Reply to Hospital trying to force me to pay before procedure

Forum Index » Health and Medicine

Reply to "Hospital trying to force me to pay before procedure"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I had a rough year medically last year and have spent a lot of time dealing with medical bills.  Overall, I dealt with four different hospital stays, two surgeries, two hospitals and three physicians' groups.  The bills still are being sorted out more than a year later, but I've learned a lot about how complicated it is and how poorly the whole process is coordinated.

If you think there's a chance of hitting your out-of-pocket limit, always check with the insurance company before paying. I paid nearly $1700 up front for pretty major surgery (great credit and had already sailed past my deductible), and the insurance company didn't count it toward my out-of-pocket limit because the hospital didn't tell them about it (standard).  We also promptly paid all medical bills as they arrived, regardless of date of service, even though the out-of-pocket limits are calculated by date of service.

As a result, I have now spent hours upon hours with spreadsheets and on the phone, trying to sort out all of the bills.  It still is happening more than a year after one surgery and 18 months after another major issue, but the idea that I'm getting overcharged drives me nuts.  I've gotten about $2000 back and am in the process of figuring out whether I still owe a $600 bill that I just received.

The insurance company told me that I should not pay any medical bills unless they have processed them first.  I also now call the the hospital and/or physicians' group plus the insurance company whenever I get a medical bill to determine what I actually owe.  The date of service really matters, and the insurer often will know what you owe well before the health care provider gets around to billing you.

It may sound crazy, but I otherwise would have paid a few thousand dollars more than I owed last year, and nothing protects you from that unless you are really careful.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics