.

I’m not sure if that’s a weird scam on their part. But. I feel like it was the best I could do.

And not relevant to you, but I watched the insurance claim come in 30 days later to make sure I didn’t get a bad deal.

I hadn’t. The claim came in with me being reponsible for 100% of the insurance rate. Something like 2-3k per visit.

What I had paid was a good deal. I guess the hospital just wrote off that portion, and they’d prefer to have my money now.

**I just remembered, I only did that for the 2nd visit. Got smart…. The first visit, they at least let me set up a no-interest auto pay plan. So I divided it out across 24 months or something, with no fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I’ve worked with ER billing on some huge payments (because at the time I had a really high deductible and sadly 2 ER visits in a month)….. they let me negotiate it down to 50% if I paid within 24 hours.

I did. That knocked off thousands. But I had to pay thousands all at once.

I’m not sure if that’s a weird scam on their part. But. I feel like it was the best I could do.

Thank you for this tip. I'll try it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am uninsured because ACA is not A for me, it's Unafforadble (UCA). I am not entirely low income but in the very uncomfortable middle for whom ACA costs are too expensive. Monthly premiums higher than 1,000 and a deductible of $18,000. What would the ACA coverage help me with in this case? Nada, for $1,000+ a month, I would have to pay this 2,350 bill out of pocket as part of deductible!

Incorrect. The charges are reduced per the contract with the insurer. A 2380 “charge” would be reduced to maybe $500 or so.

Maybe, if the doctor provider network was in-network, because nowadays they are stealthily not advertising which network they are in. People don't know they will get two separate bills, one for the ER, and one for the provider network.

[Anonymous]

My PCP decided against going to the ER for extreme pain. He kinda knew what could be wrong, but not a 100%. You are not alone, OP. Doctors are in the same boat. We all are, as a matter of fact. I had the best insurance, and still would not go to the ER. Most people are priced out of this service. I think feds are OK, the rest of us are sol

[Anonymous]

Learn Spanish. Have no ID and say you’re an undocumented immigrant

It’s free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My PCP decided against going to the ER for extreme pain. He kinda knew what could be wrong, but not a 100%. You are not alone, OP. Doctors are in the same boat. We all are, as a matter of fact. I had the best insurance, and still would not go to the ER. Most people are priced out of this service. I think feds are OK, the rest of us are sol

Wow, even the doctors! I had no clue how high the bill would be because I used to have insurance and only had to go to the ER once, maybe ten years ago. It has to be in the news, so people would not make the mistake. The wait times for the well-insured would improve too.

[Anonymous]

Negotiate hard. Tell the biller you tried to decline the pregnancy test and they insisted.

Make them an offer. See if you can get any comps from anyone who goes to the same place.

Maybe try your urgicare biller to see if they can suggest anything if they are connected to the same hospital system.

I have an employer paid HMO so don't pay much co-pay but my ER visit for fainting was over $1K rack rate about 5 years ago. Hooked me up to an IV and I think did some heart rate monitoring. Plus an assessment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Negotiate hard. Tell the biller you tried to decline the pregnancy test and they insisted.

Make them an offer. See if you can get any comps from anyone who goes to the same place.

Maybe try your urgicare biller to see if they can suggest anything if they are connected to the same hospital system.

I have an employer paid HMO so don't pay much co-pay but my ER visit for fainting was over $1K rack rate about 5 years ago. Hooked me up to an IV and I think did some heart rate monitoring. Plus an assessment.

Thank you for being helpful! I will definitely ask to take the pregnancy test charge off completely. And negotiate the two bills in general.

[Anonymous]

Tell them you have no money. You can offer them $50 and that is it. You are poor. Put it in writing and do not pay more than that.

Medical debt doesn’t impact your credit score anymore. Don’t pay more than the $50.

[Anonymous]

The rest of us have to pay premiums through the nose because most people are like you and don't have insurance and most don't pay. So we subsidize everyone else. Cry me a river.

[Anonymous]

What state are you in that the ACA plans are 1k per month for an 18k deductible for a single person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rest of us have to pay premiums through the nose because most people are like you and don't have insurance and most don't pay. So we subsidize everyone else. Cry me a river.

How are you subsidizing me? Illegal immigrants who don't pay anything, yes, but not me. Are you subsidizing my $224 pregnancy test? Is it for the test or for the collection cup?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What state are you in that the ACA plans are 1k per month for an 18k deductible for a single person?

Family of 4